Unilever Tea Kenya Plantation the location Airstrips Unilever Tea - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Unilever Tea Kenya The Trees4Ever program

Treeconomics for a large estate

Airstrips

Unilever Tea Kenya Plantation – the location

Unilever Tea Kenya – Key figures

Hectares Production Tea 8250

• 160000t of Green leaf
• 36000t black tea per year

Eucalyptus 1800

• 126,000 cbm/yr

Indigenous forest & conservation areas 1400 Ecological services

Improving Health & Well- being

HEALTH & HYGIENE NUTRITION GREENHOUSE GASES WATER WASTE SUSTAINABLE SOURCING BETTER LIVELIHOODS

Enhancing Livelihoods Reducing Environmental Impact

Unilever sustainable living plan - USLP

Unilever is a is a leader in sustainability – our Tree4Ever program is in line wit h the USLP initiative

Forest value - The Biomass need

• UTK uses 126,000 cubic

metres of firewood annually ( to provide 846K GJ)

• This supply sufficient energy

to 8 tea factories

• Eucalyptus provides a

reliable source of biomass – fast growing, easy to split & feed boilers + High calorific value

• A sustainable model – aim is

for a carbon neutral business: sequester as much or more than you emit

• We’ve tried Bamboo &

Croton but found Eucalyptus to accumulate biomass faster per unit of input. Nominal cost Over KES 220M firewood per annum

Eucalyptus forest – seeds and varieties

• Mainly planting E.grandis. There are also

pockets of E. saligna, E. paniculata and hybrids of these species

• We’ve tested some species from S. Africa

but found own species to perform better in biomass accumulation.

• Seeds are collected from the best trees

within a plantation and planted out in the nursery

• Mass seed planting is done then selection

is done in the nursery based on seedling vigour

• Continous mass selection over the years

results in improved and uniform stand Seedling height & vigour @ 1month Ultimate Biomass @ yr 8

The Trees4Ever program

Activities

• Develop indigenous trees nurseries

and grow indigenous trees

• Improve biodiversity – consciously

enrich the diversity within the conservation areas – currently planting

• ver 69 different species ( mainly

species within the Mau catchment area)

• Promote environmental conservation

awareness and sustainability - Participatory approach to conservation

Objective: Environmental conservation and improvement

The Trees4Ever program – seeds & seedlings

• We plant species that

thrive in the locality we

• perate – over 69

different species

• We link with

community collectors to provide wildlings – source of income to the community

• We support community

nurseries through our CSR program – purchase of seedling from community nurseries.

• Our arboreta and

biodiversity islands are also source of seed.

• We purchase from KFS

This year we’ve propagated

• ver 650K seedlings.

100000 200000 300000 400000 500000 600000 700000 800000 900000 1000000 1100000 1200000 Pre-2003 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Local community WWF & UNEP Schools & Churches Egerton Employees Outgrowers Sales Company land

Unilever Tea Kenya Trees4Ever planting Progress - cumulative totals as at December 2014

Forest value – other Ecological services

• The entire UTK’s 8250 ha of

tea and 1800ha of Eucalyptus is rainfed ( not irrigation is used)

• The rain received is

convectional – modulated by the Mau forest and the localities forest areas

• All water used for domestic

and cleaning is from the local rivers

• UTK does not use any

pesticides to control pests & disease.

• This is attributed to a healthy

environment with a good presence of natural enemies to keep potential pests at check Water Pest & disease management

Forest value – other Ecological services

• Indigenous forests within the

catchment regulate river water volume – enhance recharge of aquifers

• UTK generates 2800 Kw of

electricity from the four hydro turbines

• Out of the four, three turbines

are on the on a single river traversing the plantation.

Hydro electricity Over£340M saved on electricity

Forest value – other Ecological services

• UTK has created several

recreational packs and arboreta

• Two main ones are open to the

public and they are areas for educational, recreation and research purposes.

• Conservation of species of

value (resonance) to the cultures within our locality Arboreta, aesthetics and community culture & customs

• Our conservation efforts has

also contributed to improvement in biodiversity. Rare animals e.g clawless

• tters, and the population of

the colour colobus monkeys has notably increase.

• Just commissioned NMK to

undertake a biodiversity study Biodiversity A study by the National Museums

• f Kenya scientists

found 174 different species of birds – most were forest dependent species! Given the focus on cash agriculture & diminished biodiversity within the rural farmlands, the UTK forests provide a haven for pollinators supporting farmers

y = -4.8249x + 11673 R² = 0.0474 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 TOTAL RAINFALL (MM) YEAR

RAINFALL

Rainfall trends in Kericho

Mean air temperatures

y = 0.2x + 15.508 R² = 0.8524

15.6 15.8 16 16.2 16.4 16.6 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009

Temperature (0C) Years

Challenges

• Tree survival especially on outreach areas :

Framework for care & maintenance especially in public areas with no jurisdiction

• Unsustainable harvesting & poaching – debarking

and harvesting for herbal ingredients and ceremonies

• Challenges of climate change – increased

incidences of pest and disease on newly established forests. Diminished survival due to unfavourable climate.

• Costs of running the nurseries and maintenance
• Winning the public goodwill – building an effective

participatory approach to conservation and care.

• Insufficient research on conservation forestry and

natural resource management.

Thank you