Xanterra Travel Collection is an award-winning travel company that aims to set the standard for ecologically sound resorts that complement, not harm, their natural surroundings.
The company’s mission statement, “Legendary Hospitality with a Softer Footprint” is evidence of its commitment to sustainability and protecting the environment for future generations.
How can carbon offsets help Xanterra continue to reduce its environmental impact and benefit the places and communities where they operate?
Addressing Rising Greenhouse Gas Emissions
One of Xanterra’s key sustainability goals is to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 50% by 2025 compared to a 2014 baseline.
The company has already implemented projects such as electric vehicle charging points, waste recycling and composting schemes, solar photovoltaic installations and other energy and water efficiency projects. And it has been a leader in addressing climate change for two decades.
However, since establishing a revised 2014 baseline, Xanterra has seen its CO2 emissions rise due to the expansion of its fleet of cruise ships, which now accounts for around 50% of the company’s total footprint.
To address the rise in emissions, Xanterra turned to carbon offsets. As it is the largest national park concessionaire in the United States, a project to restore grasslands surrounding Yellowstone National Park is highly appealing to Xanterra and likely to resonate with its customers.
Helping Ranchers Regenerate Grasslands and Save Carbon
The Montana Improved Grassland Project is a Help BuildTM carbon offset project that will improve soil health and increase carbon sequestration across 75,000 acres in Big Timber, Tom Miner Basin, and Paradise Valley, Montana.
Over the last two centuries, cattle ranching has caused over-grazing, resulting in increased bare ground, erosion, loss of perennial grasses, reduced capacity to hold water and, ultimately, lower productivity for cattle owners.
Alongside the cattle industry, the open grasslands and scrublands also support wildlife, tourism, and essential water resources for municipalities and businesses alike. The Montana Improved Grasslands Project seeks to restore the resiliency of these ecosystems so they can sustain their full-potential abundance, diversity of species, and livelihoods.
The Montana ranchers themselves seek to improve their land’s forage, but they often lack access to funding or resources. Investments in ranch improvements must show immediate returns; however, it takes time for ecological changes to occur, often many years.
Carbon offset payments supply the capital and financial security to improve soil health before the productivity benefits are realized, enabling ranchers to make sustainable changes to increase the productivity of their land, and to deliver real, measurable, and additional carbon sequestration as well as soil health benefits.
Investing in Communities, Ecosystems and Wildlife
Carbon reduction is not the only benefit of the Montana Improved Grasslands Project. By increasing the adoption of sustainable ranching practices, ranchers can benefit from improved productivity and higher market prices for sustainably raised beef, thus helping their communities to thrive.
Restoring grasslands bordering Yellowstone National Park will relieve pressure on the park’s resources from wildlife that depends heavily on the ecosystem within its boundaries. The beneficiaries will be both wildlife, such as healthy elk populations, sustainable fisheries and reintroduced wolves, and the local communities whose livelihood depends on tourism.
Progressive Offsets Fund Innovative Sustainability
NativeEnergy’s Help Build model provides the upfront investment necessary for cattle ranchers to take steps to improve their soil’s health, and bridges the financial gap between making the changes and seeing an increase in cattle productivity.
Xanterra will benefit by offsetting their unavoidable CO2 emissions, while demonstrating their commitment to wider environmental goals that are integral to their corporate mission.
A company with the great American outdoors at its heart also has a great sustainability story to tell to its like-minded customers. Find out how your company can tell the same story through a partnership with NativeEnergy’s Help Build™ custom projects.