Announcing our partnership with the Native Forest Restoration Trust

APT is a values-based business and we pride ourselves on working with those who share our vision and understand the concept of partnership.

As part of this, we are passionate about the need to protect and preserve New Zealand’s native bush and natural environment. It’s about the plants and the waterways, the birds and the insects – the whole biodiverse ecosystem. But it’s also about us. We are firm believers in the power of nature to influence our wellbeing – a belief which has certainly been reinforced during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

The problem is, New Zealand’s natural environment is under attack. From all angles. From pests. From introduced species. But, most of all, from people. Including us, in the building industry. As we all know, the building industry is a large contributor to emissions and user of natural resources.

At APT, we’ve noticed that many of our product manufacturers around the world are working on environmental initiatives of their own. As a distributor, we don’t want to simply reference the efforts of our manufacturers, using their achievements to tick our boxes. We want to be proactive and take meaningful action ourselves, in our part of the world. And that’s why we’re proud to announce our partnership with the Native Forest Restoration Trust (NFRT).

The NFRT is a New Zealand not-for-profit organisation dedicated to protecting New Zealand’s native forests and wetlands, for now and for generations to come. The organisation has over 7,000 hectares of replanting projects or reserves under its management, from North Cape to Bluff. Essentially, the NFRT buys entire tracts of land throughout New Zealand, fences them, removes pests and invasive species, and then begins planting and regeneration. Once the forests are ready, they are placed under the QEII Trust for ongoing protection. This ensures the land can never be harvested, cleared or developed.

In order to do this, however, the NFRT relies on donations and partnerships. As one of those partners, APT is committing more than just dollars. We will be assisting the NFRT with the planting and protection of native trees as well as the acquisition of additional plots of land to regenerate. Together with the NFRT, we have developed a long term framework that will ultimately involve not just us, but our specifier and trade customer communities.

 “From 1 November 2021, a native tree will be planted – and protected – in New Zealand for every Corian® sheet, sink and basin, and every FENIX® sheet, panel and sink sold by APT. In addition to this, a native tree will be planted for every product delivery.”

As one of our actions to protect the New Zealand environment, APT will be planting – and protecting – one native tree through the NFRT for every Corian® Solid Surface sheet, sink and basin, and every FENIX® sheet, panel and sink sold from 1 November 2021. In addition to this, we will also be planting and protecting a native tree for every product delivery.

For us, it’s about walking the talk and staying true to our values. Being authentic in our efforts and encouraging others to do the same. Because at APT, we believe that if we work together, as an industry and a community, we can shape a more sustainable building sector and a thriving natural environment in Aotearoa for generations to come.

Please contact us if you would like further information on what we are doing and how you can get involved.

Read more about Native Forest Restoration Trust (NFRT)