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Planting trees in Korea and increasing traffic safety in Peru

2018-07-10
Learn more about, and get inspired by, the variety of projects that engage colleagues around the world to drive prosperity. This postcard is from Korea where problems with highland agriculture and ecologial destruction have greatly raised the public’s interest in the environment, and from Peru where skilled truck drivers can connect with truck companies via a web platform.
Planting trees in Korea and increasing traffic safety in Peru

​In Korea, where about 70% of the total land area consist of mountains, many national parks have been destroyed by highland agriculture and construction with forest destruction, water pollution and ecological destruction as a result. As many Koreans visit the mountains for weekend breaks, climate change and sustainable environment have emerged as social issues.

In Gangwon province, home of the Olympic city Pyeongchang, the frequently visited Odae Mt. National Park, is the most seriously damaged forest caused by highland agriculture. The Odae Mt National Park was chosen for the Volvo Forest Project as part of the 2017 Volvo Group Seasonal Gift.

"The project is mainly about restoring the ecosystem by planting trees in the national park. Volvo CE employees can be engaged in planting and cleaning activities under this project, and there is the potential to provide customers with job opportunities of planting and moving trees, leading to positive effects for the environment and for the business," says Sung-Mo Yang, Managing Director of Volvo Group Korea.

On 28 May, the Volvo Group Korea held the starting ceremony with WWF Korea and the Korea National Park Service at Volvo Forest Project Site. The ceremony was attended by Sung-Mo Yang, Managing Director of Volvo Group Korea, Sei-Woong Yoon, CEO of WWF Korea and Jae-Min Park, Director of Nature Conservation Division of Odaesan National Park Office.

A commemorative tree was planted to celebrate the beginning of Volvo Forest Project. About 150 Korean pear trees (naturalized species) will be planted by early June. The Volvo Forest project site is located on the trekking path where many hikers pass by. The project signboard will inform of Volvo Group Korea's efforts to protect and maintain a sustainable environment. Volvo Forest project will not be a one-time tree planting event, but will be monitored for at least two years. 

The traffic situation is of great concern in Peru where cost of damages caused by traffic accidents amounts to more than 1 BUSD per year, which represents approximately 2% of GDP*. During the last 10 years, more than 32,000 people have been killed in traffic accidents. At the same time truck customers are struggling to find skilled and responsible drivers, who can contribute to their success by avoiding accidents, reducing service and repair costs, improving up time and customer profitability.

"Our mission is to bring prosperity with our transportation solutions and this new initiative will really contribute to our society. In Europe and the United States there is a shortage of drivers but in Peru it is the opposite. With our social responsibility projects we will contribute to the success of the client and society, making this a virtuous circle," says Marcus Hörberg, Managing Director of Volvo Group Peru.

Volvo Driver Pool is a web platform where transport companies can interact and hire truck drivers that have graduated from one of the driver programs offered by Volvo Group Peru (Transformar, Iron Women and Volvo Driver Academy).

The Volvo Driver Pool supports the  customers in the search and hiring of professional drivers with the skills to drive responsible, efficient and safe, which will reduce fuel consumption, reduce repair costs and increase uptime.It also contributes to a more diverse transport industry, safer roads and less impact on the environment.

* Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all final goods and services produced in a period (quarterly or yearly) of time.(Wikipedia)

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