GCash Milestone: 1 Million Trees Planted in GForest
One million virtual trees have been planted in GCash’s environmental sustainability feature on the app, the fintech player announced.
The virtual trees GCash’s GForest, which are “planted” by users in the app, correspond to real trees the company plants on their behalf. That means one million actual trees have been planted in watersheds and rainforests across the country, GCash said.
GCash launched GForest in 2019 as a way for users to earn “green energy points” through cashless services. The points can then be used to plant digital trees of their choice. GForest now has nine million users, according to the app.
To mount its Forest initiative, GCash partnered with organizations like the World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines, Ayala Land Inc., Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI), HOPE and Century Pacific Food, Inc, to plant the trees in areas such as the Ipo Watershed, Alaminos Carbon Forest, Luyang Watershed, and South Cotabato and Sarangani Provinces. Trees with diverse species like Narra, Yakal, Molave, Guyabano and Coconut have been planted in these vulnerable locations nationwide, through GForest and its partners. GCash is also identifying new sites that it can reforest as it scales up its sustainability program.
The target for 2022 is to plant roughly 1.3 million trees in GForest.
“With the impacts of climate change, GCash capitalizes on technology in contributing and raising awareness to environmental conservation and sustainability,” said Martha Sazon, president and CEO of GCash. “We hope that through GForest, we are able to empower more Filipinos to help in protecting the environment,”
“The GForest program proves that marrying new technologies with creative sustainability solutions are something organizations can achieve,” said Chito Maniago, Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs Officer of GCash. “We thank our partners and users for making this milestone possible. We are looking forward to being more ‘One with the Nation’ with our social responsibility initiatives in the years to come.”
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