DID YOU KNOW? Philippines is losing approximately 47,000 hectares of trees annually and the total forest cover has decreased from 7,168,400 (2003) to 6,839,717 (2010). Just imagine the number now that its already year 2019. All the species (endagered or not)living in those areas will surely be displaced or worse become extinct. Sad right? That’s why we should do something about it. We must act fast and that time is NOW!
Filipinos who want to contribute to environmental preservation can now conveniently use an innovative mobile phone app to help plant trees and increase the Philippines’ forest cover.
Leading mobile wallet, GCash, introduced an exciting “green” feature on the app called GCash Forest, which lets subscribers plant virtual trees that will have real-life counterparts. By the end of 365 days, GCash Forest aims to plant 365 thousand trees with the help of GCash subscribers.
“GCash Forest is about making it easier, more convenient, and even rewarding for everyone to take care of our environment for the benefit of future generations. GCash is no longer just providing an excellent platform for accessible financial products and services but alsoenabling Filipinos to be more active in responding to real-life issues, such as climate change mitigation through reforestation. Many Filipinos, especially the younger ones, care about the environment but a lot of them don’t know how they canactively take part in environmental protection. This is a barrier that GCash Forest addresses because they only need to use their smartphones—an already integral part of their daily lives—to make a difference,” said Mynt CEO Anthony Thomas.
“The GCash Forest shows digital technology holds a huge power to mobilize people in support of sustainable development and the fight against climate change. And this power goes beyond border and is at our fingertips through our mobile devices. We’re more than happy to open up our technology and expertise to current and potential partners to make the world a better place.” said Yan Meng, Ant Financial’s Global Head of International Partnerships.
To plant trees through GCash Forest, GCash users need to collect “green energy” by frequently using the app. Users who get enough green energy can choose which species of trees they want to plant in a selected area at the Ipo watershed. Once the trees are physically planted, users get to receive a certificate of ownership with a serial number, fun facts and updates on the growth of their trees on their GCash apps.
The newest Gcash feature was inspired by Alipay Ant Forest, a product operates by Ant Financial, an Alibaba affiliate and the parent company of the world’s leading payments and lifestyle platform, Alipay. Via the mobile platform, more than 500 million users have planted 100 million real trees and advanced a shared vision of sustainable and inclusive development.
Going back, to implement its tree-planting initiatives, GCash Forest partnered with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and The Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN). The DENR will provide land resources in Ipo Watershed, an essential component of the Angat-Umiray-Ipo watersheds system supplying 98 percent of Metro Manila’s water. WWF will be providing trees and manpower while BIOFIN will provide expertise on monitoring.
“As we work on rehabilitating the Ipo watershed and securing Metro Manila’s water supply, partnering with GCash enables us to continue rallying a vast network who could grow our movement of restoring our forests and protecting our biodiversity.” -Joel Palma-President, WWF-Philippines
“We are depleting our natural wealth at an unimaginable rate. While the Philippines is mega diverse it is also a hot-spot given the extent of the threat to our natural environment. There is no one magic bullet that can turn the situation around. We need diverse actors to engage and find diverse solutions. And we need unusual partnerships – which in time will become usual partnerships. GCash, WWF and DENR are now embarking on one to reduce our carbon footprint and help the Philippines meet its reforestation targets. UNDP through BIOFIN is delighted to bring these actors together to stem the tide on our rapid loss of forest cover.”-Titon Mitra-Resident Representative UNDP
By leveraging the GCash platform and scale, GCash Forest aims to rally a coalition of individuals, non-government organizations, and international organizations to meet its 2020 targets.
Let’s help each other to save our environment. Make a pledge to plant #OneTreeAtATime
Download the GCash App and learn more about GCash Forest here: www.gcash.com/gforest
