Together for Trees (TFT) is an environmental campaign to help protect the rain forests around the world from deforestation which is a major cause of climate change. The campaign is the result of a partnership between Tesco (The UK's biggest retailer) and the RSPB (Europe's largest wildlife conservation charity). It was first publicly announced on 23 February 2012. The Together for Trees campaign aims to raise awareness and support for the RSPB's rainforest programme 'Saving Tropical Forests Together' which is a collaborative partnership to save 'nearly 240,000 hectares of tropical forest in seven countries around the world.' In doing so it hopes to raise over £1 million for the RSPB in the first year which will be used to support essential on-the-ground conservation work from replanting native tree species to offering employment for local people in rainforest conservation.
Strategic aims
Some of the many aims of the Tesco retailer in the 'Together for Trees' campaign include:
As part of Tesco's continuing advances towards an eco-friendly business model, the retailer anticipates that somewhere around £500,000 will be raised in the first year (2012) towards the RSPB in Wales as a result of the Welsh bag levy which puts a charge on single-use carrier bags to reduce their excessive use. Wales had become the first UK nation to introduce such a levy, with customers paying a minimum of 5p per bag (October 2011 figures).