Nature Needs More Social Innovation Heroes Like Timberland

Feb 19, 2013 5:15 PM ET
Campaign: CSR Blogs

By SANGEETA HAINDL

It has been three years since the destructive earthquake struck the island of Haiti.  During this time, Timberland's social innovation efforts have helped plant 2.2 million trees in the rural area surrounding Gonaives, providing food, fuel and shelter.Timberland has teamed up with the Small Farmers Alliance, a local not-for-profit and non-government organisation (NGO), in a partnership that highlights Timberland's commitment toEarthkeeping - the philosophy that guides this company in everything it does, which is simple, straightforward, common sense and doing things that enable it to be good stewards of the earth.

In 2010, Timberland teamed up with representatives from the Smallholder Farmers Alliance to create a self-sustaining agroforestry social innovation model that would help agricultural improvement, restore the local environment and support economic growth for the participating farmers through the development of eight community tree nurseries and agricultural training centres. To meet its 'tree commitment' Timberland needs to plant five million trees in a five-year period, so an additional one million trees will be planted this year as well as in 2014 and 2015.

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