Carbon offsetting as part of a "carbon neutral" lifestyle has gained some appeal and momentum mainly among consumers in western countries who have become aware and concerned about the potentially negative effects of energy-intensive lifestyles and economies on the environment. Read the entire article from Wikipedia on Carbon Offsetting here Our Project ticks many of the boxes from the Wiki article

# Reforestation by Tree planting in rainy Tropics

"To plant forests outside of the tropics to mitigate climate change is a waste of time", said Ken Caldeira, a study co-author from the Carnegie Institution. "To prevent climate change, we need to transform our energy system. It is only by transforming our energy system and preserving natural habitat, such as forests, that we can maintain a healthy environment. To prevent climate change, we must focus on effective strategies and not just ‘feel-good’ strategies."

# 22kgs CO2/tree/year = 220 Tonnes/year

We will plant 40,000 Oil Palms during 2009, and a further 60,000 later in already deforested scrub land, allowing any existing scrub to rot back into the soil. Timber from any existing larger trees will be used to build housing for the native workers and plantation fencing. Tree life is over 25 years, storing a potential of over 55000 Tonnes of CO2.

Each oil palm tree costs around £2 to buy and at least £2 to plant and maintain for the 3 years until 1st full harvest.

 (min of £3.00 please)

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# Sustaining the Local economy

We will be creating local employment opportunities as well as assisting in providing local infrastructure and services over time. In the early years of tree growth we will be intercropping with vegetables to feed the rapidly increasing local town population. As the trees mature we will be grazing cattle which both benefits the trees and provides meat for the local markets. All fruit will be milled locally minimizing transportation costs.

# Low Impact Eco resort

Beach side land fronting the South China Sea, which is unsuitable for agriculture, has been set aside as a low impact tourism project and will bring financial and employment benefits to the local economy and longhouse communities.

# Sustaining the National economy

Malaysia's Government has committed to building Biodiesel plants in Malaysia and the Netherlands to convert excess palm oil into Biodiesel. This will help Western European Countries achieve their targets agreed under the Kyoto and later Protocols. This will also enable Malaysia to reduce it's balance of payments by supplementing home diesel consumption and expanding the life of it's own dwindling oil supplies more.

# Reforesting degraded land

Close to where the Palm Oil is being planted there are great swathes of deforested and degraded land that is unsuitable for planting oil palms. It is our intention, under a 2nd phase, to plant this land with Jatropha Curcas. It has been found that over a period of years that this tree can assist in the stabilisation and re-fertilisation of degraded land with the resulting benefits to local fauna & flora. An added benefit of Jatropha Curcas is the simple processing of it's seeds into a clean oil which is able to be used untreated in diesel engines. Seedcake is used as animal feed and fertiliser. Jatropha trees also make good livestock fencing, as the leaves are poisonous.

 

 

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