Devon, UK: As a travel business during the Covid 19 pandemic, we have used this time as an opportunity to build back better. The sustainability of international travel has been a concern of ours for a number of years. We decided now is the right time for The Mountain Company to declare a Climate Emergency.

Our mission is to improve our environmental impact and go beyond greenwashing. On a general level, the nature of our trips is more sustainable than most other sectors of international travel. We organise "slow travel" with average holidays taking three weeks. Our trips use a lot of human power as on most days we are walking rather than relying on vehicle transportation.

Yet, there is no escaping the fact that a trip to the Himalayas will have a higher carbon footprint when compared with a staycation at home. We can reduce some of the carbon used by making changes to the itineraries and to our operations. However, in practice, we cannot cut out much more as most of the carbon used for a trip is as a result of flights.

To help address this issue we have partnered with Eden Reforestation Projects to plant trees in Nepal. Their project aims to reforest tropical forests in community forests found in the Terai Region on the border region of Nepal and India. We are not claiming that our trips are carbon neutral or officially “carbon offsetting”. Yet it is likely that most, if not all, of the carbon generated from our trips, will be offset by the trees planted.

From January 1st, 2022 we will plant a predetermined number of native trees in Nepal for every holiday sold in Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, and India. Our formula for the number of trees planted per booking will be as follows:

One tree for every day of the holiday

Five trees for every internal flight

We have published the number of trees to be planted on all 65 trip pages on The Mountain Company's website. Some examples are below:

Dhaulagiri Circuit (Nepal): 50 trees planted per trekker

Everest Base Camp (Nepal): 29 trees planted per trekker

K2 Base Camp (Pakistan): 33 trees planted per trekker

Lunana Snowman (Bhutan): 34 trees planted per trekker

Ladakh Sky Trail GHT (India): 27 trees planted per trekker

The environmental benefits of planting trees in Nepal go beyond the absorption of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Trees restore the forest ecosystems and increasing the biodiversity of flora and fauna. Eden Reforestation Projects has poverty alleviation initiatives by employing locals including a large proportion of women. They also build community infrastructures such as health posts, water wells, schools, and community centers.

Like all signatories to Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, we have committed to developing a 'Climate Emergency Plan'. This sets out our intentions to reduce carbon emissions over the next decade. Our partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects will be a key pillar of our Climate Emergency Plan. We plan to publish this later in 2021. 

The Mountain Company's Managing Director, Roland Hunter, commented: “We are excited to announce our partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects. By planting trees we are starting the process of being more mindful of our impact on the environment. I think it is better to do something rather than nothing at all. I believe in the positives of international travel given the economic and social benefits to the Himalayan countries we visit. Our 'long and slow' trekking holidays are better from an environmental perspective for long haul destinations like the Himalayas and Karakoram.”

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Media: Roland Hunter | Managing Director| 01647 433880 | roland@themountaincompany.co.uk

About The Mountain Company

The Mountain Company is an award-winning team of holiday experts to the Himalayas and Karakoram. We organise treks, expeditions, and tours in Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, and India (Ladakh and Sikkim). Our passion is for exploring very remote regions including sections of The Great Himalaya Trail.

Winners of AITO's Tour Operator of the Year in both 2018 (Gold) and 2015 (Bronze). We are members of AITO, ABTOT and hold an ATOL license.

We have offices both in the UK and in Nepal so during peak season we offer unique on-the-ground support from Kathmandu.

Founded in 2004 and still managed today by Roland Hunter FRGS. Roland has led groups on most of our trips throughout the Himalayas and the Karakoram. He has also summited Mount Everest (8,848m) and Mount Makalu (8,463m).

Our website is at https://www.themountaincompany.co.uk/

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