The United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation, the philanthropic arm of UPS, is pledging another one-million trees worldwide and has awarded $2.3-million in grants to support environmental programmes and forestry-focused initiatives worldwide.

In 2011, the UPS Foundation announced a new Global Forestry Initiative to help plant, protect and preserve trees – not only in the US but also worldwide. In 2012, the UPS Foundation began its efforts to plant one-million trees worldwide for this environmental programme and, to date, more than 1.3-million trees have been planted.

The recipients of this year’s environmental grants are Earth Day Network, to allocate grant money to support the Trees for Communities project, including planting 390 000 trees in Russia, Norway, Ethiopia, Kenya and Cameroon; Keep America Beautiful, to allocate community and postrecovery grants for tree planting and to support the 2014 Vision for America Awards; the National Arbor Day Foundation, to support the UPS Employee Forest Programme and reforesta- tion in priority areas throughout the US and abroad; The Nature Conservancy for the UPS Global Forestry Initiative, for reforesta- tion efforts in the US, Brazil, Guatemala, Haiti and China, as well as for forest conservation in Canada, climate policy in Europe and support for the Healthy Cities Healthy Trees initiative; and the World Resources Institute, for the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the reduction of methane emissions from natural gas systems.

“Investing in tree planting and reforestation is strategic to our environmental sustainability programme,” says UPS Founda- tion president Eduardo Martinez, adding that it also builds resiliency in communities and engages tens of thousands of UPS users who help plant these trees worldwide.

Further, UPS holds a Global Volunteer Month, during which it encourages its 400 000 employees to lend hands and logistics expertise to make their communities more environment conscientious. Last year, UPS employees donated 1.8-million volunteer hours worldwide, up from 1.6-million volunteer hours the previous year.

“The South African branch of UPS will volunteer at five organi- sations this year, from repairing, planting and painting to getting to know and build relationships with our new organisations,” says UPS South Africa human resources manager Belinda Gault.