As urban areas continue to expand and develop, nature is being incorporated into the cityscape. Urban green spaces offer not only aesthetic beauty, but also help improve air quality, reduce heat island effect, increase biodiversity and enhance quality of life for residents.

QBE Insurance Group, an international insurer and reinsurer with presence in 27 countries, has partnered with the non-profit organization Million Trees Foundation Inc. in establishing an urban park in Metro Manila.

QBE Insurance Group donated P3.7 million to fund the building of the QBE Green Sanctuary Park and its officials joined their counterparts in MTFI in the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the park at the La Mesa Watershed in Quezon City.

QBE Insurance Group’s chief of shared services officer, Samir Kumar, said that the financial commitment to MTFI is part of the company’s plan to promote sustainability, fight climate change, and plant an additional 10 million trees by 2030.

“(We hope) to improve the resilience and preparedness of communities through long-term partnerships. With its focus on creating strong, resilient, and inclusive communities, the QBE Foundation has its forest for water and environmental protection programs. Both programs involve tree and mangrove planting activities,” Kumar said.

By investing in urban greening and environmental conservation, QBE is not only contributing to the well-being of the community but also setting a commendable example for other corporations to follow, according to Kumar.

Meanwhile, MTFI chairman emeritus Gen. Reynaldo V. Velasco said: “We welcome the establishment of the QBE Green Park that will not only serve as a refuge from the hustle and bustle of everyday life in the concrete jungle nor simply a place where children can play and create their adventure.”

Velasco noted that the park would also serve as a “place where everyone, young and old, can reconnect with nature and rejuvenate the soul.”

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, or MWSS, has allotted a 5-hectare area to MTFI for the development of the park which will cover 1,600 square meters.

QBE, through PBSP, helped R. P. Cruz Sr. Elementary School start a vegetable and mushroom garden.

The park will have various outdoor playground equipment such as slides, covered areas with seats for visitors and greenhouses.

The greenhouses will be used to accommodate seedlings of endemic trees and fruit-bearing trees which will be used by the QBE Foundation for its tree-planting program. The foundation’s partner stakeholders will also be able to use these seedlings.

The QBE Green Park is part of the third phase project of MTFI since its founding in 2021, after the SMC Multi-Purpose Hall (Eddie’s Barn), the construction of which was funded by San Miguel Corp.

The MTFI is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with the MWSS to implement the Annual Million Tree Challenge.

Since its first tree-planting activity in 2017 at Ipo Dam, the foundation has successfully planted around 7.8 million trees in critical watersheds that are essential to maintaining the water supply in the MWSS coverage area.

The Australian-based insurance firm has tree planting as one of its Corporate Social Responsibility projects aimed at protecting the environment and promoting sustainability.

In 2022, QBE Group CEO Andrew Horton and CEO for International Operations, Jason Harris, visited the Philippines and presented a P2-million check to their partner foundation, the Philippine Business for Social Progress, to support various school programs, specifically the Nutrition Program.

QBE has partnered with PBSP to implement a nutrition program for at-risk children in its adopted schools, R.P. Cruz, Sr. Elementary School, and Bagong Lipunan Elementary School in Cebu.

In addition, QBE, through PBSP, helped R. P. Cruz Sr. Elementary School start a vegetable and mushroom garden to teach students about food sustainability. The project became an additional source of funding for the school.

QBE also helped build an innovation room in Bagong Lipunan Elementary School that houses a library and a computer room to enhance the students’ learning experience.