The Ski Club go green

Members plant trees

16 May 2006 14:46 GMT / By Chris Hall

The Ski Club of Great Britain’s 30,000 members have helped plant over 1500 trees which will aid the snowsports industry’s drive to safeguard the natural environment and combat climate change.

The Ski Club and its Respect The Mountain initiative have been supporting the Woodland Trust’s "Tree For All" campaign since October 2004 and after the latest donation of £4,950, the Ski Club has now donated £15,200 to the charity to date through its initiatives.

Jason Dyer, Senior Corporate Fundraiser at the Woodland Trust said the following about the Ski Club’s contribution to the scheme: “We are very grateful for the income the Ski Club has generated for our Tree For All Campaign. The Tree for All campaign continues to go from strength to strength with over 2 million trees planted by 242,000 individuals. The Ski Club and its Respect The Mountain campaign have played an important part in enabling us to achieve this".

With climate change now a reality, and the fact that skiing is dependent on the climate for its future, the Ski Club of Great Britain believes that unless action is taken, mountains and ski resorts around the world will be impacted and may not be the same in the future.

As a result, the Ski Club developed an environmental policy and issued seven steps on how to preserve the mountain. The next step was raising money for the "Tree For All" campaign and funding a research project examining the effect of skiing on the environment. The money was raised through an environmental levy on members’ joining fees and the sales of green Respect the Mountain wristbands.

Further information can be found at www.respectthemountain.com and www.woodland-trust.org.uk.