Colas renews its partnership with the Forest & Life tree planting program

A first action was carried out this Thursday, November 21: employees of the Colas agency in Annecy accompanied 145 primary school students to plant 800 trees in the heart of the Bois des Îles in Poisy. In addition, after supporting Côte d'Ivoire for 2 years, Colas will continue its commitment on the island of Madagascar initiated in 2024.

The principle of this partnership is simple: for every tree planted in the Northern Hemisphere, two are planted in a threatened forest in the countries of the South. Since the beginning of this initiative, four reforestation projects have been completed. The first two plantations were carried out in Yvelines and Sarthe (over the period 2021-2022), followed by a third in Vaucluse (over the period 2022-2023), all linked to Côte d'Ivoire.

The fourth plantation carried out over the period 2023-2024 took place in Doubs, in twinning with Madagascar. It allowed the rehabilitation of a mangrove in a village in the southwest of the island, disrupted by climate change and population growth. This project benefits from the support of the Eau de Coco association, which works to improve the living conditions of marginalized people in southern Madagascar.

In total, in three years of partnership, 7.000 trees have been planted in France and 15.000 seedlings have been sponsored in Ivory Coast and Madagascar, with the participation of 600 children spread across the three countries. Around fifty Colas employees participated in the educational plantings alongside the students.

For Anne-Laure Levent, Environmental Director of Colas: "Preserving biodiversity and reducing our carbon footprint are priority issues in our activities. Our teams are proud to participate in these local reforestation operations, to contribute to the preservation of their territory and to support children in this step of raising awareness of eco-citizenship."

By renewing its commitment for three years, Colas is continuing its desire to reforest multifunctional forest areas, to raise awareness among young students about environmental protection, to encourage cultural exchanges between them, while allowing the Group's employees to get involved locally.

For over 10 years, Colas has been deploying a biodiversity strategy, aimed at developing and promoting ecological niches while preserving emblematic species in its quarries. The aim is to extend these actions to all of its sites, including industrial sites, through ecological diagnostics to define measures adapted to the needs of local fauna and flora. These initiatives include the creation of ecological meadows, the reinforcement of existing hedges and the installation of shelters to promote biodiversity.