CNH Industrial Is Firmly Committed to Protecting and Enhancing Biodiversity
A key priority at CNH Industrial is to help combat climate change, whose negative impact on ecosystems affects the quality of life for people in local communities, as well as consumer choices. The Company has initiated several projects to tackle this global issue, which are also aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal 13, ‘Climate Action’. A key plank of this policy are projects focusing on protecting biodiversity, carried out by the Company’s plants across the globe.
Once great herds of bison roamed the plains of Canada, however at the end of the 19th century they were hunted to near extinction. Today, there is a growing movement to reintroduce bison to this iconic Canadian landscape. The Wanuskewin Heritage Park, located near the New Holland Agriculture Saskatoon plant in southern Canada, has a plan to reintroduce bison to the park, which requires creating and maintaining natural grassland. The plant provided the tractors and volunteers to sow some 64.7 hectares. To date, five bison have been reintroduced to the park, and on April 22, 2020, a baby bison was born at the park – the first time since 1876. Since the first calf made its appearance, it has been followed by three more.
The New Holland Agriculture tractor plant in Basildon, England, set up an ongoing project with Mason Bees UK for the conservation of solitary bees. The plant purchased bee lodges and a number of cocoons of red mason bees, which emerged in April, benefitting the nearby flora through pollination. At the end of each summer, the nesting tubes full of larvae are sent back to Mason Bees for overwinter storage that, in return, sends the plant new cocoons each spring.
As part of a team building event involving the logistics staff at the IVECO BUS plant in Vysoke Myto in the north east of the Czech Republic, bird boxes were built and donated to local kindergartens. Moreover, plant employees spent a whole Sunday collecting more than 300 kilos of waste along a five kilometer route around the city.
For the second consecutive year, employees from the Zedelgem plant, which produces New Holland combines and balers, and is located some 12 kilometers south west of the city of Bruges in Belgium, participated in the annual Eneco Clean Beach Cup, joining other volunteers in the clean-up of waste from local beaches.
In Brazil, as regards planting initiatives, employees, who work at Company facilities in Sete Lagoas and Sorocaba, together with their families, contributed to the ‘Plant that Idea’ project. The project, which encourages environmental protection and promotes integration between the Company and the community, saw families plant ornamental tree seedlings and vegetables, as well as receiving feedback on the impact on the environment and on future generations. At the end of the session everyone took home a small plant as a reminder of their day. In Curitiba, employees planted 66 native and fruit tree seedlings. In Piracicaba, white ipês, trees which are characterized by their distinctive white blossom, donated by the municipal nursery were planted in collaboration with local institutions. The production facility in Cordoba Argentina, which produces agricultural equipment, commercial vehicles and powertrains, planted 500 trees, comprising five different species, across 1.7 hectares, involving 65 employees and members of the local community.
In India, New Holland Agriculture continued its substantial tree-planting drive started in 2017. Last year, in collaboration with its dealers’ teams, the brand planted 45,000 saplings at dealer locations in Pune and Greater Noida to bolster community engagement and raise pollution awareness.