14 DAY TRIAL // This November 12, Marks and Spencer announced that, together with Cool Earth, a green group based in Cornwall, UK, it was to protect about 5,000 acres of forest in the Amazon from being destroyed either by companies looking to make a few bucks, or by locals looking to provide for their families.
The retailer explains that, according to recent estimates, the 5,000 acres of forest that will benefit from protection as a result of this collaboration between Marks and Spencer and Cool Earth are home to roughly one million trees.
The regions targeted by this initiative sit at a distance of about 300 miles east of Lima, Peru, Business Green tells us. By the looks of it, they risked being destroyed either through illegal logging, maybe even turned into palm oil or cattle plantations.
As part of this project, Marks and Spencer is to provide the money needed to convince indigenous people not to team up with companies that don't care about the environment, and opt for managing forests sustainably instead.
Otherwise put, indigenous people are to get from the retailer the money that they would have otherwise obtained from companies that asked for their help to clear local forests.
“M&S has signed a new partnership with UK-based rainforest protection charity Cool Earth to protect 5,000 acres of rainforest in Peru and keep one million trees standing. It will be achieved by empowering indigenous communities (through funding and training) to adopt financially and environmentally sustainable land-use policies,” Marks and Spencer writes in a press release.
“The M&S investment will tip the balance away from clearing forest for soya, ranching and plantations by giving indigenous communities control over their forest and boosting the incomes they make from sustainable harvesting of forest products such as coffee, cocoa, Brazil nuts and ashiotti (seed used in beauty products),” it adds.
For the time being, Marks and Spencer has not shared any information concerning exactly how much money it will give these people, the same source reports. One can only assume that it will be a hefty sum.
The collaboration between the retailer and Cool Earth will extend over a three-year period. By keeping the 5,000 acres of forest safe during this time, the company and the green group expect that they will also succeed in keeping about 1.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions from entering our planet's atmosphere.