AccorHotels’ green-thumbed employees Plant for the Planet

Sixty AccorHotels’ employees took time out of their busy schedules to help restore critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland at a special corporate planting event last Wednesday. The group of green-thumbed volunteers assisted with the planting of almost 1,000 seedlings at Oxley Park to expand and connect vital habitat.

The event was run as part of our ongoing partnership with AccorHotels who have been contributing funds since 2008 to several of our large landscape restoration projects as part of their Planet 21 sustainable development program and ‘Plant for the Planet’ initiative. Globally the program has planted more than 5 million trees and AccorHotels has committed to plant 10 million more trees by 2021.

“Our partnership with AccorHotels is boosting the ongoing restoration of some of Australia’s most significant landscapes. It is great to see a renowned hotel group like this taking a real leadership role in this space,” said Jonathan Duddles, Greening Australia’s Director of Development.

To date, the hotel chain has enabled more than 45,000 native trees and shrubs to be planted across three priority landscapes – Sydney’s Cumberland Plain Woodlands, the Peel Biolink in Western Australia and Habitat 141 in South Australia.

In 2016, AccorHotels announced that it would expand their funding to help preserve local ecosystems in the Great Barrier Reef catchment area as part of Reef Aid. This winter, the first 4,500 trees will be planted in local wetland areas to help improve water quality on the Reef.

“Australia’s tourism industry is reliant on our beautiful landscapes, and as the country’s largest hotel operator we have a duty of care to protect – and where need be restore – the precious natural habitats in which we operate,” says Simon McGrath, Chief Operating Officer AccorHotels Pacific.

“Planet 21 is as much about inviting our guests to join us on our sustainability journey, as it is about offering our employees and hotel owners the opportunity to give back and help maintain their local environments. It is through our partnership with Greening Australia they we are taking proactive steps to leave our planet in good health for generations of hoteliers and guests to come.”

“Our partnership is enabling thousands of hotel guests to make a difference by helping people and nature to thrive,” says Jonathan.

As well as providing a significant boost to our on ground restoration work helping Greening Australia return life to landscapes and restore the balance of the natural environment, Accor also actively promotes the program and its benefits to hotel guests around Australia.