Since its beginnings, the Dakar has been driven by a collective passion for wide open spaces and exceptional natural sites. With a strong attachment to respecting such sites, the rally organisers constantly seek out means to reduce its impact on the environment. It is with this principle in mind that a second carbon footprint assessment was commissioned this year.
Dakar 2007 vs. Dakar 2010
With a several year’s old concern of knowing its exact environmental impact and striving to control it, the Dakar committed to the process of a carbon footprint assessment, which was performed for the first time using data from the 2007 edition which took place on the African continent, after starting out from Lisbon.
Three years later, geopolitical circumstances led the Dakar to move to South America. New organisational constraints and the variance in lifestyles observed in the host countries incited a re-assessment of the rally’s impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. A study was therefore commissioned using the same criteria, in order to examine opportunities to reduce emissions and/or find solutions for offsetting them1. The main findings from the analysis of the raw figures will allow the Dakar to adequately assume its responsibilities:
Offsetting emissions: the Madre de Dios project
After having listed and implemented the emissions reductions possible for the rally organisers, work then started on finding the most coherent way to offset the Dakar’s carbon footprint. Initially, the objective was to fund a greenhouse gas emission offsetting project with a budget of € 105,000. After studying the various options, it was decided to make a commitment to the Madre de Dios project, which focuses on the containment of deforestation related to the construction of the trans-oceanic route cutting through the tropical forest, in the Peruvian part of the Amazon region.
This emission reduction project piloted by the NGO Greenoxx is focused on protecting biodiversity and directly involves the local communities. Acting as an intermediary, they actively participate in monitoring illegal deforestation operations and developing alternative revenue sources that guarantee the sustainable management of the forests.
The Madre de Dios project has received CCB (Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance) standard approval, which validates its social and environmental durability. Further proof of the project’s excellence is the achievement of the standard’s highest status: CCB Gold. The process is also supported by international NGOs such as WWF, CESVI, ProNaturaleza and AIDER.
Were it not for this project, 119,539 hectares of forest would have been destroyed over the forthcoming ten years.
In preparing its route, the Dakar has always devoted particular attention to preserving certain sites considered as sensitive. To ensure the coherence of the route, close collaboration is necessary between the rally’s organisers and the services within the Argentine and Chilean authorities concerned by environmental and heritage issues.
From the preliminary route designs to the detailed and definitive map of the stages, the Dakar organisers have endeavoured to set up regular meetings with the governmental authorities. In Argentina, the Ministry for the Environment and the services of each province playing host to the rally have been consulted. In Chile, the main contacts have been the CMN (Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales or Council for national monuments), the CONAMA (Comision Nacional del Medio Ambiente or Chilean national commission for the environment), the CONAF (Corporacion Nacional Forestal de Chile or Chilean national forestry corporation) and the CONADI (Corporacion Nacional de Desarollo Indigena or National corporation for indigenous development).
For the various routes submitted, these bodies have made observations and put forward amendments. This year, for the very first time, representatives of these specialist structures were invited to participate in route reconnoitring, in order to provide in the field assurance that the rally will not affect natural and archaeological heritage. On completion of this process, they were requested to validate the route, to guarantee that the race can take place in full respect of sensitive zones.
On the Dakar, each day a community of more than 2,500 people moves from town to town. The logistical challenge that involves feeding them, installing their temporary accommodation and providing electricity, amongst other amenities, continues once they have departed. In keeping with good manners, the organisers ensure the host sites are left in a clean condition. As a result, waste collection work starts as soon as the competitors hit the tracks. Nowadays, the Dakar undertakes to collect all the waste left each day, which is then removed by the local authorities to waste disposal sites, thus ensuring the refuse is processed in the best conditions. As regards waste considered as hazardous (used oil, batteries, etc.), specialist waste disposal firms are contracted. The Residuos Peligrosos (toxic waste) department, a part of the Argentine Ministry for the Environment, in fact performed an assessment based on daily observations made on the rally sites in 2009 and 2010, and praised the efforts made in waste management.
1 For the two carbon footprint assessments made, the study has been entrusted to Espere, a French environment agency (ADEME) approved firm.
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