CSR commitments

Hedges are true allies in our fight against climate change because they act as natural barriers to soil erosion or as places of refuge for birds, insects and small mammals. And yet, we are currently still losing 11,000km of hedgerow every year, while only 3000km are planted. Wild trees are disappearing from our landscapes for good. This environmental disaster is compounded by the plight of cut-off farmers, who often lack the financial, technical and physical means to restore their enclosed landscapes.

Founded in 2019, Des Enfants et des Arbres gets schoolchildren aged 9 to 12 to help farmers all over France to plant trees on their land. Over two planting seasons, 4000 children have already helped the association to plant 15,000 trees on 90 farms! From this year until 2024, we have chosen to support this association to help them take their work a step further and increase the number of project beneficiaries (farmers, children, local stakeholders).

The funds collected through customer donations to the ARRONDI en caisse scheme will help:  

• To extend the association's reach, taking it from 60 to 100 projects per year;
• To make children aware of the benefits of trees and make planting a part of the school syllabus;
• To spread an inspiring, pragmatic and positive message on the virtues of trees in the world of farming.

For more information, visit the project page on the MDM Foundation website or the association's website.

The island of Nosy Boraha, classified as a priority site for protection by the Malagasy State, includes 4000ha of forests, 800 of which are deemed to be remarkable (i.e. containing trees considered special due to their age, shape, size, associated legends and so on), and 172ha of mangroves. The island's biodiversity is under threat due to overexploitation of resources and intense deforestation.

In light of this problem, GRET is running awareness and training projects on location for local populations and has asked the State to create a protected area, both on land and in the waters surrounding the island, in order to preserve this habitat. After six years of partnership with GRET, the Maisons du Monde Foundation has renewed its support in 2022 so that the association can continue to grow and implement new actions over the next two years.

The funds collected through customer donations to the ARRONDI en caisse scheme will help the project:  

• Create anti-forest-crime, awareness raising and ecological restoration programmes;
• Ensure legal recognition for the protected area;
• Create market gardening training for local populations;
• Develop community ecotourism on the island.

For more information, visit the project page on the MDM Foundation website or the association's website.

The Mediterranean basin is one of the four most endangered biodiversity hotspots in the world. Here, the cultivation of a large number of plant varieties and species is a factor in maintaining genetic diversity. However, cultivated biodiversity has also been eroded for decades. Only a handful of the most productive and profitable varieties, like vines and olive trees, are still being planted.

To address this problem, Conservatoire Méditerranéen Partagé helps private and public stakeholders plant orchards to preserve and promote the rare and ancient fruit varieties of the French Mediterranean basin. In so doing, the organisation helps maintain the region's cultivated biodiversity.

The funds collected through customer donations to the ARRONDI en caisse scheme will help the project:

• plant 10 orchards;
• plant 2000 trees of 10 different Mediterranean species;
• preserve 100 rare and ancient fruit varieties from the region;
• put on training days and workshops on agro-ecological practices and the challenges of protecting cultivated biodiversity.

For more information, visit the project page on the MDM Foundation website or the organisation's website.

Does the name of our partner organisation ring any bells? You may remember that from 25 to 29 March, Maisons du Monde employees went out and met Conservatoire Méditerranéen Partagé during Solidaritrips.

In Ecuador, Napo province is undergoing deforestation at a rate higher than the national average, due to population pressure and mass exploitation of certain rare tree species, such as the cinnamon-like Ocotea quixos. To improve the living conditions of local Kichwa communities, which are severely affected by deforestation, the Ishpingo foundation is helping them establish agroforestry models to sustainably manage forest resources.

Since 2010, tree nurseries and an experimental farm have been set up. Four fruit growers' associations, bringing together 112 farmers, have also been created. In 2017, the first tests to process products (into things like jam, pulp and essential oils) were carried out, with the aim of creating a fair supply chain and thereby generating higher incomes for local communities.

The funds collected through customer donations to the ARRONDI en caisse scheme will above all enable the project to go on:

• Supporting and training 250 additional farmers in managing their fruit plots and production processes;
• Creating 15 new community tree nurseries to produce 60,000 fruit and timber trees;
• Educating roughly 1000 children from 9 schools, by creating a tree nursery and an arboretum with at least 100 fruit and timber trees in each school.

For more information, visit the project page on the MDM Foundation website or the Ishpingo website.

Customers brought along their friends and family to plant trees with the Fonds pour l’Arbre tree fund in three regions of France, Wavrin (59), Brie-Comte-Robert (77) and Bouaye (44), between 20 November and 11 December. Featuring: 

• A welcome address raising awareness of the importance of preserving forests and hedgerows in France, during which participants can enjoy a hot drink 

• Tree planting and mulching 

• A relaxed meal with all participants 

With almost 60% of the population living below the poverty line and more than 4 million people in a situation of severe food insecurity, Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas. Regular natural disasters (such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods) diminish harvests and cause the population's needs to no longer be met, leading to accelerated deforestation.

In this context, Secours Catholique — Caritas France is helping to improve local communities' living conditions with regards to food security, resilience to natural disasters, and climate change, among other issues, while preserving and restoring the last of the island's forests.

The Maisons du Monde Foundation is supporting Secours Catholique — Caritas France in its efforts to promote agroecology and protect the environment within six communities across five of the island's regions. The funds provided will make it possible to:

• Raise awareness among at least 90% of families in these communities of the impacts of deforestation and the importance of protecting biodiversity
• Restore forest cover by creating community nurseries and by planting 140,000 trees
• Provide rural populations with training in agroecology and agroforestry techniques
• Reduce the vulnerability of at least 50 hectares of natural and agricultural spaces to erosion
• Purchase seeds and animals to ensure the food security of families in six communities
• Organise six exchange visits between groups and develop four mutual solidarity systems within affected communities

Less than 9% of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region is populated with trees, which, compared to an average tree coverage of 31% across France, makes it home to the least-wooded departments in Metropolitan France. More generally, the Hauts-de-France forest represents only 3% of the forest cover in France — an area that is far too small to ensure the restoration of biodiversity and a good living environment for the inhabitants of the region.

This has led Les Planteurs Volontaires to organise community volunteering events to plant trees in the region, in collaboration with local stakeholders. 

The Maisons du Monde Foundation will support the organisation to create ten groups in France. The funds will be put towards:

• The cost of new trees and planting kits, with the aim of planting 30,000 trees over two winters all over France (in addition to the 30,000 trees that the organisation is planting in Hauts-de-France every year);
• Training local groups in theory and practice, so they can gain independence in project management;
• The project's general running costs within the organisation.

About the Envol Vert project

The Amazon is the world's largest tropical rainforest and it alone is home to almost half of the Earth's biodiversity. The Amazon also plays a fundamental role in regulating the climate and new diseases known as zoonoses, for example COVID-19. And yet deforestation continues at breakneck speed.

In Peru (the country with the second-largest area of the Amazon rainforest after Brazil), the main cause of deforestation is the expansion of agricultural plots and the illegal logging of precious wood, supplying the black market. The precarious position of local populations also contributes to the destruction of the forest.

Donations from the ARRONDI en caisse campaign will help Envol Vert fight deforestation in three regions of Peru by:
 

• Protecting the endemic biodiversity of the rainforest in areas of intervention, including the 40,000-ha Yanayacu-Maquia conservation area;
• Establishing diversified and productive agroforestry systems, as well as cost-effective alternatives to deforestation;
• Building the skills of civil society stakeholders through scientific research, training and the networking of Amazon rainforest products.

For more information, you can go to the project page on the Foundation's website or the association's website.

All Maisons du Monde customers can now support the Jane Goodall Institute project in Gombe, Tanzania, by donating round-ups at the checkout. The association will receive 100% of the micro-donations collected.

We have also made a charity-linked product available online and in stores from 4 November: for each "Gombe" flask bought, €2 goes to the Institute. A great way to celebrate 60 years of the project!

Committed to forest conservation since 2016, the Maisons du Monde Foundation has supported the Jane Goodall Institute in its fight to protect chimpanzees and biodiversity since 2018. First in Senegal, then in Tanzania since 2020.

The funds raised for the project in Tanzania from the cash rounding scheme and charity-linked product will enable the Jane Goodall Institute to:

• Continue the world's longest-running research on wild primates
• Implement the TACARE project to win over local populations to conservation and sustainable development

To find out more about the project, visit the Maisons du Monde Foundation website or the Jane Goodall Institute website!

In hedged farmland, on field borders, rural trees and hedgerows serve as formidable wildlife corridors, acting as natural barriers to soil erosion and places of refuge for birds, insects and small mammals. Despite being true allies in the fight against climate change, 70% of hedgerows have disappeared under the pressure of intensive farming in France since 1950. Even now, we are losing 11,500 km of hedgerow every year!

But why a tree fund?

Afac-Agroforesteries created the Fonds pour l'Arbre tree fund to reverse this trend by helping to plant rural trees and hedgerows. The fund will do this by collecting donations from benefactors like the Maisons du Monde Foundation, and then redistributing these funds to qualified field operators throughout France to plant hundreds of thousands of trees every year. Farmers, local authorities, nursery owners, researchers and others are all joining forces to get rural trees planted — they really are an ally for the future of our land and biodiversity!