‘Time for Nature’ focuses on the role nature plays in providing the essential infrastructure that supports life on earth and human development. This focus is particularly important to Sappi, which has unlocked the value of woodfibre from its forests, at the core of its sustainable business strategy. Biodiversity is key to the healthy functioning of the forests and plantations from which we source woodfibre – they would not be productive without biotic processes taking place, making World Environment Day particularly relevant to us.
Globally speaking, the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres comments: “The most important ecosystems and biodiversity refuges on land are forests, which cover some 30% of our planet’s land area and are home to 80% of all terrestrial species. The ecosystem services they provide to humanity range from purifying air and water to producing foods, medicines and wood and paper products. Forests sustain essential watersheds and influence the global climate and rainfall patterns.”
Graeme Wild, Sappi Group head: investor relations and sustainability, further elaborates: “Forests also provide renewable resources central to the building of sustainable economies and societies. We need to work together to promote healthy forests for all the benefits they deliver to people and the planet.”
Important to know then, that approximately a third of the forest plantations that Sappi Southern Africa owns and leases in South Africa, is managed to conserve natural habitats and the biodiversity they contain; to the extent that Sappi has six declared nature reserves on its property, which form part of the national stewardship programme. (Read more about these conservation areas here).
In Europe, we are actively working in a number of forest-sector collaborations to ensure our thriving forest bioeconomy remains an integral part of the EU Green Deal. Through sustainable forest management practices, responsible sourcing, efficient use of resources and manufacturing innovation, our sector helps to mitigate EU emissions and safeguard biodiversity while providing fibre-based and low carbon products for the circular economy. Given the urgency of the biodiversity and climate crises, together with Covid-19 recovery, we endeavour to scale up our collective response and deployment of nature-based solutions.
Besides our plantations converting CO2 into carbohydrates that provide the energy and building blocks for plant growth, our trees also release oxygen into the atmosphere. This abundance of fresh air is just one of the reasons why so many people enjoy those parts of our plantations in South Africa that have been opened up to offer safe and enjoyable trails for mountain bikers, trail runners, hikers and other non-motorised trail users. This aligns with our commitment to promote a healthy lifestyle and to nurture an appreciation for nature and the sustainable use of renewable resources, thereby also helping to boost local economies. This link provides more information on the Sappi Trails programme: https://www.sappi.com/sappi-trails-programme
Besides promoting environmental awareness through these programmes that promote conservation and responsible land use, Sappi also acts #ForNature by using forest certification systems (such as The Forest Stewardship CouncilTM (FSCTM) programme; the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification™ (PEFC™); the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) programme), which ensure that responsible forest management practices are implemented in the forest and that woodfibre from certified forests can be identified throughout the supply chain.
By ensuring responsible environmental management and promoting biodiversity, we offer our customers in more than 150 countries around the world relevant solutions based on a renewable natural resource, thereby supporting their own goals to act #ForNature.
About Sappi Limited
A global leader in dissolving pulp and paper-based solutions, Sappi Limited is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa; has over 12,000 employees; manufacturing facilities on three continents, in seven countries (eight operations in Europe, four operations in North America and five operations in South Africa) and customers in over 150 countries worldwide
Sappi works closely with customers to provide relevant and sustainable dissolving pulp, paper (speciality, packaging and graphic), paper pulp, and biomaterial products and related services and innovations. Our market-leading range of paper products includes: flexible packaging, label, release liner, containerboard, graphic papers, casting release papers and in our Southern African region newsprint, uncoated graphic and business papers. These products serve the fashion, FMCG and industrial sectors. Our dissolving pulp products are used worldwide by converters to produce viscose fibre, pharmaceutical products as well as a wide range of household and consumer products.
Sappi drives product innovation and the development of new uses for its renewable resource (woodfibre) as well as for the biomass and other residues from its production processes. One such area is in the field of biomaterials (cellulose composites, nanocellulose and lignins), biochemicals including hemi-cellulose sugars and bio-energy forest products materials which Sappi believes will play a key role in its future range of products, both as commercial products and for applications within Sappi.
We continue to grow into a profitable and cash-generative diversified business with an exciting future in woodfibre, a renewable resource. www.sappi.com
