In April 2021, Scenic Air Safaris achieved a major conservation milestone by becoming one of Africa’s first carbon-neutral executive charter airlines to offset its aircraft carbon emissions, and certainly the very first air safari operator to achieve such a pioneering benchmark in sustainability. Scenic Air Safaris is well known for placing conservation at the forefront of our business objectives and through the purchase of Verified Carbon Units, have offset all our carbon emissions for our entire aircraft fleet for years to come.   

Scenic Air Safaris’ carbon-neutral status is a direct result of a partnership with the Chyulu Hills REDD+ CarbonProject, in collaboration with The Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, Big Life Foundation, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, and Conservation International. The goal of the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Carbon Project is to prevent deforestation and forest degradation by active forest protection and providing alternative livelihoods for local communities living in and around the forest area. The beautiful Chyulu Hills, Ernest Hemingways ‘Green Hills of Africa’, is a watershed that provides a critical wildlife corridor in southern Kenya – nestled at the northern foot of Mount Kilimanjaro and rising 4,000ft above the dry savannah plains of Amboseli to the south.  

‍“We wanted a starting point from which to take the first steps towards offsetting the CO2 emissions from ourflights. Aside from providing executive air charters and air safaris to off-beaten track locations, Scenic Air Safaris is an active supporter of wildlife conservation, having carried out many hours of wildlife surveys and rescue flights for conservation schemes. We looked long and hard at various carbon offset programs and felt that a partnership with The Chyulu Hills REDD+ carbon project, would be the most credible, transparent and verified way for us, as an air operator, to reduce our impact on climate change. "

Torben Rune – MD, Scenic AirSafaris and Execufly Africa 

‍The main drivers of forest destruction are economics and poverty. REDD+ is a mechanism that was developed through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to provide economic incentives to protect forest rather than destroy it. The Chyulu HillsREDD+ Carbon Project aims to protect and conserve against such deforestation and degradation of a critical and unique ecosystem that is the Chyulu Hills.

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“People cut down trees not because people are evil; they do it when the incentives to cut down trees are stronger than the incentives to leave them alone.” - Bill Gates, author “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster” 

The lush tropical montane forest of the Chyulu Hills in Kenya is considered a critical bridge linking two incredibly diverse and important wildlife areas, the greater Tsavo Ecosystem and the famed Amboseli Ecosystem. Both areas are home to lion, cheetah, wild dog and rhino and some of the largest surviving elephant populations, includingAfrica’s biggest ‘Tuskers’. 

‍Edward Norton, Filmmaker, Oscar-nominated actor, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, and President of Kenya-based Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust said: “This(REDD+) project creates two significant opportunities, simultaneously: It paves the way for ecosystem-scale conservation efforts to finally grow beyond perpetual dependency on philanthropic grant funding and finally be underwritten sustainably and long-term by cutting edge market economic models.”  

‍He went further by praising Scenic Air Safaris for our decision to offset our carbon footprint through the REDD+ project by saying: “As a pilot and long-time supporter of East African conservation efforts, I applaud Scenic Air Safaris for offsetting their carbon footprint. All of us in aviation need to follow this leadership”.

Download the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project Fact Sheet

To find out more about the Chyulu HillsConservation REDD+ Project visit: http://maasaiwilderness.org/programs/carbonproject  

To find out more about our sustainability initiatives, please contact simon@scenicairsafaris.com