Environmental impact
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Environment: respect the lands
As it was received in Africa, the Dakar is now invited to South America. As responsible as enthusiastic, the competitors have, like the organisers, the will to be worthy of this gesture. Their first duty, in this regard, will be to respect the lands. Argentina and Chile, who offer their most beautiful landscapes to the rally participants and its large number of television viewers, will be thanked for their trust.
Invited to South America, the organisers of the Dakar work with a permanent will to respect the places that are confided. In order to insure optimal conditions in terms of the environment, the teams of the rally have set up a network of local partners able to orientate their choices, notably for the elaboration of the course.
Added to their stature of Continent-States,Argentina and Chile distinguish themselves by the extreme variety of the fauna and flora that have developed there. The strong contrasts of population diversity, between totally desert areas and others strongly urbanised, leaves vast zones preserved from sources of the most harmful pollution. In both countries, numerous national parks are the object of strict regulation concerning the traffic conditions that apply.
A precise cartography transmitted by the administration of national parks
During the elaboration of the course, the basic rule was to go around these national parks. The precise examination of the considered itinerary in cooperation with the Ministry for Environment, then allows imagining several cuts. The administrations of the national parks in Argentina and the CONAMA in Chile are the ones that transmit for each stage planned a precise cartography of the "forbidden" zones for the Dakar, based on the places where animal species live and protected flora grows.
The orders given out by the services that are in charge of environmental questions are linked with the recommendations expressed by the representatives of the Indian communities during contacts established ever since the first phase of the rally preparation. All this information gathered together allows the sporting teams to design a respectful course on the welcoming sites. Once finalised, the map will be given to the Argentinean and Chilean authorities for final validation.
On the Dakar, each day a community of more than 2000 people travel from town to town. The logistic challenge that consists of feeding, installation and providing, among other things, electricity, begins at the moment of their departure. The organisers know the importance of keeping these sites clean. It is thus a work of collecting waste that begins at the moment when the competitors head into action. Consequently, the Dakar calls upon the local service providers to take care of the transporting the waste to the garbage sites that will assure disposal in the best conditions.
In collaboration with the Environmental Agency and Energy Control in France, the Dakar has requested a "Carbon report" concerning its 2007 edition. The method that consists of counting the direct or indirect greenhouse effects linked to the rally's activities gives a realistic vision on its environmental impact.
The results obtained established an overall level of emissions of 24 000 tons of CO2 on the 2007 Dakar, which represents the volume generated by a F1 Grand Prix. Counting all the emissions, the fuel consumption of the competitors on the rally represents 2000 t.eq.CO2, that is to say the emissions related to a day's circulation of the Paris freeway. In order to be able to think about ways of reducing or compensating for these outputs, it is primordial to have a precise knowledge.
In order to assert its commitment to an eco-responsible attitude,A.S.O.has decided to add an'eco-contribution' to the registration fees of competitors: 50 euros for bikes and quads, 100 euros for cars and 150 euros for trucks. The sums thus collected will be donated to one or several organisations working for the protection of the environment.