THE FIRST AFRICAN AIR SAFARI OPERATOR TO OFFSET CARBON EMISSIONS
In April 2021, Scenic Air Safaris and Execufly Africa, became one of Africa’s first carbon-neutral executive charter airlines and certainly the very first air safari operator to achieve this major conservation milestone.
The company is well known for placing conservation at the forefront of its business objectives and through the purchase of Verified Carbon Units, has offset carbon emissions for its entire aircraft fleet for years to come.
Our carbon neutral status is a direct result of our partnership with the Chyulu Hills Conservation Trust REDD+ Carbon Project, in collaboration with The Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, Big Life Foundation, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service and Conservation International.
The goal of the Chyulu Hill Conservation Trust REDD+ project is to prevent deforestation and forest degradation by active forest protection and providing alternative livelihoods for local communities living in and around the forest area. The beautiful Chyulu Hills, Ernest Hemingways ‘Green Hills of Africa’, is a watershed that provides a critical wildlife corridor in southern Kenya – nestled at the northern foot of Mount Kilimanjaro and rising 4,000ft above the dry savannah plains of Amboseli to the south.
“We wanted a starting point from which to take the first steps towards offsetting the CO2 emissions from our flights. Aside from providing executive air charters and air safaris to off beaten track locations, Scenic Air Safaris is an active supporter of wildlife conservation, having carried out many hours of wildlife surveys and rescue flights for conservation schemes. We looked long and hard at various carbon offset programs and felt that a partnership with The Chyulu Hills Conservation Trust REDD+ carbon project, would be the most credible, transparent and verified way for us, as an air operator, to reduce our impact on climate change.”
Torben Rune – MD, Scenic Air Safaris and Execufly Africa
The main drivers of forest destruction are economics and poverty. REDD+ is a mechanism that was developed through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to provide economic incentives to protect forest rather than destroy it. The Chyulu Hills REDD+ project aims to protect and conserve against such deforestation and degradation of a critical and unique ecosystem that is the Chyulu Hills.
The lush tropical montane forest of the Chyulu Hills is considered a critical bridge linking two incredibly diverse and important wildlife areas, the greater Tsavo Ecosystem and the famed Amboseli Ecosystem. Both areas are home to lion, cheetah, wild dog and rhino and some of the largest surviving elephant populations, including Africa’s biggest ‘Tuskers’