Greener Travel
The negative impacts of all travel, but especially air travel are well known. At BTCV International, we believe that the value of our volunteer projects, both through the actual work achieved and the long-term benefits that they support, go a long way towards mitigating these impacts.
However, that's no reason to be complacent and we have taken further steps to maximise our efforts to compensate. Since 2006, for every booking on a BTCV International Conservation Holiday, BTCV has made a direct contribution to supporting sustainable tree planting projects.
And this doesn't just mean paying for a tree to be planted - we've worked with our partners in the UK and overseas to identify projects that are using forest and woodland development most effectively for environmental and social benefits. Our support can be through funding volunteer support or support for the running costs of the projects. Where possible, we're integrating them into our own volunteer programmes so that everyone can get directly involved.
Here's what we've been up to recently...
Community Tree Nursery, Cameroon
BTCV has provided grant support for the core running costs of a community tree nursery in rural Cameroon in West Africa.
Our partners Greencare Shisong are a volunteer group working with a village communities in Cameroon's Bamenda Highlands to promote environmentally and socially sustainable agricultural and economic activities. Their work has included training in new agricultural opportunities such as bee-keeping, cane rat husbandry and forest restoration.
The nursery is a centrepiece of the group's work in which collected seeds are grown up before being distributed as saplings to outlying communities for planting in wet-flush areas. Their role here is critical in preserving the quality of water supplies for villages, providing habitat for bees and honey production, helping to stabilise soil and reduce erosion and for direct use for fruit and fuelwood production.
And the grant is not where our support stops. To link with the nursery project we usually run one of our conservation holidays giving everyone the chance to join with Greencare volunteers and local villagers in a huge community-wide treeplanting effort.
Join us on :: Trees, Water, Life
