Out of concern for the planet, the Yves Rocher Foundation together with volunteers and our employees planted an impressive number of trees. Most of the seedlings were beech trees.

The Lewin Klodzki commune is located in the Lower Silesia province and is an extremely interesting area for those who prefer an active lifestyle. The commune also delights with Poland’s second Japanese Garden in Jarków. Although the area does not exceed 53 km² and the population is 2 000 people, you will find many wonderful places on its territory: Museum of Papermaking, Frog Museum or Frederic Chopin Manor House. The commune partially covers the territory of the Orlickie Foothills, which border the Stołowe Mountains, among others. Mountainous areas predominate there, but valley areas, full of forests and meadows, are also clearly visible.

What kind of trees did we plant? 

This fall, as part of the Time for Forest program, we planted 10 600 beech seedlings in the Lewin Kłodzki Commune.  

Beech is a tree that is very easy to recognize regardless of the season. It is characterized by its light, silvery-gray, smooth bark. It is an extremely efficient producer of mulch, and its leaves contain large amounts of calcium compounds, so that the humus formed from them enriches the soil with nutrients and counteracts depletion. Its fruits, beech nuts, are a delicacy for many animals such as squirrels, jays and mainly wild boars.

Why did we plant so many trees?

Many years of single-species forest cultivation have resulted in spruce monocultures dominating the forests of Lewin Kłodzki. Forest monocultures are highly susceptible to the gradation of harmful insects, in this case the notorious printworm. One method of preventing the bark beetle’s invasion is to plant trees that are adequate to the conditions of the habitat, so in place of the conifers that were removed, beech trees were planted.

Together with the Yves Rocher Foundation, we have been working together for 12 years to protect nature and improve the quality of life in Poland.

In 1991, the son of the founder of the YR brand, considered the Expert in Plant-based Care, Jacques Rocher, established the Yves Rocher Foundation for environmental protection. Since 2007, the Foundation has started tree planting activities. The fruit of these efforts was the recently achieved goal of planting 100 million trees by the end of 2020!

As part of a new initiative called Plant for Life, the Yves Rocher Foundation aims to plant 35 million trees by 2025.

“The views of nature are different in different places, the laws of nature are the same everywhere”

Tadeusz Kotarbiński