Carbon footprint reduced
Adventure tourism operator Toine Houtenbos had never seen a native pigeon in his backyard, until lockdown.
‘‘We’ve got kekeru¯ in our garden now. More fantails, more tui.’’
Wildlife seemed to thrive not only in his home in Motueka as ‘‘the world paused’’ in response to coronavirus, but in places including his home country of The Netherlands, the managing director of Abel Tasman Canyons said.
‘‘To see changes, little changes like that, and so quickly.
‘‘If we can all reduce our carbon emissions collectively, then we’ll probably see some really big changes in the long term.’’ Houtenbos was walking the talk. Not long after alert level four was lifted this month, the award-winning canyoning company that he ran with partner Eva Maureau was certified as zero carbon by not-for-profit enterprise, Ekos.
The pair had been ‘‘thinking about ‘‘moving in that direction for a while’’, but lockdown suddenly afforded the time to do it.
Becoming zero carbon was a ‘‘straightforward’’ process, which involved handing over information about the company’s fuel consumption, waste management and power usage to Ekos, which then calculated the tourism outfit’s carbon footprint, Houtenbos said.
The company then reduced its carbon emissions ‘‘as much as possible’’ through measures like driving less, and planned further reductions.
It offset remaining emissions by buying carbon credits for a certified restoration project, in the Uruwhenua Forest next to Kahurangi National Park in Golden Bay.
Abel Tasman Canyons’ tours (abseiling, sliding, jumping, swimming and ziplining down river gorges) were due to stop for the season, six weeks after lockdown began.
Because the pandemic hit at the tail end of its peak season, the business wasn’t as badly affected as some others in the tourism sector.
But the slowdown was an opportunity for the industry to examine its practices and make them more resilient, Houtenbos said.
AbelTasman.com owner, Brendan Alborn, said struggling businesses stood to cut their operating costs by reducing their carbon footprint.
Revenue from the company’s water taxi, kayaking, camping and hospitality services was ‘‘down 99 per cent’’ at the end alert level three.
But Alborn was optimistic about business prospects, due in part to the company becoming Zero Carbon ahead of its peak summer season last year, which resonated well with visitors.
‘‘It just gave us a really easily understood message ... your journey into the Abel Tasman is zero carbon.’’
Swapping the boats’ outboard motors had made them 15 per cent more energy efficient, allowing the company to ‘‘take more people into park for a lot less than it would have cost us’’.
Local business network, Businesses
for Climate
Action, said its members set a challenge during level three, about whether the tourism industry or food and beverage industry could be zero carbon first.
One of the group’s leaders, Katrina Kidson, said Covid-19 had made the group’s target, for 1000 companies in the top of the south to measure their carbon footprint by 2021, harder to meet.
‘‘But we need ambition,’’ Kidson said.
‘‘What we’ve done with Covid proves we can make radical change.’’