2009-11-05
Southern Mapping Company lends a helping hand towards environmental sustainability
With concerns about global warming and the damage of carbon emissions on the rise, companies across the globe are starting to be more proactive in finding ways to become ‘greener’ enterprises. Southern Mapping Company (SMC) has partnered with Peace Parks to help contribute towards this global greening initiative.Peter Moir, chief executive of Southern Mapping Company says that their involvement with Peace Parks has proved to be an insightful business venture. “Corporate social investment and greening are both important issues that affect all companies. When we were approached by the Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) for help with their bio-mass project, we knew it would be a great opportunity to contribute towards greening and environmental conservation. It has also turned out to be a very satisfying and insightful learning experience for us”. The total value of SMC’s contribution to the project is R245 000.
Leon-Jacques Theron, an ecologist for PPF explains, “PPF assists in establishing transfrontier conservation areas in regions that have pristine forests that are under threat of deforestation and degradation. The Foundation has already established transfornteir conservation areas in the cross border parks of Kruger-Limpopo along the SA-Mozambique border and the Ais-Ais-Richtersveld along the SA-Namibia border.”
The PPF identifies the transfrontier conservation areas and embarks on projects to determine the potential for the forests in the project area to absorb greenhouse gases, which could ultimately create a sustainable funding source for large corporations who wish to offset their carbon footprint. Forests absorb a large amount of greenhouse gases and therefore play a pivotal role in the atmospheric decrease of these harmful gases.
Southern Mapping Company is currently involved with the largest project undertaken by PPF, namely the establishment of the Kavango-Zambezi TFCA that will span Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe - a large bio-mass data collection exercise over an area of 1.5 million hectares. To ensure the long term sustainability of the transfrontier conservations areas, PPF has explored payment options for ecosystem services such as clean water and air. “Natural resources can easily be taken for granted. In a global attempt to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, an ‘ eco payment’ option has been enforced by putting in place a cap and trade system where polluters that are capped on their emissions are able to offset excess emissions by buying credits from businesses that have implemented various technologies to reduce their carbon footprint. This is a process that has been regulated by the Kyoto Protocol. Businesses that do not comply get fined,” says Theron.
Prevention of bush, forest or woodland clearing and replanting has also been included in the cap and trade system therefore making the transfrontier conservation areas a lucrative business opportunity for organizations who would like to offset their carbon emissions.
Continues Theron, “Substantial amounts of forests are cleared annually to make space for agriculture, timber and housing. This deforestation takes place at a much faster rate than plants are able to grow. If degradation and deforestation can be halted and the number of trees increased, credits can be claimed, which provides a financial motivation for areas to be protected.”
The Zambian component of the transfrontier conservation area project took place over a period of six weeks. The survey included hundreds of grass, tree and soil samples, as well as measuring the canopy diameter, circumference and density of trees. This data is then converted to a mass and then a carbon dioxide value by using special equations.
Says Theron, “This process is not easy and leaves room for errors. Area sampling is difficult and the lower the sampling effort, the less accurate the findings. With Southern Mapping Company’s advanced aerial Lidar technology we are able to accurately scan and measure thousands of trees within specified sample sets over a large area in a period of just two to three days.”
The project has been well-received both locally and internationally and has also attracted the attention of various research institutes. “We look forward to continually playing a part towards sustainable and greener living,” concludes Moir.
About Southern Mapping Company
SMC provides topographic surveys and mapping to assist a variety of industries and sectors. These include civil engineering and infrastructure development, mineral explorations and mine management, environmental planning and rehabilitation, and urban and agricultural planning. The company operates worldwide, but specialises throughout Africa. SMC’s staff were amongst the first in the world to combine Lidar with aerial photography and now have added hyperspectral to their product offering. For more information about Southern Mapping Company please visit www.southernmapping.com.Date issued: October 2009
Issued by: Martin Snoek Communications (MSC)
Contact person:> Lizanne Groenewald
E-mail: lizanne@martinsnoekcommunications.com
Telephone: (011) 465 7652 / (011) 465 7652
Fax: 086 684 1769
Address: P.O. Box 954, Fourways, 2055
