Lovers left to count the cost of Valentine's Day bouquet

UNDER the bright African sun, the cut comes before the rose blooms. On the banks of Lake Naivasha, Craig Oulton, manager of the Flamingo Homegrown farm is preparing to light up a Scottish lover's heart.

The stems cut today by Craig and his staff, across the Kenyan farm's vast acreage, are whisked to the pack house, graded for size and quality, packed in a cold store then rolled out on to lorries for the one-hour drive to Nairobi airport. They are then flown 4,333 miles to Heathrow, where they are collected by companies such as Flower Plus or Zwetsloots for delivery to a supermarket or florist near you.

As Mr Oulton explained: "We grow roses in Naivasha because we find that it's the ideal climate. We have excellent daylight and light intensity. We have fairly cold nights, for Kenya, vital for good rose growing."

From cut to completed bouquet takes less than 48 hours. Yet the thorn on the Valentine rose, or that of any imported flower, is the rising environmental cost.

Kenya is the second-biggest exporter of flowers to Britain, after Holland, and accounted for the majority of the 17,600 tons imported from Africa to Britain last year. The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management estimated that 68,941 tonnes of would be created in export, while the environmental pressure group Climate Care said it would cost 524,557.50 to offset the amount of pollution.

The cost of off-setting the 94,000 tonnes of flowers that roll in from the Netherlands, generating about 2,382.8 tonnes of is just 17,871, but this does not take into account the vast journeys already made by orchids from Thailand and carnations from Chile.

According to Michael Buick of Climate Concern, however, the comparison is not so straightforward: "You have to keep in mind that these figures do not represent life cycles of the flowers, so you cannot make assumptions about their comparative carbon footprints. Studies have compared producers from Holland and Africa. One of the points that came out was that while the flowers may travel further, those produced in Holland were grown in greenhouses that had to be heated using gas burners, so in reality they had a far larger footprint."

Mr Buick added that the carbon footprint of a bunch of flowers would be so small as to represent just a few pennies. Yet the pennies mount up. The British flower market is worth 2.2 billion each year, the equivalent of 36 per person, of which 28 is spent on flowers and 8 on plants. This is a rise of 28 per person since 1984, however we still lag behind Europe whose average spend is between 60 and 100 per person. Scots, however, are particularly passionate about their blooms, while only 8.7 per cent of the population, we account for 12 per cent of flower sales.

Each year Britain imports 315 million worth of flowers, while exporting just 16 million. The government's latest Official Trade Statistics show that in the past three years the quantity of flowers from the Netherlands has fallen 47 per cent from 177,000 to 94,000 tonnes a year. Imports from Africa have risen 39 per cent to 17,600 tonnes. They have gone up 200 per cent since 1998. Kenya's flower exports to Britain are followed by those of Colombia and Spain.

Yet consumers are on the horns, or should that be thorns, of a dilemma. The air may be polluted with more plane fumes, but African nations are benefiting from each bouquet. In Kenya, the nation's profits from flowers are the fourth-largest generator of foreign exchange after tea, coffee and tourism. Ethiopia has seen its business begin to blossom with exports to the UK rising from just one ton in 2003 to 130 tonnes last year.

Although there have been complaints of pollution and the diversion of natural resources to flower farms in Africa, companies such as Flamingo Homegrown, which are governed by EU standards, have invested in their workforce and the surrounding community. The farm re-opened a local hospital, treating 30-50 patients per day and running HIV/AIDs awareness programmes and ante-natal classes. It also provides fresh produce to local charities.

"Research proves that growing flowers overseas, where the light is brighter and the air is warmer, uses less fuel - including the air freight - than growing them in Europe," said Andrea Caldecourt of the Flowers and Plants Association. "It gives employment, plus education and medical services, to often impoverished rural regions which would otherwise rely on charity handouts to survive."

Yet the environmental lobby is concerned about the cost of "flower miles". Friends of the Earth points out the rise in greenhouse gases produced by air freighting bouquets of flowers thousands of miles, as well as the use of chemicals and water in cultivation. A spokesman for the FoE said that the flowers were dead and suggested instead that the public grow their own gift.

Yesterday, as Valentine's Day approached, an orange glow shone through the mass of white plastic greenhouses which stretch for miles along the shores of Lake Naivasha - the lights shining as the farm workers pick the roses 24 hours a day to feed the European market.

In the Nairobi offices of the Kenya Flower Council, Jane Ngige, the chief executive and the daughter of one of Kenya's first flower farmers, is passionate about the industry that now employs more than 50,000 people and is optimistic about its future growth.

"The Scottish market is very important to us as 23 per cent of our flowers are destined to the UK.

"Sixty per cent of the flowers we produce are the roses you see in a typical Valentine's bouquet. Most of the processed flowers are sent in bulk and they go directly to UK supermarkets, florists or the auction houses of Europe".

Flowers are increasingly becoming a lifestyle issue, rather than a twice-a-year treat. In the past they may have been reserved for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, the most lucrative day of the year, yet now the orchid in the hallway or the chrysanthemums on the kitchen table are becoming increasingly common. But are they costing the earth?

Ben Stewart of Greenpeace thinks this can be avoided. He said: "It is possible to show your love for a person and the planet." He said that we should treat flowers the way we treat food and try and source local plants. "How much carbon emissions are produced flying flowers from Kenya? Why not pick some of our own beautiful plants?"