Haleon Partners With WWF On Water Replenishment Project In Western Cape
Haleon Partners With WWF On Water Replenishment Project In Western Cape. Haleon and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) announced a new partnership to support water replenishment activities in the Western Cape’s catchment area of Groenland, within the Boland Water Source Area. This water source area provides water to over 4 million people in the City of Cape Town and surrounds.
As part of its water stewardship approach, Haleon will collaborate with WWF South Africa to help restore local catchments and increase water resilience by removing water-thirsty non-native plants. Clearing dense infestations of non-native plants from affected areas is an important intervention to improve the flow of critical water resourcesin South Africa, which loses 1.4 billion cubic metres of water to invasive vegetation each year. The ambition of the collaboration is to restore 250 hectares by 2025 in the catchment area, mostly along the Palmiet River, as part of wider WWF catchment restoration work.
In addition to its environmental importance, freshwater availability underpins people’s health, as well as their collective social and economic wellbeing. Haleon and WWF’s partnership will also help support local livelihoods by providing employment for 12 people, through establishing a community-run nursery growing native plant species that will be used as part of the river restoration activities. This builds on the employment and training opportunities that WWF’s water replenishment activities in the Western Cape have already provided for over 200 people to-date.
“The collaborative project, supported by Haleon, is playing a significant role in helping to support the water flows in the important Palmiet River catchment, while also providing economic upliftment and helping to restore the natural ecosystem function within a global biodiversity hotspot – The Cape Floral Kingdom – home to our unique fynbos vegetation. We are excited about this partnership as it enhances the impact of our collective efforts.” said Shelly Fuller, Programme Manager within WWF’s Sustainable Food Systems portfolio.
Kimberley Hunt, General Manager of GSK Consumer Healthcare South Africa (member of the Haleon Group), said: “Central to driving better water stewardship is recognising that water is a locally shared resource, which needs to be used in a socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable way. We are firmly committed to driving good water stewardship within our operations, while supporting the local catchment and communities in South Africa, which is why I’m proud that Haleon is partnering with WWF on this important water replenishment project.”
In South Africa, itis projected that by 2030 there will be a 17% gap between levels of water supply and demand, creating environmental and socio-economic challenges and putting pressure on strained health systems. WWF has been working in catchments in South Africa for nearly two decades, driving water stewardship initiatives with both communities and corporations, identifying water risks, and ensuring healthy water-supplying landscapes such as wetlands.
As a global leader in consumer health, Haleon is focussed on tackling the social and environmental barriers that hold people back from better everyday health. With freshwater playing an essential role in protecting public health, Haleon is reducing water impacts from its sites and driving collective action to address shared local water challenges. As a member of the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS), Haleon is committed to achieving Alliance for Water Stewardship Standard certification across its manufacturing sites by 2025. Haleon will go further in areas where its sites occupy water-stressed basins, with the company committed to achieving water neutrality by the end of 2030. Partnering with the WWF South Africa will support the delivery of this target at Haleon’s site in Cape Town.
