1 - 7 August 2014 #718

Fly with a clear conscience

PICS: BASIL EDWARD TEO
If you are flying to Nepalganj or Dhangadhi on Yeti Airlines, you don’t need to feel guilty or worry anymore about your carbon footprint or contributing to Nepal’s trade deficit. The airline has been setting aside Rs 40 from every rountrip ticket from Kathmandu to these destinations in western Nepal.

In a span of four years, the Green Project has planted and protected nearly 80 hectares of forest. Last week, members of the local community, Nepal Army and Armed Police Force, joined hands to add another 1000 tree saplings in the area of Uttar Rameshworam in Dhangadi. The project plans to plant 20,000 saplings this year.

“As an airline company, I know that we release a significant amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, so the Green Project is our way of giving back to the environment,” said Roshan Regmi of Yeti Airlines.

The Green Project has so far reforested plots in Kanchanpur, Kailali and Doti districts. The Tarai region has lost nearly 10 per cent of its forest cover in the past tweo decades.

Bhagwati Hamal, a district secretary at Women for Human Rights, was initially skeptical of the project when she first participated in it five years ago. “When I first helped with planting, I didn’t think there would be much change, but now I see greenery all around my home-town,” said the 37-year-old.

Building on its success in Dhangadhi, Yeti Airlines initiated another reforestation project in Solukhumbu this year. Said Regmi: “We are committed to reducing the impact of carbon emissions on the environment, and we wish our customers who have flown with us to these sectors also feel good that they have also contributed to the cause.”

Basil Edward Teo

www.yetiairlines.com