Fly and Plant making world travellers’ memories grow in your neighbourhood.

Air travellers now have an easy way to help plant trees in their neighbourhoods and to reduce climate change from their flights. Kiwis have always been passionate about local planting projects and they can now use a fresh new initiative for local solutions to global warming.

Three Wellington projects: Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park Supporters and Trelissick Park were the first to receive funding from air travellers, who are reforesting their neighbourhoods through the new www.flyandplant.com website.

Wellingtonian travellers who are aware of climate change can use flyandplant.com to support their local projects, which help bird life recover, improve educational and recreation amenities and improve their property values. Air travellers are invited to donate $5 per hour of flying, which helps purchase native plants to absorb carbon dioxide. A one hour flight can release around 100kg of carbon dioxide per passenger.

100% of donations go to the projects’ accounts.

Flyandplant.com is unique because funds do not disappear into a distant project account never to be seen again. On the contrary, people choose their local project and are encouraged to plant their trees themselves. They can enjoy their walks in years to come, look at the fruits of their efforts, and think:

“We planted this lovely Rimu tree because of our trip to Fiji!”

Planting is undertaken within existing programmes run by local residents and environmental groups. City authorities and businesses often support these projects. All projects use indigenous species and are designed to restore natural ecosystems representative for the region. Funds are used for seedlings, fertilizer, pest control and other activities required to rehabilitate waste land.

Karori Sanctuary was one of the first local projects on the Fly and Plant scheme. Funds received will go towards continuing their restoration efforts. The sanctuary’s conservation efforts have also had dramatic effects outside their fence line with bird populations returning to Karori, Kelburn and other Wellington neighbourhoods.

Wellington Mountain Bikers are excited about the opportunity to use flyandplant.com to help fund reforestation at Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park Supporters, located on the western side of Karori basin. Makara Peak Supporters chairperson Ben Wilde commented: “Fly and Plant funds contributed to plants for a recent record breaking planting session at Makara Peak. Over fifty cyclists, families and locals helped at our last planting and we managed to plant more than 500 trees, and all before lunchtime! We are excited about this opportunity for locals, walkers and mountain bikers to support the conservation efforts at Makara Peak “

“Most travellers now know that flying damages the earth’s climate.” says Chris Watson of C. Watson Consultancy Ltd, co-founder of flyandplant.com. “The best thing is to minimise our flying and absorb some of our carbon by transforming gorse and pest infested gullies and hillsides in Wellington, into a sanctuary for native trees and birds” says Watson.

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