Please send your donation to:
Plant
a Tree in Africa
48 Churchward Avenue
Swindon
Wiltshire SN2 1NH
UK
Cheques should be made payable to: Plant a Tree in Africa.
Greenhouse gas
emissions from aircraft flying in and out of Britain in 2030 are estimated
to then contribute nearly half the UK total. Aircraft from UK airports
alone emitted 9.8 million tonnes of carbon in 2005 - equivalent to
36 mil tonnes of carbon dioxide. By 2050 this contribution is estimated
to be more than all other sources of UK emissions put together.
The carbon reservoir in trees is much greater than that in herbacious
plants. Thus planting trees in former treeless land will increase
the reservoir of carbon in vegetation. Sequestration ceases when the
trees are mature. Growing trees for energy, as a substitute for fossil
fuels, gives a continuous offset benefit, in addition to the one-time
benefit of carbon sequestration.
Trees planted
in Africa generally grow quickly and hence start to sequester carbon
over a shorter time span than trees planted in cold climates. Most
Africans still use charcoal and wood as their main source of cooking
fuel and trees play an important economic role in sustainable rural
development. Hence supporting tree planting helps to relieve the poverty
of the world's poorest people, mainly living in rural areas of Africa.
If nitrogen fixing trees are planted in conjunction with crops (agro-forestry)
they will help the crops to grow. Most of PATIAS grants are directed
towards community run agro-forestry projects.
For the purpose
of this sequestration programme the trees planted will be new trees,
not replacements of existing trees and will be replaced with new trees
upon reaching maturity.
For the purpose
of the above calculator the greenhouse gas emissions have been assumed
to be 0.0005 tonne per Km per person, although for short haul flights
the figure will be greater than this value.
It is estimated
that, on average, one tree will sequester one tonne of CO2 during
its life. Although several tree seedlings, on average, can be raised
in most African situations for £1, the assumption has been made
here that a donation of £5 will guarantee that one tree will
reach maturity before being felled and replaced.
Feedback, together
with details of project partners and tree planting locations, will
be provided on this web page as the programme progresses. Plant a
Tree in Africa currently has tree planting partners in Ethiopia, Ghana,
Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya, Cameroon and Uganda and can expand into
other countries if this programme is well supported.
PLEASE HELP
PATIA COMBAT THE THREATS POSED BY GLOBAL WARMING WHILST AT THE SAME
TIME REDUCING POVERTY IN AFRICA.
For more detailed
information about greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft visit http://www.chooseclimate.org/
