Greening Communities 2009
In 2009, we continued to add new participating properties, welcoming Banyan Tree Ringha and Banyan Tree Madivaru into our Greening Communities challenge for 2009. With a total target of 26,000 trees in 2009, our properties planted 21,372 trees as follows:
In early May, Banyan Tree Phuket planted 3,000 mangrove trees in Baan Para Thalang in support of a mangrove rehabilitation effort helping to rebuild an important piece of the natural coastal defence system. This was the third year in a row Phuket had exceeded its planting target, staying ahead of target by planting 8,800 trees compared with its target of 6,000 trees.
In Bintan, Banyan Tree and Angsana planted a combined 5,070 trees, mostly split into plantings in September and December. The majority of the trees were planted in nearby communities such as Kota Baru Village and its Elementary School as well as the Sri Bintan communities including the Elementary and High Schools. Both resorts in Bintan have also continued to meet or exceed their targets since 2007 for Banyan Tree and since 2008 for Angsana, with a combined planting of 11,292 trees exceeding their target of 10,000 trees.
Managing to plant 2,100 trees, Banyan Tree Bangkok arranged planting in four sessions throughout the year, including plantings in Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai. In its three years of participation, Banyan Tree Bangkok has planted 5,699 trees to achieve just below its 6,000-tree target but is aiming to plant as many as 10,000 trees in 2010.
In the Maldives, Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru, Angsana Ihuru and Angsana Velavaru were joined by the six-villa Banyan Tree Madivaru to plant 2,425 trees across the Maldives against its target of 8,000 for the year. Overall, the four resorts have combined to plant a total of 6,155 trees since 2007 with a target of 16,000 trees.
Banyan Tree Seychelles experienced some difficulties in arranging their annual plantings, with an end result that tree plantings were deferred to 2010. This left the Seychelles having planted 2,300 trees in three years compared with a target of 6,000 trees.
Angsana Great Barrier Reef continued its partnership with the Australian Rainforest Foundation’s Hero2 project to extend rainforests by adding another 2,064 trees to the 100-million year old Daintree Forest. The resort continued its streak of beating annual planting targets and has planted 6,164 trees since 2007, or 164 more trees than its accumulated target of 6,000 trees.
Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel beat its target by planting 2,243 trees within the Luang Prabang community, specifi cally in Luang Prabang Military Hospital, Luang Prabang Hospital, and Souphanouvong University. While exceeding their annual target in 2009, the hotel continues its plan to make up for the shortfall of trees planted in 2008, its first year in the initiative when late year tree plantings were postponed. With a combined 2,313 trees planted overall, Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel continues to chip away at its overall target of 4,000 trees so far.
Banyan Tree Lijiang continued its long-term commitment to plant 17,800 trees within the Ji Yu village as the backbone to its overall approach to Greening Communities. The plan includes planting all fruit trees on a hillside, after which the trees are donated to the residents of Ji Yu village who can then take advantage of a partnership set up by Banyan Tree Lijiang whereby a local fruit preserving factory will purchase and process the fruits into a fi nal product sold at markets with potential purchases by Banyan Tree Lijiang for guests. In 2009, another 2,950 trees were planted, bringing Lijiang’s total to 3,962 trees planted and further closing the gap to the 6,000-tree target.
Banyan Tree Ringha joined Greening Communities to plant 1,520 trees during the abbreviated early spring planting window necessitated to ensure trees can take root in time for the winter chill. While our total target was pushed up to 26,000 trees for the year, we also fell short with only 21,372 planted in 2009. Our cumulative total from the fi rst two years of Greening Communities is 49,693 trees planted compared with a target of 62,000 trees.