WOMADelaide and Greening Australia tackle climate change together

We’ve teamed up with this weekend’s WOMADelaide festival to make sure every ticket sold contributes toward large-scale landscape restoration and helps combat climate change.

Since 2007 we’ve managed the offset of carbon emissions generated by the WOMADelaide festival through local biodiverse tree plantings. By rebuilding and reconnecting large scale landscapes we give every tree the chance of thriving and capturing carbon.

So far we’ve planted over 35,000 native trees and shrubs for the WOMADelaide carbon offset. The partnership also goes beyond raising funds by raising awareness of environmental issues among some 90,000 festival goers annually.

The planting sites

The planting sites are situated in the mallee region of South Australia which is home to rare and threatened species including the Mallee Fowl.

Each site has previously been cleared for farming. Over time they will act as ‘stepping-stones’ between the Ferries-McDonald Conservation Park and the Bremer River providing a bush corridor for native fauna and flora species.

Species planted include:

• Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha)
• South Australian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus leucoxylon)
• Sticky Hopbush (Dodonaea viscosa ssp. spatulata)

Making a lasting difference

The carbon offset program covers aspects of the festival including; air travel for all artists, electricity, waste, transport and staging, basically anything that generates CO2.

To measure and account for the carbon generated and offset we work closely with Australian Carbon Biosequestration Initiative Ltd or Canopy, which was among the first organisations to develop environmental offset programs in Australia.

Canopy employ measurement systems and the carbon accounting tools of the Australian Government and the WPI international standards. In addition the native re-vegetation program is compliant with Kyoto Climate Control Treaty, NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme, and with Australian Standards for Carbon Accounting for Greenhouse Sinks.

Also importantly the trees are registered on the land title of the property and are permanently secure.

For more information about our partnership with WOMADelaide visit http://www.womadoffset.com