corporate social responsibility
BridgesPlantsTrees #2022 #2023
In late 2021 and early 2022, the cumulative effects of deforestation hit home for Bridges M&C team members based in Malaysia. Unprecedented flash floods and landslides across five states displaced more than 65,000 people; among them family and friends of the team.
At the time, we were seeking out a suitable theme for our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project for 2022, and reforestation as a way of moderating climate change came immediately to mind. The team later learned conservation has been a passion of Founder and Regional Senior Account Director, Nanny Eliana. For eight years she has been recycling plastics and paper, and around the same time the Selangor flash floods and landslides hit, she began composting fruit and vegetable waste from her household to feed the plants at Bridges M&C’s Singapore headquarters, and the gardens in her neighbourhood.
Photo: Bernama
Further research into preserving rainforests revealed the pharmaceutical industry has acknowledged that tropical rainforest plants could present opportunities for developing drugs to treat chronic diseases. In fact, some 120 prescription drugs sold worldwide today to treat diabetes, heart conditions and infectious diseases are derived directly from plants found in rainforests.
However, the rapid rate of deforestation and subsequent eradication of species of flora is outpacing the rate at which scientists can learn about the medicinal properties of plants.
So the Bridges Plants Trees CSR campaign was born, in our hope of mitigating the effects of climate change, increasing our chances of discovering new medicines, while helping the indigenous Orang Sungai to become better custodians of their land by involving them in the reforestation efforts.
Launched in July 2022, Bridges Plants Trees is a partnership between Bridges M&C and APE Malaysia, a social enterprise which has been actively involved in reforestation efforts since 2009. Through APE Malaysia’s Restore Our Amazing Rainforest (ROAR) initiative, Bridges Plants Trees is helping to create forest corridors in Sabah’s Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary which reconnects wildlife populations in the area. A majority of these reforestation sites are former logging and log-dumping sites, alienated and abandoned land, or former agricultural land.
Sponsoring trees
To kickstart the campaign, Bridges M&C sponsored 50 trees. We also sponsored three years’ maintenance for those trees to increase their chances of survival. For every 10 trees sponsored through the campaign, we sponsored an additional tree and its maintenance for three years.
%20APE%20Malaysia.jpg)
(C) APE Malaysia
In less than two months since its launch, the Bridges Plants Trees campaign raised sponsorship for the planting and maintenance of more than 300 tree saplings. Sponsors came from Malaysia and Singapore, and as far as Thailand, China, France, and the United States. As well as rallying the support of clients and business associates in the medical and healthcare industries, the Bridges M&C team appealed to friends, family, and even social media influencers for their support through their platforms.
The campaign concluded with a flourish in May 2023, with the Bridges Plants Trees campaign contributing a total of 600 tree saplings to the ROAR initiative, as well as the maintenance of those trees.
APE Malaysia planted the first 300 saplings in November 2022, while the remaining 300 saplings are scheduled to be planted through June 2023. Upon the successful planting of the tree saplings, the corresponding sponsor will receive photos of the saplings, as well as an e-certificate containing their geographical coordinates. In the photos, the name of the sponsor will be displayed next to their saplings.
600
Thank you!
Bridges M&C would like to thank
Bridges Plants Trees sponsors.
To be continued...
But our reforestation efforts do not end here; we are pleased to be extending our partnership with APE Malaysia!
For every new contract Bridges M&C signs-on from June 1st 2023, we will plant 10 tree saplings, and sponsor the maintenance of these trees for up to four years, in the client’s name.