Nature regeneration
What is nature regeneration?
Forests act as the world's lungs by absorbing CO₂ and releasing clean oxygen. That’s why it's crucial to protect them. Flying is polluting, and nature regeneration cannot reduce the environmental impact of our flights; it’s a way to help ecosystems recover from harmful human activity.
Nature regeneration projects address multiple issues, such as:
- Soil infertility
- Biodiversity loss
- Food insecurity
What is CO₂?
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a gas that plants use to grow. But when there is too much CO₂ in the atmosphere, heat is trapped around the earth. This is what leads to global warming.
How nature regeneration works
How nature regeneration helps a damaged ecosystem varies per project. Sometimes, it's as simple as planting trees; other times, local communities participate as stewards of the regenerated areas. This enables them to earn an income through more sustainable farming activities.
The regeneration of nature only becomes meaningful when we make lasting improvements. Hence, it’s crucial to consider the local ecology and economy. For example, planting the wrong trees in the wrong place can lower biodiversity and weaken ecosystems rather than make them stronger. That’s why we’re careful in choosing our projects.
Nature regeneration projects
Together with our partner FORLIANCE, we support 3 nature regeneration projects in Colombia, Panama, and Uganda. All selected projects:
- Are Gold Standard and Forest Stewardship Council certified
- Support job creation for the local population and community development
Contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
The project in Colombia lies in the Bita wetland, where the land was previously burned for cattle farming purposes. When the land became infertile, the local population left.
Through reforestation (restoring depleted forests by replanting trees) and afforestation (creating forests on barren land), the forest offers a natural habitat for native animals and plants. It also improves the soil and water, while local communities can live off more sustainable timber production.
Unsustainable cattle ranch practices degraded the land of the project in Panama. This project aims to reforest the land by cultivating crops and trees while also practising cacao harvesting.
These methods protect and enhance biodiversity, support precious ecosystems, and ensure fair employment for the local cacao farmers. Fun fact: we use the cacao from this project for the chocolate houses served in our World Business Class.
The Uganda project has a dual aim: enhance biodiversity by protecting specific areas and improve the economic situation of villages around the project. Members of the community use parts of the project to produce timber in a more sustainable manner.
Landholders outside the protected project areas receive training in agriculture and forestry and use forest management methods that allow their cattle to graze in reforested areas.
The price of your contribution to nature regeneration is based on the estimated CO₂ emissions of your flight. The emissions are influenced by several factors, such as aircraft type, route and distance of your flight, cabin class and historical load factor.
Every year, the accountancy organisation KPMG audits our calculation methods to ensure they align with international guidelines. The audit scope is available in the KPMG audit report.
Our latest methods and audit report:
Frequently asked questions
Nature regeneration (or forest regeneration) helps ecosystems recover from damage from human activity while increasing biodiversity. Once the projects have improved these ecosystems, they can become self-sufficient.
Our selected nature regeneration projects also support local economies by creating jobs, having a social impact, and teaching different farming methods to protect regenerated ecosystems.
Air travel is currently not sustainable, and nature regeneration won’t make our flights any greener. The nature regeneration projects are just one small thing we do to have a social and environmental impact on communities in Colombia, Panama, and Uganda.
We strive to improve our own activities by investing in:
Compensation through nature regeneration is not possible. Your contribution to nature regeneration helps increase biodiversity and strengthen local communities, but it doesn't compensate for emissions to make your flight green or sustainable. If possible, consider taking a bus or train for a more sustainable choice. Or reduce the impact of flying by adding extra SAF (alternative aviation fuel) to your booking.
Our selected nature regeneration projects are all:
Gold Standard certified
Gold Standard was established in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs as a best practice standard to ensure projects that reduce carbon emissions feature the highest levels of environmental integrity and contribute to sustainable development.
For instance, projects set aside 20% of their emission reductions as Buffer Credits, in case CO₂ storage is lost. This might happen due to things like wildfires or unplanned deforestation. Buffer Credits are not for sale.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified
Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) is the most widely recognised and independent certification for responsible forest management worldwide. When certifying a forest, FSC follows 10 principles and 70 universal criteria.
We uphold strict standards for the nature regeneration projects we support. One key criterion is that the project must be Gold Standard certified. Presently, there are no such projects in the Netherlands. But did you know that all nature regeneration projects we support are in countries where we operate direct flights?