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Carbon Offsetting Project

Climate change is one of the world’s most topical discussion points, even the politicians are starting to acknowledge that the way we live our lives today is having a dramatic effect on the planet.

Unfortunately long-haul air travel is particularly damaging to the environment in terms of carbon emissions. Using UK Government published figures to convert units of energy into CO2 emissions it has been calculated that a flight from London to Zambia will create 2.2 tonnes of CO2 and that flying from New York to Zambia will release 3.8 tonnes into the atmosphere.

At Norman Carr Safaris we don’t have a solution to this but we are offering a way to contribute not only to the reduction of greenhouse gases but also to the education of the next generation. We have bought sapling trees locally in Mfuwe and planted them at Yosefe School. The first batch went in towards the end of 2007 and since then we have planted thousands of young trees in the Mfuwe area.

Deforestation on a relatively small scale has been commonplace in Zambia for as long as crops have been grown. Our tree planting scheme is run through our school project. The children are actively involved in the planting and management of the trees and are being schooled in the reasoning behind the scheme.

We feel that it is vital that our efforts towards tree planting and reforestation are conducted in tandem with the local government.  Sadly, the Forestry Department is extremely under-resourced - the officers do not even have a bicycle in order to manage, police and maintain the forests in the vast area of Mfuwe, so it is vital that the private sector contributes.  In December 2008, Norman Carr Safaris and the local forestry department joined forces to run a two day course in basic forestry management.  With funding from our carbon offset project we bought planting bags, special planting powder, arranged seedlings and took care of transport and food, whilst officers from the local Forestry department facilitated the two day workshop.

The course covered

• Methods of propagation such as collecting and bagging wild seedlings which would otherwise be cleared, burnt or trampled
• Cuttings
• Nursery establishment
• How to care for existing forest
• Bush fires and the importance of early burning
• How and where to plant new forests
• Use of indigenous species and the importance of siting new forests correctly
• Economic benefits of reforestation

Several leaders of our local civic society were in attendance, as were a number of teachers as we plan to continue this programme of education through the local schools, and we were pleased to see one of the local carpenters turn up, who uses local timber to make his living.

The attendees were very enthusiastic about the course and all expressed how empowered they now feel with this essential knowledge and are already spreading the word about reforestation, why we need trees, and are inspiring local school children to protect their forests and even replenish and create new ones.  Abraham Banda (Kapani Lodge manager) and Pam Carr (Norman Carr's daughter) worked hard to make this course happen, but even they were surprised and delighted at the response from the Forestry Department and from the local community - it really does seem to have sparded imaginations and forged strong partnerships in a joint determination to protect our trees.

How To Contribute
If you are interested in helping us with this scheme please contact us and we will tell you how you can donate. Otherwise we are encouraging guests to leave $20 with us at Kapani after their stay. We won't guarantee exactly how many trees we will plant, although $20 will probably result in around 10 to 15 trees being planted; but we will guarantee that every penny you give us will go towards the project. Even the greenest of international off-setting companies won't usually send more than 60% of your donation to the projects they support.

Whilst tree-planting schemes may not be as effective at offsetting CO2 emissions as some renewable energy programs, they do have benefit and they are something that we have done before in the Luangwa so we know we can manage the project.

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