Mazda is . . making trees count
Mazda has been revitalising New Zealand’s native bush since 2004
While debate has been raging over the varying environmental impact of combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicle technologies, Mazda NZ has been doing something fundamental to improve the quality of bush reserves and waterways in this country: planting native trees.
The company’s efforts have funded more than
76,000 native trees. Planting has been carried out in 170 locations, leading to the establishment of natural outdoor learning areas in schools, and bush-fringed water courses that once again attract native birds and teem with freshwater fauna.
A well-crafted new video showcases some of this restorative work, using marine scientist Dr Riley Elliott as its presenter. It visits Te Uku School, near Raglan, where Mazda has contributed more than
800 native trees to create a natural “classroom” and demonstrate what Elliott calls “the amazing magic of the planet”. In another scene, conservation-minded dairy farmer Stu Muir expresses his joy at witnessing the return of native taonga-like birds and whitebait as he plants more Mazda-donated trees on his land.
Mazda NZ first began fostering the planting of native trees back in 2004, beginning a partnership with the Project Crimson Trust that continues today. That programme kicked up a gear in 2018, when the trust established the Trees That Count native tree marketplace and Mazda NZ became one of the first major funders of the project by ordering 25,000 native trees annually over the next three years. “Mazda has become an important part of the trust’s mission, as our longest partnership,” says Melanie Seyfort, head of partnerships for Project Crimson Trust.
“Our work together has become an even deeper, more focused partnership through Trees That Count.”
In 2007, the Mazda Foundation asked Project Crimson Trust to help it find a project that would combine environmental education with meaningful community engagement. This led to the birth of TREEmendous, which encourages all primary and intermediate schools to create outdoor learning areas featuring native trees. “We saw opportunities to turn the whole school area into a learning environment, helping increase environmental literacy significantly,” says Ruud Kleinpaste, TREEmendous ambassador and Project Crimson trustee.
To help celebrate Mazda’s Centenary in 2020, Mazda donated 50 trees for every 100th anniversary Mazda model sold. And Mazda will continue to fund the planting of NZ native trees on behalf of its customers as trees are miracle workers and are vital in our preservation.
To find out more about the work Mazda is doing with Trees That Count, visit Mazda.co.nz/ driving-good.