Johannesburg — Business software giant SAP, as a blue chip patron and partner of the Leadership for Conservation in Africa (LCA), highlighted its commitment towards sustainability at the commencement of the sixth LCA Council Meeting launch, held on Thursday 25 August, at the SAP offices, in Johannesburg.
More than 80 delegates from Africa and several global delegates were present, including, Minister Henri Djombo: the Minister of Forestry Economics for the Republic of Congo, Sabine Plattner, International businesswoman and philanthropist, and Chris Marais, CEO of the LCA.
The LCA announced its 20/20 vision to positively influence, accelerate and bring about the protection of 20 million hectares of rain forests and selected ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa by the year 2020.
This vision builds on the LCA mandate to restore and develop the land under conversation to the benefit of the environment, local communities and the government. Other blue chip patrons of the LCA include Gold Fields Limited, Standard Bank, Veolia Water Solutions, Sabine Plattner African Charities, Hasso Plattner Foundation and the Howard G Buffet Foundation.
Ian Cockerill, Chairman of the LCA Board, comments: “The purpose of the LCA is primarily to establish a link between business and conservation, by influencing both national and international business leaders to support investment in the development of Africa conservation-related resources. We have done exactly this by partnering with SAP as one of our blue-chip patrons and we look forward to the great successes that we can accomplish together.”
Successes of the LCA include the recent launch of the Odzala Kokoua National Park, in the Republic of Congo. The LCA successfully facilitated a 30-year Public Private Partnership to ensure the protection of 1 354 600ha pristine rainforest, which led to job creation, community intervention with the inclusion of education, as well as driving revenue into Congo through tourism development. As a result, Odzala has become a pilot project and a model on which the future initiatives in Africa could be moulded.
Sunil Geness, Corporate Affairs Executive of SAP Africa, comments: “SAP has been recognised by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as the leading software company for the past two years, and the outcome of this recognition has hinged upon SAP utilising its own software to monitor and report on, among others the utilisation of energy, commuting and our carbon impact. We believe that the LCA can benefit from the knowledge and experience of SAP in the sustainability arena. Ultimately, SAP views the LCA as a strategic initiative that is critical to sustainability and development efforts in one of the most resource rich continents in the world – Africa.”
SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 172,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of Sybase) to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
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