Subscribers display Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group's Alipay Ant Forest(L) and the Philippine leading mobile wallet GCash's GCash Forest, or GForest, in Manila, the Philippines, June 25, 2019. Inspired by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group's Alipay Ant Forest, the Philippine leading mobile wallet GCash launched a similar charity campaign on Tuesday called "GCash Forest" aiming to reduce the country's deforestation. Through the "green" feature on the app called GCash Forest, or GForest, the subscribers can plant virtual trees that will have real-life counterparts. By promoting the charity campaign, the GCash Forest aims to plant 365,000 trees with the help of GCash subscribers in 365 days. (Xinhua/Zheng Xin)
MANILA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Inspired by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group's Alipay Ant Forest, the Philippine leading mobile wallet GCash launched a charity campaign on Tuesday called "GCash Forest" aiming to reduce the country's deforestation.
Through the "green" feature on the app called GCash Forest, or GForest, the subscribers can plant virtual trees that will have real-life counterparts. By the end of 365 days, the GCash Forest aims to plant 365,000 trees with the help of GCash subscribers.
GCash Forest partnered with the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and NGOs to implement its tree-planting initiatives. The DENR will provide land resources in Ipo Watershed, an essential component of the Angat-Umiray-Ipo watersheds system supplying 98 percent of Metro Manila's water, while the NGOs will provide trees, manpower, and expertise on monitoring.
According to statistics of DENR's Forest Management Bureau, the Philippines is losing 47,000 hectares of forest cover every year. The Bureau also reported the need to rehabilitate 1.2 million hectares of forest lands by 2022 to prevent landslides, ensure the water availability and preserve the biodiversity.
"The GCash Forest shows that digital technology holds a huge power to mobilize people in support of sustainable development and the fight against climate change. And this power goes beyond the border and is at our fingertips through our mobile devices," Yan Meng, Ant Financial's Global Head of International Partnerships said.
"We are excited to share the idea of leveraging digital technologies to solve environmental problems at a large scale pioneered by Alipay Ant Forest, which is being extended and implemented outside of China for the very first time, by Alipay's e-wallet partner GCash in the Philippines," she added.
The mobile payment system GCash, introduced in the Philippine market in 2017, has adopted the cashless payments model of Alipay which is enjoying unprecedented success in China.
Alipay's parent company Ant Financial partnered with local Philippines conglomerate Ayala Group to invest in Mynt, a joint venture innovating company and operator of GCash.
"GCash Forest is about making it easier, more convenient, and even rewarding for everyone to take care of our environment for the benefit of future generations," Mynt President and CEO Anthony Thomas said.
"It is no longer just providing an excellent platform for accessible financial products and services but also enabling Filipinos to be more active in responding to real-life issues, such as climate change mitigation through reforestation," Thomas said.
According to the data, the GCash now has attracted more than 15 million subscribers in the Philippines and thousands of stores nationwide have embraced a more convenient digital way for customers to pay besides cash and cards - via smartphones.
The e-wallet system also expected the number of users grows to 20 million in the next three to five years in the country.
