Unilever Tea Kenya

The Trees4Ever program

Treeconomics for a large estate

Airstrips

Unilever Tea Kenya Plantation – the location

Unilever Tea Kenya – Key figures

Hectares Production

Tea 8250 • 160000t of Green leaf

• 36000t black tea per year

Eucalyptus 1800 • 126,000 cbm/yr

Indigenous forest &

conservation areas

1400 Ecological services

Improving Health & Well-being

HEALTH & HYGIENE

NUTRITION GREENHOUSE GASES

WATER WASTE SUSTAINABLE

SOURCING

BETTER LIVELIHOODS

Enhancing Livelihoods Reducing Environmental Impact

Unilever sustainable living plan - USLP

Unilever is a is a leader in sustainability – our Tree4Ever program is in line wit h the USLP initiative

Forest value - The Biomass need

• UTK uses 126,000 cubic metres of firewood annually ( to provide 846K GJ)

• This supply sufficient energy to 8 tea factories

• Eucalyptus provides a reliable source of biomass – fast growing, easy to split & feed boilers + High calorific value

• A sustainable model – aim is for a carbon neutral business: sequester as much or more than you emit

• We’ve tried Bamboo & Croton but found Eucalyptus to accumulate biomass faster per unit of input.

Nominal cost Over KES 220M firewood per annum

Eucalyptus forest – seeds and varieties

• Mainly planting E.grandis. There are also pockets of E. saligna, E. paniculata and hybrids of these species

• We’ve tested some species from S. Africa but found own species to perform better in biomass accumulation.

• Seeds are collected from the best trees within a plantation and planted out in the nursery

• Mass seed planting is done then selection is done in the nursery based on seedling vigour

• Continous mass selection over the years results in improved and uniform stand

Seedling height & vigour @ 1month U

ltim

ate

Bio

mas

s @

yr

8

The Trees4Ever program

Activities

• Develop indigenous trees nurseries

and grow indigenous trees

• Improve biodiversity – consciously

enrich the diversity within the

conservation areas – currently planting

over 69 different species ( mainly

species within the Mau catchment

area)

• Promote environmental conservation

awareness and sustainability -

Participatory approach to conservation

Objective: Environmental conservation and

improvement

The Trees4Ever program – seeds & seedlings

• We plant species that

thrive in the locality we

operate – over 69

different species

• We link with

community collectors

to provide wildlings –

source of income to the

community

• We support community

nurseries through our

CSR program –

purchase of seedling

from community

nurseries.

• Our arboreta and

biodiversity islands are

also source of seed.

• We purchase from KFS

This year we’ve propagated over 650K seedlings.

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100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000

700000

800000

900000

1000000

1100000

1200000

Pre-2003 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Local community WWF & UNEP Schools & Churches Egerton Employees Outgrowers Sales Company land

Unilever Tea Kenya Trees4Ever planting Progress - cumulative totals as at December 2014

Forest value – other Ecological services

• The entire UTK’s 8250 ha of tea and 1800ha of Eucalyptus is rainfed ( not irrigation is used)

• The rain received is convectional – modulated by the Mau forest and the localities forest areas

• All water used for domestic and cleaning is from the local rivers

• UTK does not use any pesticides to control pests & disease.

• This is attributed to a healthy environment with a good presence of natural enemies to keep potential pests at check

Water

Pest & disease management

Forest value – other Ecological services

• Indigenous forests within the catchment regulate river water volume – enhance recharge of aquifers

• UTK generates 2800 Kw of electricity from the four hydro turbines

• Out of the four, three turbines are on the on a single river traversing the plantation.

Hydro electricity

Over£340M saved on electricity

Forest value – other Ecological services

• UTK has created several recreational packs and arboreta

• Two main ones are open to the public and they are areas for educational, recreation and research purposes.

• Conservation of species of value (resonance) to the cultures within our locality

Arboreta, aesthetics and community culture & customs

• Our conservation efforts has also contributed to improvement in biodiversity. Rare animals e.g clawless otters, and the population of the colour colobus monkeys has notably increase.

• Just commissioned NMK to undertake a biodiversity study

Biodiversity

A study by the National Museums of Kenya scientists found 174 different species of birds – most were forest dependent species!

Given the focus on cash agriculture & diminished biodiversity within the rural farmlands, the UTK forests provide a haven for pollinators supporting farmers

y = -4.8249x + 11673 R² = 0.0474

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1200

1400

1600

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2000

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1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

TO

TA

L R

AIN

FA

LL

(M

M)

YEAR

RAINFALL

Rainfall trends in Kericho

Mean air temperatures

y = 0.2x + 15.508 R² = 0.8524

15.6

15.8

16

16.2

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16.6

1969 1979 1989 1999 2009

Tem

pera

ture

(0C

)

Years

Challenges

• Tree survival especially on outreach areas : Framework for care & maintenance especially in public areas with no jurisdiction

• Unsustainable harvesting & poaching – debarking and harvesting for herbal ingredients and ceremonies

• Challenges of climate change – increased incidences of pest and disease on newly established forests. Diminished survival due to unfavourable climate.

• Costs of running the nurseries and maintenance • Winning the public goodwill – building an effective

participatory approach to conservation and care. • Insufficient research on conservation forestry and

natural resource management.

Thank you