ILSA supports agricultural communities of Guatemala and Peru by extending their orchards whilst continuing to preserve biodiversity

ILSA is a Venetian company specializing in biotechnologies and production of fertilizers and biostimulants for organic and sustainable agriculture.

In 2019, ILSA launched ILSAZERO - a programme to compensate the CO₂ equivalent with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality. In 2021, ILSA has just launched a new initiative to support farmers in Guatemala and Peru by planting 4,000 fruit trees and forest species at risk of extinction.

The goal is to expand the orchards of small farmers by donating common and less common fruit trees to improve their economic sustainability and to favour the development of more stable social structures at the same time as preserving biodiversity.

Nicola Farina, Sales and Marketing Director at ILSA explains, "The choice of these areas of Latin America is dictated by various factors. ILSA has important markets in Central and South America where there are both production plants and consolidated commercial representatives. We understand how rich that natural environment is and the strategic role it plays in the fight against climate change, but also how fragile it is. Bringing peasant farming communities out of a subsistence perspective to favour the extension of their orchards aims to create a stable outpost of care and preservation of the environment.”

ILSA is donating fruit trees such as orange, avocado, cedar, lime, mango, chico zapote and reforestation plants such as mahogany.

ILSA technical inputs, devised to develop efficient and sustainable agriculture, find their ideal use here by closing a virtuous circle to favour the extension of organic crops with high economic potential.

The starting point of ILSAZERO was the calculation of the company’s environmental footprint.
The 2014 analysis provided ILSA with the data of its environmental impact calculated in CO₂ equivalent. A reassuring result showed up to 50% lower impact with the use of ILSA fertilisers compared to synthetic products historically present on the market with the same nutritional units applied to the soil. Ilsa has a target to offset its carbon footprint in the shortest time possible for responsibility and transparency towards its stakeholders. 

The Venetian company intends to achieve this goal both by monitoring its environmental performances and through their constant reduction and by offsetting its CO₂. ILSA began work towards this in 2019 by planting 3000 trees in Guatemala, Colombia and Thailand, involving 176 farmers and now (after a year of forced suspension due to the global pandemic) continues to plant a further 4,000 trees, in Guatemala and Peru, including fruit trees and trees for reforestation.

The amount of CO₂ absorbed by this plant species has been calculated and certified by the Wageningen University of the Netherlands, which specializes in agricultural studies.

Each tree has an identification QR-Code and ILSA will be able to donate each plant to its stakeholders who will receive information and photos on plant growth (7 photos and updates over 3 years). This is an initiative which aims to raise awareness of the importance of preserving natural resources, forests, biodiversity and to highlight the strategic role that small local agricultural communities in Latin America play towards these goals.