Our Responsible Efforts
WE BELIEVE THAT SAFARI TOURISM HAS AN INCREBILE CAPACITY TO CREATE A much needed POSITIVE IMPACT in africa.
Climate change and loss of biodiversity are the biggest challenges of our time. We passionately believe that through responsible business practices and through partnering with responsible operators in Africa, we and our clients can make a difference.
At the same time, we cannot deny the negative impact that long haul travel creates through carbon emissions – an impact that is far more complex to address than simply offsetting flights. Making a difference requires multiple approaches and we are constantly reviewing the best way to conduct our business so that the journeys you make have the most effective impact.
OUR RESPONSIBLE PARTNERS IN AFRICA
Protecting Africa’s wilderness areas is key to protecting global biodiversity; as is providing empowerment to the communities that live in and around these areas. Many of our partners in Africa are world leaders in responsible and sustainable travel and eco-tourism provides a critical income stream which funds conservation and creates sustainable community upliftment.
When selecting safari camp operators to work with, it’s not always straight forward to measure ‘sustainability’. We rely on our long-standing relationships with suppliers, and the fact that our team are out in Africa throughout the year, staying in camps and lodges, to ensure that we are working with partners who align with best practice when it comes to responsible tourism. From contributing to conservation and ensuring operations empower the local communities (whether through employment and/or support with education, health and enterprise in surrounding communities), to investing in green energy supplies and adopting efficient waste management systems, we are looking closely at key areas of operation.
POSITIVE IMPACT CONTRIBUTION
In addition to working with responsible suppliers, we support projects which directly protect the rich biodiversity that safari travel, and our planet’s survival, depend on, and which support the local communities who are guardians of this biodiversity.
When choosing how to invest, we have chosen conservation and community focused projects that align with our values as a company, and which are relevant to the critical wilderness destinations in Africa that our clients travel to. We review these each year to ensure our contribution is making the most effective impact.
Action for Conservation & Communities
Support for conservation and communities goes hand in hand – successful conservation does not exist without supporting, engaging and empowering the communities who live in and around wilderness areas. We directly support the following projects:
Bana Ba LetSatsi
CLAWS
Elephants for Africa
Elephants for Africa work to establish a sustainable coexistence between humans and elephants in Northern Botswana through research and education. Their aim is to protect this iconic species by understanding the needs of both the elephants and the people who live in the areas in which they traverse. The charity carries out research on male African elephants (the majority of research is into females) to learn more about their social and ecological requirements. Outreach programmes and entrepreneurial workshops are conducted in the local communities; partnerships are established and developed with the farmers who are taught how elephants use landscape, land management and how to introduce elephant corridors in effective areas as well as methods of crop protection.
Great Plains Foundation
SARARA FOUNDATION
The Maa Trust
SPECS FOR AFRICA
Zambian Carnivore Programme
Action for Carbon
We currently support two REDD+ projects. REDD+ stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, and is a UN-backed framework that aims to prevent deforestation and protect important carbon sinks, while providing alternative livelihoods for local communities living in and around the forest area. We directly support the following projects, ensuring maximum impact:
The Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project protects 410,000 hectares of forest in southern Kenya, a critical landscape linking together two of Kenya’s most important wildlife and wilderness areas, while supporting the livelihoods and well-being of local communities.
The Mai Ndombe REDD+ Project helps protect over 250,000 hectares of rainforest in the western DRC from commercial logging – the forest is home to chimpanzees, bonobos and forest elephants, and includes some of the most important wetlands in the world. It is also home to over 50,000 people.
Our Responsibility at Home
Our commitment to responsible tourism and investing in conservation and community projects in Africa does not absolve our environmental efforts at home in the UK. Here in our Suffolk office our electricity supply is derived 100% from green/renewable resources through our supplier, Ecotricity. Our website is hosted by a company who also uses 100% renewable energy supplies and uses power efficient server units. Some staff members have even purchased their bikes from Re-Cycle who donate unwanted bikes rural communities in West Africa. Based near our office in Suffolk, Re-Cycle also hold a monthly sale for the small number of bikes that are not suitable for the African landscape. We are members of The Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) who actively promote sustainable tourism practices.