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This project has been tailor-made by TICOS and is to be funded entirely by offset funds raised by The Gambia Experience, The Cape Verde Experience and Corsican Places. This two-stage programme comprises of projects for community tree planting and solar heating.
As a part of the Gambia Experience and Cape Verde experience carbon offset programme 10,000 new trees have now been planted during the summer 2007 rainy season in three community sites in the south of the Gambia. These trees have all been chosen for their wider benefits including food and nut trees, fruit trees and many Gmaligna. This tree is particularly beneficial for providing nectar for the bees kept by hundreds of people in the Gambia. Honey is used for food, for health and medicine, for cash sales and for beauty products.
All trees are protected for at least 20 years through management agreements signed by the village Alkalo (village head) on behalf of each community. TICOS provides an experienced forester to help with maintenance and the replacement of any trees damaged or lost and long term management is exercised by the Travel Foundation’s national advisor.
Over the 20 years of the management agreement the carbon offset will be equivalent to 5,000 tonnes which equates to the CO2 created by 5,000 return flights from the UK.
The villagers of Sifoe in particular will be delighted to show any tourists the trees planted by their funds and provide you with honey based products. The photographs below show a planting ceremony in Sifoe attended by Gambia Experience, TICOS and the Travel Foundation and supported by the whole village. The village elders all planted a tree and the site was blessed by the village Iman.
TICOS also contributed to the event by planting 50 trees to help to offset recent staff flights.
In 2007, 10,000 trees will be grown and managed for a unit price of £2 per tree. Each tree will offset a half tonne of CO2 over 20 years. This will result in an offset of 5,000 tonnes of CO2 at a price of £4 per tonne.
Additional benefits
A number of hotels and other tourism related businesses in The Gambia have begun to look into the possibility of using solar water heating and one or two have bought units on an ad hoc basis. A robust solar heating system is needed which is attractive in price, good in quality, efficient in use, has a good life expectancy and can be made locally and maintained and serviced by Gambian labour forces.
There is a fledgling solar heating initiative being carried out by the Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI) which is currently able to make three solar heaters per week and these have been fitted to and are working in a number of establishments. They are very competitively priced at about a half of the cost of those made in Dubai and China.
GTTI works to a technical specification which has been written by an experienced UK solar engineer. This engineer has agreed to work with TICOS and he will carry out a needs assessment and feasibility study in June 2007 to scope out the needs and prepare an action plan for a number of hotels who have agreed to act as pilots for the new programme.
We hope to be able to significantly increase the production rate for solar heaters thus increasing income for GTTI and creating a substantial number of new opportunities for trainees and associated small businesses. Such jobs will be highly skilled and of great value in the Gambia.
Whilst CO2 reduction benefits are still to be calculated these will be substantial and achieved at a very competitive offset price.
Additional benefits:
Implementation of Stage 2 will commence Autumn 2007.