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 and to preserve the heritage of the countries that it crosses.
This year the Rally will offset all of its direct carbon emissions once again (reconnaissance trips, competitors, logistics, etc.) The total amount of direct emissions from the Dakar represents 15, 500 t.eq.CO2, that is to say 48 % of the total emissions linked directly and indirectly to the Rally.
The majority of emissions linked indirectly to the Rally’s organisation are, as for all sports events, the result of the public travelling around and providing coverage of the competition for television.
The Dakar offsets all of its direct emissions through the support of 200 000 USD it provides for the Madre de Dios societal and environmental project. Through the different actions it has carried out to fight against the deforestation of the Peruvian part of the Amazon region, the Madre de Dios project has been able to save almost 120, 000 hectares of forest which would have been destroyed over the course of the next ten years.
The Dakar would like to continue to be fully involved in supporting the Madre de Dios project which has today obtained convincing results : the objective of zero deforestation is well on the way and the population is actively taking part in the project. Sufficient population levels for 10 species of animals and 4 varieties of forest plants have already been preserved thanks to the work of the Madre de Dios project.
A contribution is also taken from the registration fees paid by all competitors who have entered the Dakar : as a result, an extra 30,000 euros will be donated to “Madre de Dios”.
In preparing its route, the Dakar has always paid 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 Argentinean and Chilean authorities concerned by environmental and heritage issues.
From the preliminary route designs to the detailed and final 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 hosting the rally have been consulted. In Chile, the main contacts have been the CMN (Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales – the Council for National Monuments), the MMA (Ministerio Medio Ambiante – the Ministery for the Environment), the CONAF (Corporación Nacional Forestal de Chile – the Chilean National Forestry Corporation) and the CONADI (Corporación Nacional de Desarollo Indigena – the National Corporation for Indigenous Development).
The Daker has already carried out many initiatives and continues to do so each year. Some have already been put in place in previous years and others establish its objective to continually progress.
At the end of the 2012 edition, the organisers will identify relevant areas of improvement so that each year the Rally will be more and more irreproachable with regards to environmental issues.
