{"id":7203,"date":"2023-06-29T19:07:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T16:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/?p=7203"},"modified":"2023-06-29T19:07:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T16:07:59","slug":"astrazeneca-expands-global-az-forest-initiative-to-boost-ecological-and-community-resilience-in-ghana-and-rwanda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/news\/astrazeneca-expands-global-az-forest-initiative-to-boost-ecological-and-community-resilience-in-ghana-and-rwanda","title":{"rendered":"AstraZeneca expands global AZ Forest initiative to boost ecological and community resilience in Ghana and Rwanda"},"content":{"rendered":"

AstraZeneca (AstraZeneca.com<\/a>) will expand its existing AZ Forest project in Ghana by planting an additional 2.2 million trees, aiming to increase the total number of surviving trees to 4.7 million;\u00a0In Rwanda, AstraZeneca has funded the pilot phase of an agroforestry project, to accelerate the development of one of the country\u2019s largest forest restoration initiatives;\u00a0To restore degraded lands, AZ Forest relies on a multi-stakeholder approach involving local communities, planting experts, and governments;\u00a0Projects are part of the Company\u2019s global commitment to plant 200 million trees by 2030, removing around 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over 30 years.<\/p>\n

AstraZeneca has today announced the expansion of its global AZ Forest reforestation and biodiversity initiative, including new and expanded projects in Ghana and Rwanda. In Ghana, the expansion will see the total forest area of the Atebubu-Amantin and Sene West landscape restoration project grow to over 8,000 hectares, with an additional 2.2 million trees planted, bringing the total targeted number of surviving trees to 4.7 million. In Rwanda, AstraZeneca has funded a pilot phase of an agroforestry project that aims to plant more than 5.8 million trees over 30 years.<\/p>\n

A collaboration between the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance (CBA), New Generation Plantation Technical<\/a> Assistance (NGPTA), and other partners, the project in Atebubu-Amantin and Sene West is a unique partnership, combining natural forest restoration and community lead agroforestry, helping to improve the local economy and create nature-based business models for small-holder farmers. The project is part of a global network of \u201cLiving Labs\u201d, which aim to catalyse the development of circular bioeconomy value chains through landscape restoration, while supporting biodiversity<\/a> and local livelihoods.<\/p>\n

To date, AZ Forest Ghana has recruited over 1,200 farmers from 23 communities, planted over 2 million trees and trained nearly 950 individuals in agroforestry and wildfire<\/a> prevention and management.<\/p>\n

AstraZeneca has also provided funding<\/a> to accelerate the development of the \u201cMuLaKiLa\u201d project in Rwanda. \u201cMuLaKiLa\u201d aims to support local communities and livelihoods through agroforestry and restore the ecological balance of the Mukura Forest-Lake Kivu Catchment Landscape. With the aim to be another \u201cLiving Lab\u201d the project will help more than 30,000 farming households, in what is one the largest forest restoration initiatives<\/a> in Rwanda.<\/p>\n

AZ Forest is AstraZeneca\u2019s global initiative that, through collaboration with partners and local communities, will see 200 million trees<\/a> planted and maintained by 2030 across six continents, removing an estimated 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over the next thirty years. AstraZeneca is the first healthcare company to make this level of commitment to reforestation, recognising that climate change<\/a> is the biggest threat to human health and that reforestation brings important co-benefits. These include improving food security, combatting air pollution, improving local water<\/a> quality, lowering surface and air temperatures, restoring habitats for biodiversity, and bringing social and economic benefits for communities.<\/p>\n

Dr Pelin Incesu, Area Vice-President for the Middle East and Africa<\/strong>,\u00a0AstraZeneca<\/strong>, stated: \u201cAstraZeneca is committed to building a sustainable future for people, society and the planet, and the AZ Forest expansion in Ghana as well as the new project<\/a> in Rwanda are a key part of that mission in Africa. By supporting communities to restore degraded lands, we are tackling climate change<\/a> and fostering resilience and sustainability from the bottom up, creating a more sustainable and healthier future for everyone. This exciting project sits alongside numerous other sustainable healthcare initiatives that AstraZeneca supports across Africa<\/a>, including Healthy Heart Africa and our Accelerate Change Together for Cancer Care Africa programme, which tackle some of the continent\u2019s fastest-growing health threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marc Palah\u00ed, Chair, Circular Bioeconomy Alliance (CBA)<\/strong>, said, \u201cI am thankful for AstraZeneca\u2019s new commitments that allow the CBA to expand the land under restoration in Africa. This initiative and the pilot project in Rwanda are great examples of how corporations, scientists and local communities can work together for the benefit<\/a> of nature and people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honourable Anthony Owusu from Bantama community<\/a> in Ghana<\/strong>, Multi-Stakeholder Platform Chair, said: \u201cOur project\u2019s Multi-Stakeholder Platform has created an avenue where both farmers and opinion leaders are brought together to take decisions that benefit themselves, their communities and the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of AstraZeneca.<\/i><\/p>\n

AstraZeneca:<\/strong>
\nAstraZeneca (LSE\/STO\/Nasdaq: AZN) is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialisation of prescription medicines in Oncology, Rare Diseases, and BioPharmaceuticals, including Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. Based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries, and its innovative<\/a> medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. Please visit\u00a0AstraZeneca.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow the Company on Twitter (https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/3PvzjDT<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Atebubu and Wiase Forest Landscape Restoration<\/a> Project:<\/strong>
\nFor more information on the Ghana AZ Forest project visit:\u00a0https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/442ReWH<\/a><\/p>\n

AZ Forest:<\/strong>
\nFor more information on the global AZ Forest global initiative, visit:\u00a0https:\/\/apo-opa.info\/44gXYA2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AstraZeneca (AstraZeneca.com) will expand its existing AZ Forest project in Ghana by planting an additional 2.2 million trees, aiming to increase the total number of surviving trees to 4.7 million;\u00a0In Rwanda, AstraZeneca has funded the pilot phase of an agroforestry project, to accelerate the development of one of the country\u2019s largest forest restoration initiatives;\u00a0To restore […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7203"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7209,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7203\/revisions\/7209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cfwt.sua.ac.tz\/ecosystems\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}