Help Mara and be carbon neutral.

Mara Tree Project

Iharara, a village in Mara, has offered a 300 acre plot of land for the planting of sustainable mixed woodland. Lawrence Kiuya, a respected elder of the village is also the environmental project officer at nearby Issenye Secondary School.

The school is a major user of timber for firewood, furniture and building and would be the main user of the timber, with any surplus going to the local community. Mara Diocese has proven expertise in agricultural projects and energetically complies with the Tanzanian government policy of replacing every tree removed from the natural environment.

£7700 is needed to prepare the ground, buy Acacia, Grevalia and Cypress saplings and also banana bark to protect the young trees. The saplings and banana bark will come from other projects in Mara that our Diocese has helped in the past.

 

How to help

It is increasingly common for businesses and individuals to offset the carbon produced by their normal activities, through a financial contribution to a scheme enabling that carbon to be recycled, e.g. through the growth of trees. The Diocese of Wakefield has committed itself to raising the money for the Mara Tree Project by offsetting carbon emissions, and using the money to buy the tree saplings.

 

Global Warming

We burn fossil fuels to heat and run our homes and churches, and to travel. All these activities produce carbon dioxide, the major green house gas that causes global warming. Global warming will have major and unpredictable consequences for our climate and world. Tanzania, together with other poor countries, will no doubt suffer because of the way we live our lives in the UK.

An excellent way to use up carbon dioxide is to protect existing trees and plant new ones. Helping plant trees around Issenye School will help protect the world’s climate as the trees grow and absorb carbon dioxide.

 

Calculating the cost of carbon emissions
It will cost £1 to plant each sapling in Mara. The carbon dioxide that we produce can be given a value in pounds.

A flight to Europe = £5 per person = 5 trees
A flight to Africa = £14
A flight to USA = £14
A flight to South America = £17
A flight to Australia / New Zealand = £30

Annual domestic use in a family house of 4 people = £50
Annual domestic use of a typical parish church = £90

Car use = 50 pence per 100 miles
Train use = 50 pence per 300 miles

 

Be Carbon Neutral
To make your church, household or holiday carbon neutral simply calculate the cost and make an equivalent donation for trees to be planted in Mara on your behalf.

Either

click here to donate online (your gift can be gift-aided)

Or

write a cheque payable to "Wakefield Diocesan Board of Finance Mara Account", and send to Church House, 1 South Parade, Wakefield WF1 1LP.
PLEASE WRITE "MARA TREES" ON THE BACK OF THE CHEQUE.

 

Click here to download a leaflet of the information on this page (pdf 150kb).

Click here to return to the Mara page.

 

Wakefield Diocese Environment Officer:

Revd Simon Pitcher
Tel: 01924 405881
Email: SJP@ukgateway.net

Click here for the Environment page