Rakuten Group with over 70 umbrella businesses and 1.8billion members world-wide, know that small actions such as planting trees at Westgate Park in Naarm/Melbourne has a vital ripple effect on our planet.

One of the most satisfying parts of the work we do is seeing team members, side by side planting trees. Recently, a keen team of 13 Ratuken Group employees rolled their sleeves up to assist one of our favourite community groups, Westgate Biodiversity.

As part of Rakuten’s Earth Month initiative, our team was asked to organise a volunteering event in our local area. After some research, we came across Fifteen Trees, and decided that tree planting would be a perfect volunteering activity. Our team really enjoyed the day planting and everyone walked away knowing they had made a tangible difference to the Earth.

Emma Dillon | Office Manager | Rakuten

A variety of Melbourne’s wildlife will reap the benefits from the 500 native plants, thanks to this crew of citizen environmentalists. Planted at Westgate Park was a series of trees, bushes and grasses all indigenous to the region, and importantly, planted in tiers to provide the necessary understories which are habitat to local wildlife.

The day started off with a demo of how to weed (and a quick lesson in how to identify native grasses and introduced species) followed by how to correctly plant a tree. Shout out to Westgate Biodiversity who helped organise the day.

Rakuten Group takes in so many industries from agriculture to produce, to news groups and beyond, and even are past sponsors of internationally famous soccer team FC Barcelona. It’s no surprise that the name Rakuten is Japanese for ‘optimism’. Indeed, it was in Japan that the company was founded firstly as shopping mall. They have since gone on to become early adopters of e-trade. The philosophy of optimism clearly is at the core of their overarching brand.

Rakuten states ‘We embrace new and disruptive ideas, are committed to acting on them. We walk together with our partners, making progress today towards a more optimistic tomorrow’. With their contribution to enhancing a small section of planet earth at one of our favourite planting sites, we know they have added to their admirable ongoing mission towards a ‘more optimistic tomorrow’.

If you would like to know more about sponsoring community tree planting projects and how we can assist you in becoming a more sustainable business, please contact Colleen at <[email protected]>.

Writer – Lou Ridsdale

Lou a green thumb, Earth Lover, big-hearted nature freak, plus a savvy media and horticulture expert, who passionately believe that everyone can lead a more nourishing and sustainable life. Lou founded Food Is Free Inc., a unique grassroots food security platform specialising in food security education. You can find Lou here.