Your Tribes holiday flights are automatically carbon offset through The Travel Forest
The Travel Forest (a project of The Tribes Foundation) plants indigenous trees to offset the carbon emissions produced when you fly on holiday. Whilst this is the primary motivation for planting the trees, the project also works as a poverty alleviation scheme and also aims to combat environmental degradation.
Tribes plants 10 indigenous trees per client to offset your flight emissions. Currently, in 2007, these trees are being planted in a badly degraded area of northern Tanzania.
Carbon Offsetting
We plant 10 trees per person to offset carbon emissions from your flights.
We work on an average per person, so this number of trees are planted for you regardless of what flights you take. It is a high average, since we wish to cover significant mileage, but also because the trees we are planting have a secondary use as a means of income, and therefore have a potentially shorter lifespan than trees simply left to grow.
We don’t pretend to be offering you a means to make your journey completely environmentally-friendly, as this is extremely difficult. Opinions differ widely as to how many trees are needed to grow for how long to offset emissions. However we want to make a difference, and at least try to offset some of the damage caused by our travels. We all know that trees play a positive role in the world environment, and by adding indigenous trees to the environment, you are not only counterbalancing some of the damage done to the world through flying, you are helping to alleviate poverty and increase biodiversity.
There are many other things we can all do to lessen our impact on the world’s resources and the effects of carbon emissions. Here are just a few suggestions to consider:
- Choose ‘green’ energy, from renewable sources such as wind power.
- Save energy through efficient usage, insulation, buying efficient appliances (link to Tribes Trading lightbulbs)
- Reduce car and air journeys - walk or cycle where possible.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle. (link to Tribes Trading recycling pages)
Poverty Alleviation
The indigenous trees planted bring an income to poor communities.
In 2006 and 2007, The Travel Forest is planting in poor areas of northern Tanzania. Saplings are given to communities and they are taught how to care for them. We monitor the saplings, and those communities who look after them are given more. We have a very good success rate. The trees are left to grow for many years, providing shade for local people and livestock, and naturally-shed branches are used for firewood. Once sustainable replanting is established, the trees can be used for timber or firewood, thereby bringing in an income for the village that tends them.
Biodiversity & Environmental Improvement
The trees help prevent soil erosion and water course damage, and encourage biodiversity.
The areas of northern Tanzania where we are working are very badly degraded, to the extent that some of the land is completely unusable. The trees will help with the prevention of soil erosion, and the destruction of water courses which are currently causing real issues for water supply for the area. Since we are only planting indigenous trees, there will also be the benefit of conserving biodiversity.