Issue Q2 2020

14 APAC / Issue Q2 2020 , Supporting Reforestation Atheneumdonates thousands of trees in Australia following devastating bushfires. Europe’s leading global insights platform, Atheneum, has contributed thousands of trees in Australia as part of a project to support reforestation following the devastating wildfires. Australia’s bushfire season began earlier than usual in 2019, following soaring temperatures and severe draughts. Over 15 million acres of land have been destroyed by the fires and an estimated 1 billion animals have perished or lost their habitats. As work begins to rebuild communities, Atheneum pledged to plant a tree in Australia for every interview conducted during November and December 2019 and January 2020, as part of its long-term partnership with environmental charity One Tree Planted. Atheneum pledged to raise and donate 4,300 trees to the cause. One Tree Planted has launched a special project where business and individuals can purchase a tree to be planted in areas of Australia where reforestation is needed or set up a recurring donation. One Tree Planted is aiming to raise enough funds to plant 6 million trees in Australia this year, and 25 million in total by 2025. With support work starting to get underway this month, One Tree Planted is currently planting 60,000 trees across the northern rivers of New South Wales – to form a ‘wildlife corridor’, creating critical Koala habitat. Ammad Ahmad, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Atheneum, said: “Australia experienced one of the largest natural disasters in history and the worst the country has seen in decades. This devastating loss will be felt for many years to come. At this difficult time we wanted to give back, and last year we planted 22,168 trees in the areas we felt needed the most support against deforestation including in Haiti, Indonesia and Ethiopia. We hope our new project with One Tree Planted will help to make a difference in Australia.” Atheneum provides a gateway to reliable industry knowledge, sought after by renowned investment firms, leading global corporations and well-known professional service firms. The platform currently features a network of over 500,000 experts. For further information, please visit: https://atheneum-partners.com/. For further information on One Tree Planted’s Australia project, visit: https://onetreeplanted.org/products/australia.