Trees are important partners in climate protection because they can absorb and store carbon as well as produce oxygen. However, every year 13 million hectares of forest disappear - 17% of global CO2 emissions are caused by deforestation alone.
Therefore, Mabanaft has made afforestation an important focus of its voluntary environmental protection measures. Since 2020, we have been working with Tree-Nation to support ongoing reforestation projects around the world and also to offset the flight emissions caused by our employees on a voluntary basis.
So far, we have provided significant support to two projects: First, CommuniTree in Nicaragua, where smallholder families are united to reforest and care for unused parts of their land in exchange for payments for ecosystem services. Through better land management and more sustainable use of forest resources, the project increases forest cover in the nearby watershed and improves the quality of life for Nicaraguan farmers.
Second, we support Eden Projects in Madagascar. The project, which started in 2007, has successfully planted over 16 million mangrove and dry deciduous trees in a remote area in northwestern Madagascar. Eden Projects also employs mainly local people, offering them an income for making their land available for mangrove rearing and, once the trees are grown large enough, planting them on the project areas.
So far, 23,476 new plantings have been financed by Mabanaft, reforesting almost ten hectares of forest. All activities can be followed on our Tree-Nation profile.