Wessanen UK pledges support to ITF's Sustainable Community Forestry programme
Healthy and ethical food company provides financial support to help charity to offer grants to successful applicants
Oxford, UK
Summary
The International Tree Foundation (ITF) has officially announced a call for grant applications from organisations looking to improve local livelihoods through the sustainable use of trees and related income generation.
Healthy and ethical food company Wessanen UK – owners of Clipper Teas, Kallo, Mrs Crimble’s and Whole Earth – will be providing financial support to enable the International Tree Foundation (ITF) to deliver its Sustainable Community Forestry Programme.
The ITF has officially announced a call for applications for the programme, which will be accepted until 17 October 2016. Grants will be available for both non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations in sub-Saharan Africa, with proposals considered shortly after the deadline.
The aim of the ITF’s Sustainable Community Forestry Programme is to provide funding to NGOs to deliver community-level participatory projects that conserve and restore local forest resources and associated biodiversity. It also looks to help organisations to improve local livelihoods through the sustainable use of trees and related income generation, and to increase resilience to climate change.
This funding is made possible thanks to donations from the ITF’s supporters, both in the form of legacies and also funds donated by companies that meet the ITF’s ethical criteria. Wessanen UK has pledged financial support to help the charity to provide these grants to successful applicants.
Andy Egan, CEO at the International Tree Foundation, comments:
“We are grateful to Wessanen UK for their generous support for our Sustainable Community Forestry Programme. We are looking forward to awarding grants to some exciting new projects for the year ahead.”
Patrick Cairns, CEO at Wessanen UK, adds:
“As a business, we are passionate about protecting our living planet for current and future generations, so it’s our pleasure to play be able to play a role in supporting the ITF’s Sustainable Community Programme. We encourage interested organisations to submit their proposals.”
Grants of up to £3,000 are available for projects (for an initial period of one year) starting after 1 January 2017.
The support of this new programme follows Wessanen UK recently becoming the first corporate sponsor of ITF’s new 20 Million Trees Appeal, which aims to plant 20 million trees in and around Kenya’s highland forests by 2024, when the ITF will celebrate its Centenary.
We are grateful to Wessanen UK for their generous support for our Sustainable Community Forestry Programme. We are looking forward to awarding grants to some exciting new projects for the year ahead.
Andy Egan, CEO, The International Tree Foundation
As a business, we are passionate about protecting our living planet for current and future generations, so it’s our pleasure to play be able to play a role in supporting the ITF’s Sustainable Community Programme. We encourage interested organisations to submit their proposals.
Patrick Cairns, CEO, Wessanen UK
