The mobile provider donates one tree per customer via partnership with One Tree Planted, a non-profit organisation focused on global reforestation to plant trees.

Felix’s partnership with One Tree Planted ensures trees donated are planted where they can most benefit ecosystems, communities, and climate change mitigation efforts.

felix claimed it hit the two million tree milestone in less than four years since the mobile provider launched and just a year since it donated its one millionth tree.

felix mobile head Kelly Beater gives context on how the two million trees will benefit the environment.

“These trees are set to restore around 4,000 hectares of wildlife habitat, which is comparable to the area of 8,000 football fields. This is important for not only greening our planet but also in reviving essential wildlife habitats worldwide,” Beater says.

felix’s tree-planting initiative is key part of its broader efforts to support the environment, which aims to minimise the mobile brand’s impact on our planet
and help restore precious habitat for wildlife globally.

felix emphasises the tree-planting initiative is important in Australia where ongoing habitat loss contributes significantly to wildlife extinction.

Between 2000 and 2017, more than 7.5 million hectares of habitat for land-based threatened species have been cleared in Australia. In 2023 alone, the national list of threatened species grew by 144 entries, a fivefold increase from the annual average, according to the Australian Conservation Foundation.

In response to the endangered status of koalas and the continuous threats they face from urban development and habitat destruction, felix has concentrated its tree-planting efforts within Australia in areas supporting koala habitat rehabilitation.

“Their [felix] commitment to the environment is second to none, and we look forward to continuing our partnership to make a positive impact on the environment,” says One Tree Planted regional director Asia Pacific Beth Dalgleish.

felix has also supported Bangalow Koalas via One Tree Planted to plant 138,000 trees as part of the Koala Corridor Project to aid habitat rehabilitation in the Northern Rivers region of NSW.

It also donated $6,000 to the WWF for Nature-Australia to replace thousands of seedlings eaten by Claude the Koala at Eastern Forest Nursery in 2023.

“The trees donated by felix customers are helping restore habitat all around the world, from Bangalow in Northern NSW to the Amazon rainforest. We are proud to support these worthy causes on behalf of our customers and look forward to continuing to help them make a positive impact around the world, one tree at a time,” Beater says.

Bangalow Koalas president Linda Sparrow says koalas, as an endangered species, are heading towards extinction unless urgent action is taken.

“Projects like this are vital in habitat restoration, funding seeds needed to grow new trees for koalas and other wildlife, as well as creating corridors for them to move safely between forested areas,” she says.

Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital foundation veterinarian and general manager of veterinary services Dr. Bree Talbot highlighted the broader ecological benefits of habitat restoration for the local environment and its wildlife.

“Tree plantings like these have a huge impact not just for koalas, but also the overall health of the ecosystem,” Dr Talbot says.

“There are so many issues facing our wildlife today; from cars to climate change, habitat loss and displacement, and the work projects like these do in restoring land and providing habitat for wildlife is critical to ensure a sustainable future for all and for our Australian wildlife to survive and flourish.”

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 8 July 2024.