One of the biggest announcements at G Adventures and Planeterra’s inaugural World Community Tourism Summit was a new tree planting project in partnership with Brisbane-based social enterprise, Reforest.
Trees for Days is a partnership that promises to have significant positive impacts for the environment and for communities, regenerating deforested regions around the world.
The announcement came on World Tourism Day at the climax of the first ever GX event in Cusco, Peru. A panel of experts connected to the project revealed to 400 agents, media, travellers, and industry insiders from around the world that for every day of travel booked with G Adventures a tree will be planted in one of 17 regions that’ve been devastated by deforestation and climate change.
It’s estimated that each year at least one and a half million trees will be planted and nurtured in an area where they’re most needed. It’s a reforestation project that’ll help re-establish healthy ecosystems, improve biodiversity, offset global carbon emissions, create jobs for local communities, and protect areas where communities have been left vulnerable to symptoms of climate crisis. It will also further enhance the positive impact customers make when traveling with G Adventures.
The commitment has been backdated to commence January 1st, 2023, meaning more than one million saplings are already being planted thanks to the travellers who’ve been on adventure with G this year.
What makes Trees for Days unique: it will give every traveller the opportunity to see where their trees are planted via their G Adventures account, so they’ll know exactly what regions are benefiting, and be able to keep track of how many trees they’ve fostered with each trip they take.
In time, new interactive features will be introduced to personalise and gamify the program further, and travellers will soon also have the chance to sponsor the planting of additional trees whenever they like.
“Our travellers care about making a difference when they travel. Together, we will address how community tourism can play an important role in helping the planet heal, while uplifting local communities” said G Adventures founder, Bruce Poon Tip.
Jamie Sweeting, president of G Adventures’ non-profit partner Planeterra, said Trees for Days is a win-win for all parties.
“The planting of trees not only contributes to the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but it helps promote healthier landscapes and ecosystems, and provides crucial habitats, food, and shelter for wildlife, thus helping to maintain biodiversity.
“Beyond that, helping local environments grow and flourish means they become more resilient to extreme weather events, which protects – and even helps develop – local communities and their sources of income, especially in rural areas. More trees also means cleaner air, and a reduction in the effects of extreme heat,”
Sweeting said.
The founder of Reforest, Daniel Walsh, says the Trees for Days initiative is a great example of a corporate reforestation program that will not only do real good for climate, nature and local communities, but will also give customers an engaging and personalised way to connect with the process and see the impact.
“Travellers increasingly want to feel like they are leaving a positive footprint, so a key benefit of this program is that they can feel that sense of ownership of the trees planted for them,” Walsh said.
As a bonus surprise, it was revealed that all attendees at the GX summit would be given a tree for every day they’ve attended the event to help kick-start the regeneration.
