Carbon Tanzania
Protecting Tanzania’s forests
We know that you simply cannot walk to Africa. And a safari by public transport is difficult to realize. Carbon consumption will therefore be unavoidable when going on a Tanzania holiday. But what we can do is to limit the negative impact on the environment as much as possible, by partnering with Carbon Tanzania. For each safari we calculate the CO2 emissions and we offset this by investing directly in their projects with the forest communities.
Reducing our footprint with Carbon Tanzania
Carbon Tanzania is a forest conservation agency that on one side collaborates with indigenous tribes, including the Hadzabe, to protect and provide economic value to the forests they live in. On the other hand they work with tourism suppliers, like Ajabu Adventures, to measure the carbon emissions, reduce them and assist to offset the remaining unavoidable emission.
Revenue of these offset projects is paid directly to local communities in return for practical and measurable investments, that result into the protection of natural forests. And subsequently prevent loss of habitat, which is so common in Africa nowadays.
“Give indigenous people legal rights over their land and natural resources, and it will be protected.”
Yaeda Valley Forest Conservation Project
An important example of such a forest conservation project is the Yaeda Valley Project. Yaeda Valley, located south of Lake Eyasi and Lake Manyara, is home to the Hadzabe tribe. This group of ancient hunter-gatherers have lived here for over 40,000 years in harmony with nature. However, because of the increasing population and forests being converted into cropland, the Hadza people have lost around 90% of their land in the last 50 years.
With the carbon offsets that we and other partners of Carbon Tanzania pay, the Hadzabe are able to earn an income that is used to provide basic community services like healthcare, education for children, food security and salaries for community scouts to protect the forest. This does not only conserve the culture and traditions of one of the most ancients tribes on earth, but ultimately results in the protection of threatened forests from deforestation.
Makame Savannah Project
The Makame Savannah is situated in a Wildlife Management Area (WMA) southeast of Tarangire National Park. This region is a critical habitat for wildlife, including elephants, elands as well as the endangered African Hunting Dog. At the same time it is also the home of the Maasai people that have been herding cattle throughout the Rift Valley for 2000 years. However, the area attracts a rapidly expanding number of immigrant farmers, seeking new land to grow their crops and rear livestock.
Through the Makame Savannah project that we support, the Maasai communities are being engaged to conserve their habitat. They set up seasonal grazing areas in order to keep their cattle, themselves and the ecosystem healthy. This empowers the Maasai people, protects their traditional lifestyle and prevents deforestation.
Key facts & figures of the Carbon Tanzania projects
Impact of the Yaeda Valley Project:
- Protects 12 village communities with 61,000 indigenous people
- Prevents 171,700 trees from being cut every year
- Protects 110,500 ha of forest
- Has funded school fees for over 600 students since its start in 2012
Impact of the Makame Savannah Project:
- Protects 5 village communities with approximately 15,000 people
- Prevents 268,700 trees from being cut every year
- Protects 364,000 ha of forest and savannah
- Has avoided 150,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions since its start in 2016
How Ajabu Adventures lowers the ecological footprint with Carbon Tanzania
First of all, we are committed to reduce and minimize our carbon emission where and whenever possible. Although a greater part of your safari will be spent in a 4WD vehicle, we also encourage you to discover Tanzania from a different angle. Take a walk on the wild side with a guided safari hike or perhaps even a multiple day hiking tour. Spend the afternoon on a mountain bike to explore the small villages. Or watch wildlife from the back of a horse with a horse safari. And when there is no other way than to leave the car behind, we will offset our carbon emissions through Carbon Tanzania.
For every safari itinerary we calculate the amount of carbon emissions generated by your safari vehicle, with the help of the Safari Offset Calculator provided by Carbon Tanzania. If you make use of any domestic flights we will also calculate this amount. The emission generated from your safari roundtrip and flights are offset on an annual basis and invested directly into one of the Carbon Tanzania projects.
Join us in offsetting carbon emission for your safari
Reducing and compensating the carbon emission from the safari is one thing, but you can help too! A return flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro Airport amounts to about 1.8 tons of carbon emission per person. As a comparison, a typical passenger vehicle emits about 2.8t of CO2 in a year.
To compensate the ecological footprint of your international flight you can buy carbon offsets and help us to support forest conservation in Tanzania. An emission of 1.8t per person is equivalent to a donation of US $20 per person.