Caravel Group’s Fleet Management (FLEET) has announced the planting of 10,000 saplings on the lands of marginalised farmers in rural India under a pact made with a NGO in June last year.
The partnership with NGO Sankalp Taru Foundation in India saw the launch of Gifting A Green Life, an initiative for FLEET to grow the saplings in the rural areas of Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan.
Trees are focal to fighting climate change as they remove escess carbon from the atmosphere by storing them. Considering the average lifespan of a fruit-bearing tree is 20 years, these 10,000 saplings, when they grow, can generate 19,980 tonnes of oxygen and sequester 10,424 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 20 years.
“Climate change is one of the pressing challenges facing our world today. At the Caravel Group and FLEET, we will continue to stay committed to robust climate action to take care of the planet we share,” commented Dr Harry Banga, chairman and ceo of Caravel Group.
To engage and drive environmental consciousness, FLEET has made a Digital Fleet forest for seafarers, allowing the company to tag a seafarer to a sapling planted as a gift on his birthday or when he reaches a particular milestone in his career at FLEET. The seafarer will be able to track his tagged tree throughout its entire life cycle.
Gifting A Green Life also aims to improve the livelihoods of farmers in India. The 10,000 saplings planted will produce an estimated 717 tonnes of fruits per season, equating to an economic value of $0.25 million per season for farmers.
Source: Seatrade Maritime
