Volunteers from EMR USA’s Southern Region have been digging into local initiatives this year to help improve the environment in New Orleans.
Our team participated in multiple projects aimed at developing wetlands, urban areas and parks with increased coverage of plants and trees.
Our volunteers planted a variety of native Louisiana plants in an undeveloped 40-acre wetland located in the Lower 9th Ward as part of the Sankofa Wetland Park and Nature Trail. The resilience project aims to improve flood protection, boost economic development and provide environmental education for students, while enhancing the area for residents to enjoy. Our team will be back planting more plants in the New Year.
Using shovels and pick-axes, the EMR team supported SOUL (Sustaining Our Urban Landscape) to plant hundreds of trees, that were grown in 15-30 gallon pots, in the local neighbourhood where our Mid City New Orleans facility is located.
New Orleans is one of the most deforested cities in the US, having lost an estimated 100,000 trees during Hurricane Katrina. SOUL’s goal is to plant all native trees in clusters to provide storm and flooding defence and food and shelter for birds, insects and other animals – as well as beautiful scenery and shade for locals.
Last but not least, EMR’s colleagues joined the Friends of Lafitte Greenway to plant the first 300 of 1,000 Cypress trees on the park opposite EMR’s Lafitte Street site. The Greenway was formed in 2015 from an old rail line and the park runs from downtown New Orleans out to the neighbourhoods that surround the EMR site. The Friends of Lafitte have so far funded benches, basketball courts, a football field, lighting and pollinator meadows. The trees EMR helped plant will add much-needed shade and extra flood control.
EMR USA has three sites in New Orleans, including Lower 9th Ward, Mid City and Westwego and has been investing in community-based projects that protect the city, its people and the biodiversity of the region as a whole.
Tony Schultz, ESG Manager at EMR USA, said:
“We are incredibly proud to support such vital, transformational projects in New Orleans. These latest initiatives will bring enormous environmental benefit to the community by providing protection from storm and flood damage and creating habitats to improve biodiversity. Our volunteers were delighted to give back to a community that has contributed so much to our business through initiatives that will help protect both the city and our planet.”
Ashley Trosclair, Legal/Claims Coordinator at EMR USA, said:
“Sankofa, SOUL and Friends of Lafitte Greenway all work tirelessly to improve the environment and reforest our urban landscape. These green infrastructure projects will continue to create a vital habitat for wildlife and be an important community resource. We all look forward to working with these organisations the New Year. It’s a privilege to help our neighbours and we will continue to do so.”
