Sunday, January 12 will mark the 10th anniversary of the catastrophic 7.0 MW earthquake that struck Haiti and shook the world. For months following the disaster, international media kept Haiti in focus and shared stories of loss, perseverance and hope. This anniversary and milestone presents an opportunity for the world to take new look at how Haiti has recovered and evolved over the past decade. At Timberland, we are doing just that. Our investment in Haiti began in 2009 with a commitment to plant five million trees in five years.
Company launches “Nature Needs Heroes” campaign to empower global community to be champions for the planet
Press Release
STRATHAM, N.H., September 6, 2019 /3BL Media/ – Global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland today announced a new commitment to plant 50 million trees around the world by 2025 as part of its pursuit of a greener future. This bold goal builds on Timberland’s longstanding commitment to make products responsibly, strengthen communities, and protect and enhance the outdoors. One key area of focus has been tree planting; since 2001, the brand has planted more than 10 million trees worldwide.
NEW YORK – Timberland and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance, the collaboration behind a project to reintroduce cotton to Haiti after a 30-year hiatus, are set to hold an event in New York to discuss the project.
February saw the groundbreaking project’s first commercial cotton harvest, marking a landmark moment in the initiative which has had positive agricultural, economic and social ramifications throughout the island nation’s communities.
Three representatives of global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland recently joined the Smallholder Farmers Alliance and local farmers to help harvest Haiti’s first commercial cotton crop in three decades. Since 2016, Timberland has worked with the SFA to reintroduce cotton farming to Haiti. Their goal is to create a new sustainable supply chain for cotton, while also forwarding the reforestation of Haiti and improving farmers lives.
Last week three representatives from Timberland joined smallholder farmers in Haiti to pick cotton as part of Haiti’s’ first commercial cotton harvest in 30 years. Since 2016, Timberland has partnered with the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) on an initiative to reintroduce cotton farming - once the country’s fourth-largest export crop - to Haiti. The recent harvest was a key milestone in the project, which aims to create a new sustainable supply chain of organically grown cotton while simultaneously providing social and environmental benefits to Haitian farm communities.
At the recent Engage for Good Conference in Chicago, Timberland received the Gold Halo Award for Best Environmental Campaign of the Year, for its partnership with the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) and their shared work, “Planting Seeds for Haiti’s Future.” The outdoor lifestyle brand also had the opportunity to share the story through a keynote address to a sold-out crowd of some 525 attendees.
I recently had the pleasure to attend Ethical Corporation’s 6th Annual Responsible Business Summit in New York City. The event, touted as the premier brand-focused forum on responsible business in the U.S., brought in 90+ speakers over two days with rich dialogue focused on driving transformational change for society and industry.
Last week, smallholder farmers convened in a field on the outskirts of Gonaives, Haiti to harvest cotton for the first time in 30 years. Once Haiti’s fourth largest export crop, cotton growing stopped in the 1980s due to policies and politics of the time.
Last August, Haiti’s Smallholder Farmers Alliance and global outdoor lifestyle brand, Timberland, planted cotton seeds at a trial site near Gonaives, with the intention to bring cotton growing back to Haiti after a 30 year hiatus. Four months later, the cotton plants are thriving and at various stages of maturing. All 15 varieties being tested will be harvested by late January.
