Informal settlements become green with MTN

Informal settlements in six South African provinces are looking greener after MTN and Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) planted 7,500 trees in these areas over the past six months. The informal settlements include Nazareth in KwaZulu-Natal, Ermelo and Athlone in Mpumalanga, Lotus Gardens in Gauteng, Nthabiseng and Dendron in Limpopo, Ducats in the Eastern Cape and Matjhabeng in the Free State.

This was part of a campaign dubbed 'MTN Trees for Homes,' launched during COP17 last year. The objective of the campaign was to create awareness and provide environmental education to communities in informal settlements about reducing the effects of climate change. MTN and FTFA targeted informal settlements because they are more prone to damage caused by flooding and wind as a result of trees being cut down during construction.

Creating employment

The campaign has also indirectly created short-term employment through community educators who provide advice on trees planting and maintenance while raising awareness around environmental issues and climate change.

"This is yet another milestone for MTN under the company's corporate social investment initiatives. Planting trees was adopted last year as a theme for our annual employee volunteer initiative, 21 Days of Y'ello Care, which starts on 1 June each year. We would like to thank our partner, FTFA for helping us realise our dream to make informal settlements greener," says Rich Mkhondo, executive for MTN group corporate affairs.