Sustainable Tourism
All tourism has an impact on local communities, wildlife and habitats of the host country. To maximise the positive effects of Naturetrek tours, where possible we take small groups, use locally owned accommodation and provide employment for local people. We also commit to long-term plans, which help local communities protect their environment.
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Polar Bear in the fragile Arctic environment |
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Tropical Rainforest - a vital yet declining habitat |
Naturetrek & Sustainable Tourism
Company policy
Naturetrek’s founders, staff and tour leaders are naturalists and conservationists turned tour operators. Sustainable tourism has been a key part of Naturetrek’s ethos since it began in 1987, as outlined in our company policy.
Contributions
Naturetrek is involved in and dependent on wildlife tourism. Here are a few of the ways we contribute financially to the long-term protection of species and habitats:
- Tours which make a financial donation to a wildlife charity such as Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), International Animal Rescue (IAR) & Butterfly Conservation
- Developing partnerships with local communities & naturalists, such as financing the regeneration of land in Nepal to create two camps – Koshi & Suklaphanta
- We encourage you to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions created by your flights by offering the chance to donate to World Land Trust or Climate Care
- We look to develop tourism in remote & lesser known areas
- Sponsorship of wildlife events such as the British Bird Fair
- One-off donations
- Reducing our carbon footprint
- We are expanding our selection of UK & flightless breaks
Traveller’s code
We provide guidelines for all our clients on how to minimise the negative impact caused by travel, as well as ways of benefitting the host country.
Our sustainable tourism specialist recommends …
“I’ve seen at first hand how successful working with a local community can be – the ecotourism camps we’ve helped set up in Nepal benefit the culture, habitats and wildlife of the area. We’ve got more sustainable tourism and conservation projects in the pipeline – just check our latest news to see what we’re doing.”
Maryanne Mills
Director & Sustainable Tourism Manager