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Senegal Accor hotel employees: Plant for the Planet ambassadors for Europe, Africa and the Middle East

Senegal is one of 7 countries in the world home to a Plant for the Planet reforestation project: the SOS SAHEL association uses the money collected by the 500 hotels in southern Europe and Africa already committed to the project to plant 1 million trees in Senegal by end 2012.

For Earth Day, employees from the country's 2 hotels, Pullman Teranga and Novotel Dakar, together with employees from the regional Accor office, will go to see with their own eyes the project's positive impact in situ, acting as ambassadors and subsequently bearing witness in the 500 hotels involved.
On April 21-22, some sixty employees, accompanied by SOS SAHEL representatives, will visit the Lompoul region to meet the populations taking part in the project and reaping its benefits, see existing plantations and plant a few trees themselves.

Romania

April 2, 2009The M.E.T. NGO planted more than 5,000 trees in the Sibiu-Sighisoara region (Transylvania). More than 200 pupils helped the NGO plant trees in a 5-hectare field.
These are the first trees planted in Romania within the framework of Accor’s Plant for the Planet project. The funds used for this plantation came from Mercure Munich City Center and Sofitel Bayerpost Munich (Germany), from Novotel Breda (Netherlands), Sofitel St James and Mercure Cardiff Holland House (United Kingdom). In April 2008, these hotels set up a new towel re-use program for guests and now reinvest 50 % of the savings in M.E.T.’s reforestation projects.

Brazil

February 15, 2009 Nordesta Brazil, along with many volunteers, planted 3,100 young plants of 22 native species in the park of Serra da Canastra near the Limeira guesthouse.
These are the first trees planted in Brazil within the framework of Accor’s Plant for the Planet project. They are financed by 3 Brazilian hotels – Novotel São Jose Dos Campos, Sofitel Rio and Mercure Sao Paulo Paulista – which have implemented a new towel re-use program for guests since April 2008. Half of the savings was donated to Nordesta Brazil to finance the planting.
In 2009, more than 100 Brazilian hotels of the Accor group will join the Plant for the Planet project.

United States

January 2009 Accor signed a partnership with American Forests, an NGO specialized in reforestation. The Accor group is going to finance American Forests’s projects within the framework of its Plant for the Planet project. This project aims at facilitating the implementation of money-saving eco-practices. The savings achieved in North America will help to finance American Forests’ reforestation programs, which combine environmental, economic and social benefits for local communities.
First initiative: the launch of a new towel re-use program for guests in Novotel North York and Sofitel San Francisco Bay in 2008, which will allow planting thousands of trees in the national forest of Monongahela in Western Virginia, from 2009.

Australia

January 2009 Nicolas Métro who created Kinomé, the company in charge of the reforestation projects’ audit on behalf of the Accor group, met the Greening Australia teams. This meeting helped to specify the scheme of the reforestation projects which will be financed by Accor: the protection of the Wollondilly riverbanks, the Wollondilly River being an important tributary of the Hawkes River, which supplies 70 % of the Sydney urban area with water.

Indonesia

January 2009 Since April 2008, 5 Indonesian hotels have been engaged in the Plant for the Planet project.
By inviting guests to reuse their towels, Novotel Benoa Bali, all seasons Legian Bali, Mercure Convention Center in Djakarta, Novotel Mangga Dua and ibis Arcadia generated savings which will finance the planting of thousands of trees near the village of Glandang in 2009.

Senegal

January 2009 Since April, 2008, 15 hotels located in France, Benin and Cameroon, have been engaged in the Plant for the Planet project. By inviting guests to reuse their towels, these hotels generated savings and donated almost €20,000 to SOS Sahel. These funds will finance in 2009 the plantation of thousands of trees in the Niayes area, a strategic market garden region for Senegal.

Thailand

January 2009 Accor signed a partnership with Plant-a-tree-today, an NGO based in Bangkok and specialized in reforestation. The Accor group is going to finance projects of the NGO within the framework of its Plant for the Planet project. This project aims at facilitating the implementation of money-saving eco-practices. The savings achieved in Asia will help to finance Plant-a-tree-today’s programs with the aim to reforest the Khao Yai park and to create jobs.