We, at Abel Tasman Canyons, are passionate about exploring wild places because it gives us so much in return. Our canyoning trips allow us to take our participants out into the most unspoiled natural environment. We are so grateful and appreciate just how lucky we are that New Zealand still has these places to explore, and how important it is for us to safeguard it for generations to come. During our trips we are able to spread the awareness of sustainability to our participants, and they are able to find out just what part they themselves can play. For that reason Abel Tasman Canyons decided to become a certified Zero Carbon business.
At the same time by running a commercial canyoning business we realise that we are impacting the environment we hold so dear. Our most popular canyoning adventure in the Abel Tasman National Park, includes a water taxi trip to access it and we have always been aware of the carbon footprint this creates. However, abeltasman.com the company we are proud to partner with to get us there, have been proactive in gaining their Carbon Zero status last year. They have inspired us to take a look at our remaining carbon footprint in a bid to minimise our environmental impact.
To be confident that we could make Abel Tasman Canyons Zero Carbon we turned to EKOS. EKOS is a social enterprise that develops carbon projects to grow and protect indigenous forests in New Zealand, as well as in the Pacific Islands. EKOS connects carbon offset buyers with these projects by measuring business and individual carbon footprints, supplying certified indigenous forest carbon offsets, and providing zero carbon certification.
The super friendly and helpful staff at EKOS helped us identify what our carbon footprint currently is and advised us on what we can do to reduce our footprint going forward. Where we currently can’t further reduce our footprint we want to show our commitment to sustainability by offsetting our emissions.
Our carbon footprint in 2019 was 10.55tCO2e. This excludes the carbon footprint of our water taxi use as that service is provided by a Abel Tasman Zero Carbon certified business. To offset our carbon footprint we purchased certified EKOS carbon credits from a local project that we feel closely connected to. The Uruwhenua Project is located in Golden Bay. This land, known as Kānuka Hill, is 76.4 ha of naturally regenerating indigenous forest and was registered under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme in 2012. The land is also home to the epic Kill Devil track. A historic and technical track used by mountain bikers and back country trampers on the edge of the Kahurangi National Park. The Kānuka Hill vision is to recreate an untouched landscape that fosters biodiversity as a permanent forest. A place, here in our own backyard that we can access, explore and enjoy so easily.
As a result, Abel Tasman Canyons is proud to announce that we are now a Zero Carbon Business Operation with EKOS.
We realise that by ourselves we can’t change the world but it’s a jump in the right direction. By committing ourselves to sustainability we have become all the more aware that we can and must do our bit to minimise our negative impact on the environment in both our professional and personal lives. We have the ability and responsibility to set an example for our family, friends, staff, business partners, our participants, and our community.
Being a Zero Carbon certified business makes us incredibly proud. But it doesn’t end here. We’ll keep improving, we’ll keep inspiring others to do the same.
For more information about the sustainability of Abel Tasman Canyons please have a look here.
‘Sustainable Steely’ is our number 1 option for supply runs and local meetings. Give us a wave when you see him around town!
