We know that our customers take pride in what we’re doing to increase our sustainability. And as part of our commitment to eco-friendly web hosting, we’re pleased to announce that for March 2021, we’ve planted nearly 4,300 trees and sponsored two Gold Standard projects.
Over 3,500 mangroves planted in Madagascar
For our hosting packages and servers, we purchase trees through Tree-Nation, and this month, we purchased 2,000 Rhizophora mucronata and 1,500 Ceriops tagal for the Eden Reforestation Project in Madagascar, and we had one Bruguiera gymnorrhiza planted to offset our website. These small mangroves are perfect for protecting the coastline from tidal erosion, as well as providing a safe space for fish and other wildlife.
Also, as Ecologi members, we plant trees to offset our employees’ carbon footprint, and this month we planted 48 additional Rhizophora mucronata and Ceriops tagal mangroves in their Maratoala project.
500 lapsi trees planted in Nepal
For our customers, we also purchased 500 Choerospondias axillaris, better known as lapsi trees, for the Eden Reforestation Project in Nepal. Not only are these trees native to the region, but they also produce fruit that makes popular and delicious sweets across Nepal.
Over 150 fir trees planted in the United States
Along with our trees in Nepal and Madagascar, we wanted to branch out a bit, and planted 166 Pseudotsuga menziesii, or Douglas fir trees, in the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, United States. The forest suffered from a spruce budworm infestation, which caused massive tree die-off, and these fir trees will help reforest the area. Douglas firs are tall, resilient, and wonderful trees, great for hiking trails as well as lumber.
69 trees planted in Mozambique
Ecologi also plants trees for us in Changalane, Mozambique, and this month, we planted 24 Strychnos spinosa, 15 Trichilia emetica, 15 Adansonia digitata, and 15 Acacia nilotica.
Strychnos spinosa produces fruit and leaves that are popular with many animals, Trichilia emetica is a lovely flowering evergreen, Adansonia digitata is the massive and wonderful baobab tree, and Acacia nilotica produces gum arabic, used in everything from makeup to sweets.
Three rain trees planted in Nicaragua
Ecologi is helping the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve reforest over 1,300 acres of land in Nicaragua, and we’ve planted three Samanea saman this month. These large native trees are sometimes known as rain trees since their leaves fold up when it rains.
One hawthorn planted in Wales
And, thanks to Ecologi, we’re now planting trees in the UK! This month, we have a beautiful new hawthorn tree in Llandrindod Wells as part of their partnership with Protect Earth. Not only is hawthorn a fantastic hedgerow staple, providing housing and food for plenty of local wildlife, you can also add the young leaves, flower buds, and young flowers to salads, and turn the haws (the fruits of the hawthorn) into jellies and wines.
Protecting forests in northern Zimbabwe
Ecologi also sponsors Gold Standard projects for us, and this month they sponsored a REDD+ project that is working to protect nearly 785,000 hectares on the shores of Lake Kariba, near the Zimbabwe-Zambia border. This project joins together four national parks and eight safari reserves, helping to protect a space filled with vulnerable wildlife against poaching, while also helping to improve local communities with better resources, school subsidies, employment training, and much more.
Funding onshore wind turbines in Taiwan
Ecologi also supported the Changbin and Taichung wind farms project in Taiwan, bringing two onshore wind farms to Taiwan’s western coast. With strong winds along the coastline, these turbines will generate around 150MW of renewable energy that will go straight to the national grid, reducing the country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels. Plus, they’ve been working on reforesting the general area, encouraging local biodiversity.
Our Impact
Through these projects over the last month, we have reduced our carbon footprint by 250 more tonnes, making it over 2550 tonnes since we started – the equivalent of over 7.5 square kilometres of sea ice being saved or nearly 5 million litres of petrol not being used.
We’ll keep you all up to date with how we’re doing each month in our blog and we hope you’re as excited about the work we’ve been doing as we are.