SUSTAINABILITY

ArborGen Australasia is committed to minimizing the impact of its operational activities on the environment. Key strategies and initiatives we carry out to achieve this include:

Using natural products and planting alternative crops to build soil conditions and fertility in our nurseries. This includes using composted natural organic fertilizers as substitutes for synthetic fertilizers and planting legumes and forage species as “green crops”.

Using soil probes and “smart” irrigation meters to measure soil temperature and moisture levels to minimize the water we use to irrigate our crops.

Changing our plant growing processes and operations to ensure that, as far as possible, we minimize the amount and impact of the chemicals we use (for example, by using “low grow” cover crops for mother plant production and actively seeking alternatives to chemicals that may adversely impact on soil, plant and human health by trialing new chemistries).

Growing and offering our customers tree, shrub, and native grass species that can be planted to protect riparian strips by rivers and lakes; reduce soil erosion on steep land; prevent fertilizer run-off, and provide food and shelter sources for insects, birds, and animals.

Collaborating with other organizations to develop new equipment and methods that support our environmental policies. This includes trialing new precision spraying equipment to minimize chemical usage and providing nursery land free of charge to research organizations to trial new “low chemical” plant production methods.

Delivering our products to customers in multi-use, recyclable packaging.

Trialing bio-degradable tray packaging so that we can reduce the use of plastic trays to grow plants in our container nursery.

Making “meet or exceed all the environmental legislation that relates to the Company” a key performance indicator for senior ArborGen managers in New Zealand and Australia.