Declaring a Climate Emergency, The Mountain Company has announced a Nepal tree planting partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects. The project replant trees in community forests in the Terai Region bordering India.
From the start of 2022 The Mountain Company will plant native trees in Nepal for each holiday sold in Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and India. One tree will be planted for each day of the trip, and five trees for each internal flight.
The environmental benefits of planting trees in Nepal go beyond the absorption of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Trees restore the forest ecosystems and increasing the biodiversity of flora and fauna.
Eden Reforestation Projects has poverty alleviation initiatives by employing locals including a large proportion of women. They also build community infrastructures such as health posts, water wells, schools and community centres.
Mountain Company’s Managing Director, Roland Hunter, said, “We are excited to announce our partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects. By planting trees we are starting the process of being more mindful of our impact on the environment.
“I think it is better to do something rather than nothing at all. I believe in the positives of international travel given the economic and social benefits to the Himalayan countries we visit. Our ‘long and slow’ trekking holidays are better from an environmental perspective for long haul destinations like the Himalayas and Karakoram.”
Like all signatories to Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, The Mountain Company has committed to developing a Climate Emergency Plan. This will set out its intention to reduce carbon emissions over the next decade. Its Nepal tree planting partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects represents a key component to it. The company plans to publish its plan in 2021.
If you are toying with the idea of visting Nepal on your next travels, read Mark Bibby Jackson’s Trekking in Nepal : Annapurna Revisited for further inspiration.
