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FleetWatch issues a biodiversity and eco-awareness challenge to the trucking sector using the VWGA example

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Sharing the magic of soil and biodiversity, the VWGA eco team. From left: Ntsapokazi Ningiza, Ulrich Schwabe, production director at Volkswagen Group Africa, Mike Petrie and Reabetsoe Kgoedi. “We cannot have a Zero Impact Factory and not invest time in promoting biodiversity which is essential for healthy ecosystems,” says Schwabe.
Sharing the magic of soil and biodiversity, the VWGA eco team. From left: Ntsapokazi Ningiza, Ulrich Schwabe, production director at Volkswagen Group Africa, Mike Petrie and Reabetsoe Kgoedi. “We cannot have a Zero Impact Factory and not invest time in promoting biodiversity which is essential for healthy ecosystems,” says Schwabe.

This story is not about trucking, although it does emanate from the automotive sector. Why FleetWatch is running this is because its acts as the foundation example for a challenge FleetWatch is issuing to all companies in our industry. Read on….

World Environment Day was celebrated on June 5, seeing people and organisations around the globe getting their hearts, minds and hands stuck into soil restoration. Achieving optimum soil health is of course an on-going task, one that Volkswagen Group Africa has fully embraced by nurturing biodiversity, soil regeneration and eco-awareness at its Eastern Cape factories and their adjoining communities.

According to Ulrich Schwabe, production director at Volkswagen Group Africa: “We cannot have a Zero Impact Factory and not invest time in promoting biodiversity, which is essential for healthy ecosystems. Without a wide variety of animals, plants, and micro-organisms, we wouldn’t have the balanced ecosystems that provide us with clean air, nutrient-rich soil, and food.”

In celebration of Biodiversity Day on May 22, Volkswagen Group Africa (VWGA) employees planted Plumbago Auriculata (also known as Cape Plumbago) at its main production plant in Kariega. 

“This beautiful blue indigenous flower is rich in nectar and plays a vital ecological role by attracting pollinators such as butterflies, bees, and birds. VWGA employees rolled up their sleeves to help plant almost a thousand flowers,” says Schwabe.

Cultivating a holistic view of ecology

“VWGA is committed to biodiversity initiatives, raising awareness among employees and within the communities where it operates throughout the year. Two years ago, employees planted nearly 5 000 spekboom cuttings on the grounds of our Kariega facilities, and hundreds more were planted at local schools through the Volkswagen Community Trust,” Schwabe adds. 

“This remarkable succulent plant is known for its carbon-absorbing properties, making it an essential player in combating climate change. A single hectare of spekboom can absorb up to 4.2 tons of carbon dioxide per year,” Schwabe explains.

“Additionally, our company actively removes invasive trees, shrubs, and grasses from our sites while the Kariega premises is home to about 40 spayed cats. As natural hunters, cats help control the rodent and pest population.

“In addition, Kariega-based employees and their loved-ones are regularly invited to join the in-house hiking club on nature hikes. As part of the recent biodiversity awareness campaign, employees made their way to 3Rivers Forest Hike outside Gqeberha. 

“Meanwhile, VWGA supports nature conservation efforts through its long-standing partnership with the Wilderness Foundation Africa, providing the organisation with a vehicle which enables them to carry out critical conservation work. VWGA also hosts an annual Show of Hands employee volunteer event aimed at supporting an environmental cause in the Nelson Mandela Bay community,” he says.

Schwabe concludes by saying: “Achieving a Zero Impact Factory involves more than just transitioning to renewable energy and conserving water; it also requires enhancing biodiversity.”

VWGA has indeed set an inspiring example of how companies and employees can join hands to improve quality of life in their communities by nurturing eco-awareness and embedding biodiversity in their areas of work and leisure.

FleetWatch challenge

Using this example, FleetWatch is issuing a challenge to all companies in the trucking industry to take similar actions – where possible – to involve your company and staff in biodiversity initiatives. We issued a similar challenge some years ago and it was taken up by a number of companies.

With climate change a reality, the need for such actions has become even more pertinent. Are you up to it? Please let us know what actions your company is taking and we will highlight your efforts. And hats off to the good people at VWGA for the fine work they are doing. It’s the right thing to do.

Editor’s note: Microbiologists and soil scientists have made great strides, thanks to electron microscopes, in understanding how biodiversity in soil leads to universal biospheric health. Essentially, when soil is left undisturbed by synthetic chemicals and heavy machinery and fed only organic matter, it not only produces exponentially more nutrients, it also stores water better while absorbing atmospheric carbon, effectively solving the food, water and climate crises in one beautiful swoop!  

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