Last year the Lower Zambezi National Park became the first park in the world to go carbon neutral from operations thanks to support from local tour operators. In an effort to reduce their own company’s emissions as well as to reduce emissions associated with the entire national park, camps and lodges located within the Lower Zambezi ecosystem purchased Forest Carbon Offsets from the Lower Zambezi REDD+ Project supported through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Community Forests Program, implemented by BCP.
This year the Cumings family, who operate Chiawa and Old Mondoro Camps, have upped their offsetting game – going from ‘Copper’ offsetters to ‘Silver’. Now they not only purchase offsets to cover their operations on the ground, but they are also covering guests offsets from the air, including emissions from all domestic flights.
By offsetting 1,200 tonnes of carbon emissions, Chiawa Camp and Old Mondoro are protecting an estimated 403 hectares of Zambian forest (approximately 3,228 trees), and removing enough CO2 from the atmosphere to be equivalent to taking 215 cars off the road for a year.
As Grant Cumings, the Managing Director of the camps, expressed: “I am proud that Chiawa Camp and Old Mondoro are leading the world in this initiative and have continued to up their carbon neutrality. Aside from guaranteeing to protect enough trees to mop up the carbon from all our tourism and activities, the northern frontier of the Lower Zambezi National Park is being protected, meaning vulnerable populations of fauna and flora are being sustained some distance from our area of operation. Therefore, the benefits of our model of responsible tourism are being enjoyed not only locally but further afield. This would not have been possible without BCP’s pioneering efforts which we are proud to be a part of.”
In fact, Grant and his team decided to go over and above their `Silver` status by purchasing an additional 190 tons of offsets to enable the Lower Zambezi National Park to maintain its carbon neutrality from operations for 2016, an initiative which started last year.
Serious thanks go out to Grant and his team`s at Chiawa and Old Mondoro camps for their significant contribution to carbon neutrality in the Lower Zambezi for these two years. We would also like to recognize and thank the numerous other camps and lodges who helped to make the Lower Zambezi National Park carbon neutral from operations this year.
This blog is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content of this blog are the sole responsibility of BCP and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
Photo Credits: BCP