"ViasatWoods" is born
150,000 trees planted in Madagascar
150,000 trees will be planted by Viasat Group in Madagascar over the next three years (2020-2022), donating the equivalent of corporate gifts to support the reforestation project of Graine de Vie, a Belgian NGO founded in 2009.
An initiative that is part of the Group’s overall sustainability project, extensively illustrated in our Sustainability Report 2019. In the last 12 years, this publication has taken on growing importance in communicating the Company’s commitment to generate value, seeking sustainable balances (economic, social, and environmental), and paying due attention to the expectations of all Stakeholders that intertwine their interests with those of the company.
We are aware of how technological development can contribute to decreasing the environmental impact deriving from production activities and the market diffusion of our solutions and services, but to realize this perspective, innovation must be well addressed, identifying the main objective precisely as the sustainability.
“It is no coincidence that our Group invests in technological solutions that can promote, thanks to the analysis of data and information coming from onboard devices, a better driving style, considerably reducing CO2 polluting emissions from private and commercial vehicles,” explains Domenico Petrone, President of Viasat Group. “The same goes for the innovative approach that the Group proposes to companies operating in the world of waste management, providing effective tools to make urban hygiene services more efficient with a view to a conscious transition to the circular economy “.
Graine de Vie is a Belgian non-governmental organization, present in BeLux and France, that aims to offset the ecological footprint of industrialized countries by planting trees on the island of Madagascar. Since 2009 it planted over 18 million trees, such as cocoa, mango, moringa, and mangrove, in 423 reforestation areas with 148 nurseries in 16 of the 22 regions of Madagascar.
A planted tree costs 25 cents and can absorb about 5 kg of CO2 per year. This is why we decided, as Eco partner, to create #ViasatWoods in Madagascar, supporting Graine de Vie in the three years 2020 – 2022.
Graine de Vie has focused not only on the environmental intervention to protect those areas from deforestation but also on the improvement of the living and social conditions of the inhabitants.
If you appreciate this initiative and would like to compensate for your CO2 footprint, we invite you to support the action of Graine de Vie with a donation as a company or private individual
To find out how to do it, visit the website Graine de Vie
*** Update January 2023 ***
Reforestation with direct seeding in Madagascar produces very rapid results: young plants are visible within a few weeks after the seeds are planted in the ground. And within a short time, they are ready to absorb CO2.
In 2022, activities continued in Viasat nurseries (Italy and Belgium): 50,000 saplings were produced in the Diego area in Madagascar and 10,000 in the Ampefy area. With the help of indigenous people, millions of seeds are directly sown each year.
Since the foundation in 2009, more than 400 nurseries have been established and maintained in 5 countries. All of these nurseries exist because they were created and maintained with the full support of indigenous communities. They improve the livelihoods of thousands of villagers: they provide jobs, produce food (fruit trees) and become a hub of local activities.
From seed to tree: everything is 100% organic and Graine de Vie owns the process from A to Z to ensure that everything is done with respect for local nature.
*** Update January 2021 ***
Time is paying off, and by 2021 we are seeing the growth of the Viasat forest!
The Viasat plantation, located near the village of Ampefy (Central Madagascar), produced 30,800 seedlings that were replanted into the wild in January this year, and the results were successful.
Due to the isolation caused by #Covid19, Madagascar’s poorest people have been cut off from their food supply, so for us all even more so, the project is a real help to their livelihoods.
*** Update August 2020 ***
The plantation of #ViasatWoods in 2020 saw its realization near the village of Ampefy in the region of Itasy (Central Madagascar) and in the area around the lake named after the region itself (see photo).
In another photo the preparation and planting of the seeds for the Viasat project, where part of the planting is carried out by sowing the soil directly.
The remaining part of the trees that will make up the #ViasatWoods has been planted in the nursery area (see the picture dated June 2020), also in the Ampefy area in the Itasy region, where the first seedlings can already be seen. When they reach a certain size they will be transplanted into the project land.
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