Responsibility
In 2002 Michael W. Michell bought a plantation near Quillabamba, a small town in Cuzco's rainforest, and started planting trees and producing Organic and Rainforest-Certified coffee. His source of inspiration were his children and grandchildren. He wanted to develop a small reserve where they could enjoy nature in years to come. Today the reserve is called Kimiarato.
In 2006, Michael W. Michell started what today has become the One Tree™ Program, a reforestation program in Kimiarato. Tanit Trails joined this unique initiative in 2009. The program’s objective is to reforest 2,000 hectares of land in 15 years. To date over 700 thousand Pine trees (pseudostrobus) have been planted, at a rate of 200 thousand per year. A total of over 600 hectares of land have been used for this purpose, to date.
FOR EVERY ONE WHO HAS TRAVELED WITH US THE PROGRAM HAS PLANTED ONE TREE. AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO FOR EVERY TRAVELER. THESE TREES WILL BE CARED FOR AND NURTURED TO GROW BIG AND STRONG FOR MANY YEARS TO COME.
So, how much does One Tree™ help to offset for carbon dioxide or green house gas emissions? The answer is more complex than a “tree equals something” equation. An Oak Tree in Norte America absorbs a different amount of CO2 than a Palm Tree in Brazil. One of the key aspect to the offset of CO2 is the age of the tree. Older trees offset far greater amounts of green house gases than a recently planted tree. Let's first look at the performance of different trees. A twenty-five year old maple tree in Canada can absorb 1.1kg or 0.0011 tonnes per year of CO2. So, over 50 years, approximately 20 maple trees are needed to offset one tonne of CO2 . The average person emits 26 tonnes of CO2 in a lifetime. Is this too much? This is why the OneTree™ Program is planting Pine Trees. A 25 year old Pine Tree can absorb up to 6.82kg or 0.00682 tonnes of CO2 per year. So, over 50 years you would need approximately 3 pine trees to offset one tonne of CO2 . So, an average person should plant 60 Pine Trees in a lifetime to compensate for CO2 emissions. We want to help. (information provided by www.erasecarbonfootprint.com).
Tanit Trails and its shareholders, through the OneTree™ Program, are committed to plant enough trees to offset yearly carbon emissions and give away at least One Tree to every client, supplier and friend we have. These are only a small part of what we hope our contribution will be in the near future. As we believe that our purpose is to plant trees under whose shade we do not expect to sit.
