A tree planted on your behalf
Book a Spanish course at IH Barcelona and we'll plant a fruit tree in Ethiopia on your behalf...
In collaboration with UK-based organisation Sponsortrees.com, we undertake to plant a fruit tree in Ethiopia on behalf of every one of our Spanish language students. The idea is both to offset the carbon generated by our students flying into Barcelona, and to try to help a community that really needs our support.
Our trees will be grown in nurseries and planted in Ethiopia, a country of 70,000,000 people which has barely 3% of its forest remaining. It loses 2 billion tons of topsoil every year due to the massive soil erosion caused by deforestation.
The trees planted on your behalf will be given to local families, to help reduce world poverty and support the global and local environment.
Tree facts
- One tree absorbs about 1,000kg of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, and can produce enough oxygen for 10 people for a year
- Each person on average emits about 10 tons of carbon dioxide every year, which is 10 trees worth
- Trees help cool the earth by evaporating moisture from their leaves and shading the ground from direct sunlight. This can allow other vegetation to survive where it could not without trees
- Tree roots stabilize worn soil, prevent erosion and guide water down to underground aquifers
- Trees can help balance the eco-system, enhance biodiversity and provide homes for wildlife
- Trees produce timber for domestic use as well as things like fruit and medicine
- Many tress "coppice" (grow back after cutting) and can therefore produce many times the benefits by being managed correctly
- For every 50 trees planted in deforested areas, 150 are likely to grow back from dormant seeds lying on the soil
EMAS and our Environment Policy
IH Barcelona is a member of EMAS, the EU's Eco-Management and Audit Scheme.
