Bybit, one of the world’s fastest growing cryptocurrency exchanges, has pledged to plant and nurture 100,000 fruit trees across Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal in India, through its partnership with One Tree Planted.
Through supporting the "India 2022: Fruit Trees to Fight Hunger" project, which will run from Feb. 14, 2022 to Nov. 30, 2022, Bybit will be helping smallholder farmers in marginalized communities, by helping the participating farmers to create sustainable livelihoods and provide nutritious food for their families and community. The initiative also manifests long-term goals of fighting pollution, conserving water and preventing soil erosion.
Three years after planting, each fruit tree will help generate an income of $10 per tree per year. The pledge will see through the plan to establish a steady source of income to fight hunger, malnutrition and poverty in vulnerable rural communities. The project will also create job opportunities for local women in the tree nurseries to alleviate gender inequality in underprivileged groups.
One Tree Planted will be building a new large-scale tree nursery in Mirzapur this year to reduce the need for sapling transportation (saving costs and carbon emissions), and improve the quality of the saplings as they are able to acclimatize to local conditions. These nurseries will employ a local workforce consisting of widowed and elderly women, who face many inequalities in already marginalized communities.
Bybit shares One Tree Planted’s deep-rooted vision for a greener future. In addition to economic benefits for local communities, the project will pilot a "plastic-free nursery" program, replacing plastic nursery bags with jute and paddy stalks to reduce tons of plastic waste. This will commence as a trial on a small portion of the trees in 2022, and will be rolled out further in future years. One Tree Planted has supported this project with its local partner Sustainable Green Initiative since 2017. Together, they have planted 3.5 million fruit trees across India to date. One Tree Planted has grown over 40 million trees in 43 countries since 2014.
"As Bybit expands globally, we recognize the importance of giving back to the wider society and our responsibility to ensure that future generations have the opportunity to experience a sustainable future. Issues of sustainability and inequality are close to our hearts, and that is why we are supporting organizations like One Tree Planted who are building solutions that will benefit millions in the years to come," said Igneus Terrenus, Head of Communications at Bybit.
"We appreciate the support of Bybit, and all the great work we will be able to do as a result of this partnership. Through the Fruit Trees to Fight Hunger initiative we will be able to plant more trees to support the people, community, and biodiversity in India," said Ashley Lamontagne, Forest Campaign Manager.
