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Sustainable Tourism
Ours is a tour company run by naturalists for naturalists. All of us have a passion for conservation, wildlife and wildlife tourism, and are committed to ensuring the long-term protection of species and habitats. We achieved AITO’s top (5-star) Sustainable Tourism accreditation, and operating our holidays in an environmentally responsible manner has always been at the heart of our business.
We centre our Sustainable Tourism Policy around three key commitments: Protecting Biodiversity, Reducing Carbon, and Travelling Responsibly. Below, you can read more about our 'carbon retention' initiative with the World Land Trust and Fundación EcoMinga in Ecuador, and our support for re-wildling and species conservation projects. We also detail our core aims, our suggestions for responsible travel, and our contributions to wildlife conservation and other causes over the years.
Protecting Biodiversity
The Naturetrek Reserves in Ecuador: Reducing the Carbon Emissions from our Flights
Naturetrek was one of the very first British tour operators to encourage its clients to contribute towards offsetting their carbon emissions and has done so since 2000. Since 2007, we have additionally been making contributions, at our own expense, for every flight that we book. We donate £15 to the World Land Trust for every person booking a long-haul holiday with us, and £5 on behalf of each of our short-haul travellers, which to date has raised over £525,000 and funded our very own ‘carbon retention’ project.
In collaboration with the World Land Trust and its Ecuadorian partner, Fundación EcoMinga, we are using these funds to build up ‘Naturetrek Reserves’, helping to link together the Llanganates and Sangay National Parks on the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes – an area of threatened primary cloud forest that has been classified by WWF as one of the 200 most important wildlife corridors in the world due to its high levels of biodiversity. This Naturetrek project has not only saved a valuable habitat and its endangered wildlife from deforestation, but it has also enabled us to prevent the release of an estimated 105,000 – 212,000 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, which instead remains held within its forests and soils. Our Naturetrek Reserves now cover 2,181 acres, creating an invaluable wildlife corridor between the national parks. They are rich in Andean species such as Spectacled Bear and Cock-of-the-Rock, together with a very rich flora and a wealth of rare amphibians and reptiles, amongst the latter several orchid and frog species new to science. Read all about the Naturetrek Reserves in Ecuador here.
We also encourage our clients to match our donation when they book their holiday, in order to further reduce the environmental impact of their trip. By matching our donation, you can help us to grow the reserves, both locking up carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere and preventing the National Parks from becoming isolated cloudforest islands, thereby protecting this valuable, extremely biodiverse habitat and its endangered wildlife. We are delighted that our clients have raised an additional £41,000 since 2019 by choosing to make their own donation when booking a Naturetrek holiday.
Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
The Naturetrek Macchietelle Reserve in Italy
In late 2023, we purchased the 120-acre ‘Macchietelle estate’ in Italy's central Apennines, which we have passed by way of a 30-year stewardship agreement to the Italian conservation charities Salviamo L’Orso (Save the Bear) and IntraMontes. It is our hope that the Naturetrek Macchietelle Reserve will support Salviamo L’Orso’s goal of building protected corridors between the two national parks and three regional parks/reserves of the Apennines, and to extend all these protected areas for the benefit of the endangered Marsican Brown Bear, a distinctive subspecies of which just 60 individuals remain. Trail cameras, nesting boxes and static bat detectors have been installed within the reserve, and the important task of recording, monitoring, conserving and enhancing the biodiversity of the site, and rewilding, now underway. Read more about the Naturetrek Macchietelle Reserve here.
It is now our wish that such nature restoration projects become the primary target for Naturetrek support and investment. In these fast-changing times, our support for nature and conservation is imperative, and we intend to use our profits to purchase land to be managed by wildlife and conservation charities for the benefit of our natural world.
Mingledown Meadow: Rewilding at Naturetrek HQ
The Naturetrek office, Mingledown Barn, is set amongst 12 acres of grassland, formally used for livestock grazing, and years of agricultural activities had reduced the site’s ecological value. We have worked hard since moving here in 2014 to enhance our site for wildlife, rebalancing nature in the grounds around our offices. One of our first projects was a thorough overhaul of an existing pond, which had been in situ for many years and was in poor condition, offering very limited value to wildlife. We sensitively emptied the pond and removed the liner. Then came an exciting day where, with the help of a digger, we expanded the pond’s footprint, creating varying depths and scalloped edges to create a range of microclimates for different species! We also created a south-facing ‘butterfly bank’ with some of the excavated materials, capping it with chalk ready for seeding with chalk downland wildflowers, as well as some log piles to provide nooks and crannies for wildlife. We added new underlining and liner, and then waited patiently for the rain to come! The pond is now totally transformed, and during the summer months we all enjoy watching dragonflies darting about and the resident Grass Snake taking a swim whilst we have our lunch.
Little Owl chicks at Mingledown Barn
Restoring the pond – from murky swamp to wildlife haven!
Reducing Carbon
We've measured the total carbon footprint of our business operation - including our headquarters, tour operations, customer flights and business travel - and we're now on a mission to reduce it year on year. We know this won't be easy, but this isn't a reason to delay starting our journey towards net zero emissions. Right now we don't have all the answers, nor are we claiming to be perfect, but each year we will strive to improve.
For now, we continue to make donations to build our Naturetrek Reserve in Ecuador in order to offset flight emissions, and we encourage our clients to do the same.
Our Legacy
Naturetrek Contributions to Sustainable Tourism Over the Years
We are intimately involved in wildlife tourism and dependent on it as a business, making us acutely aware of the need to ensure the long-term protection of species and habitats. Our financial contribution to conservation causes has increased over the years with the growth of our business, and now stands at over £1.2 million. Some examples of our own projects and contributions include:
Our longstanding support of Butterfly Conservation between 2002 and 2024, as a Gold Corporate Sponsor and through our donation of 10% of the income generated from each of our butterfly-focused holidays annually, saw us raise over £266,700 to help protect the habitats of these endearing insects. Our donations have funded a wide variety of initiatives, including an 18-month project maintain and improve a discrete area of suitable habitat for the Duke of Burgundy in the southern Chilterns.
Our longstanding support of Butterfly Conservation between 2002 and 2024, as a Gold Corporate Sponsor and through our donation of 10% of the income generated from each of our butterfly-focused holidays annually, saw us raise over £266,700 to help protect the habitats of these endearing insects. Our donations have funded a wide variety of initiatives, including an 18-month project maintain and improve a discrete area of suitable habitat for the Duke of Burgundy in the southern Chilterns.
One of the finest and most important wetland wildlife reserves in Asia, Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, was created largely to protect Nepal's last remaining population of wild Water Buffaloes, but is of even greater importance to migratory birds and endangered grassland birds and mammals. In the early 1990s, it was neglected by the tourism it deserved and not regarded nationally as a tourism destination of any note. This situation changed dramatically after we conceived and funded the creation of Koshi Tappu's first luxury tented camp: Koshi Camp. Our single-handed marketing of Koshi Camp, and the attractions of the Reserve, have – nearly 30 years later – put it firmly on the map of the must-go-to destinations of naturalists and birdwatchers worldwide. The encouragement and training of local staff and expert naturalist guides has been extended to include school and village visits, emphasising the benefits of birds, wildlife, conservation and tourism for all. We were delighted to gift a 50% shareholding in Koshi Camp to the local naturalists and conservationists who assisted in establishing this popular tourist wildlife camp, and in whose hands the future of the conservation of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve lies.
One of the finest and most important wetland wildlife reserves in Asia, Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, was created largely to protect Nepal's last remaining population of wild Water Buffaloes, but is of even greater importance to migratory birds and endangered grassland birds and mammals. In the early 1990s, it was neglected by the tourism it deserved and not regarded nationally as a tourism destination of any note. This situation changed dramatically after we conceived and funded the creation of Koshi Tappu's first luxury tented camp: Koshi Camp. Our single-handed marketing of Koshi Camp, and the attractions of the Reserve, have – nearly 30 years later – put it firmly on the map of the must-go-to destinations of naturalists and birdwatchers worldwide. The encouragement and training of local staff and expert naturalist guides has been extended to include school and village visits, emphasising the benefits of birds, wildlife, conservation and tourism for all. We were delighted to gift a 50% shareholding in Koshi Camp to the local naturalists and conservationists who assisted in establishing this popular tourist wildlife camp, and in whose hands the future of the conservation of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve lies.
Such was the success of our initiative at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve that, in 2008, we established a second tented camp at Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in far western Nepal. This remote and little-visited reserve protects the world’s largest population of the nominate race of the Swamp Deer, as well as many other mammals, including healthy populations of both Tiger and Leopard. However, it is for rare grassland birds that Suklaphanta is particularly special, amongst them the endangered Bengal Florican. It is our hope that, by encouraging tourists to this park, we will persuade both local people and the government of Nepal of the value of this important wildlife reserve. The encouragement and training given to local staff and naturalist guides has again been at the forefront of our work here.
Such was the success of our initiative at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve that, in 2008, we established a second tented camp at Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in far western Nepal. This remote and little-visited reserve protects the world’s largest population of the nominate race of the Swamp Deer, as well as many other mammals, including healthy populations of both Tiger and Leopard. However, it is for rare grassland birds that Suklaphanta is particularly special, amongst them the endangered Bengal Florican. It is our hope that, by encouraging tourists to this park, we will persuade both local people and the government of Nepal of the value of this important wildlife reserve. The encouragement and training given to local staff and naturalist guides has again been at the forefront of our work here.
Sponsorship of the Birdfair
As an associate sponsor of the annual British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water (the Birdfair) from 2002 to 2020, and now of Global Birdfair, Naturetrek has donated over £90,000 to the worldwide conservation causes supported by the Birdfair each year. The Birdfair is a major conservation fund-raiser, donating over £100,000 each year to a chosen area of worldwide ornithological importance identified by BirdLife International and the RSPB. Areas chosen over the years have included the Spanish Steppes, Moroccan wetlands, Spain's Coto Doñana, the Polish marshlands, Romania's Danube Delta. We have also offered tours to many of these regions in conjunction with Birdfair and BirdLife International to enable naturalists the chance to see at first hand these highly important and restricted areas and the conservation work carried out in them. On each of these tours, 10% of the tour cost has been donated to the project visited.
In 2004 we partnered with BirdLife International to raise the profile of, and raise funds for, the conservation of Madagascar’s fragile Mahavavy Delta Wetlands, an area under continual threat from draining, agriculture, hunting and over-fishing. This is the only site in the country supporting all of western Madagascar’s endemic wetland bird species, amongst them the critically endangered Sakalava Rail – at the time a bird seen by fewer than 10 living ornithologists! As well as donating £5,000 as an associate sponsor of the Birdfair, we further worked to bring wildlife tourism – and much needed finance – into the region by organising the first, expeditionary tour there in November 2004 (which was successful in seeing the Rail!). This tour brought employment and financial benefit to the local community, plus an additional £2,536 (10% of tour proceeds) which was gifted to the Programme. We subsequently ran a similar, successful fund-raising tour to the regions of Ethiopia needing assistance with the protection of habitats critical to the survival of the country’s southern endemic birds.
Sponsorship of the Birdfair
As an associate sponsor of the annual British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water (the Birdfair) from 2002 to 2020, and now of Global Birdfair, Naturetrek has donated over £90,000 to the worldwide conservation causes supported by the Birdfair each year. The Birdfair is a major conservation fund-raiser, donating over £100,000 each year to a chosen area of worldwide ornithological importance identified by BirdLife International and the RSPB. Areas chosen over the years have included the Spanish Steppes, Moroccan wetlands, Spain's Coto Doñana, the Polish marshlands, Romania's Danube Delta. We have also offered tours to many of these regions in conjunction with Birdfair and BirdLife International to enable naturalists the chance to see at first hand these highly important and restricted areas and the conservation work carried out in them. On each of these tours, 10% of the tour cost has been donated to the project visited.
In 2004 we partnered with BirdLife International to raise the profile of, and raise funds for, the conservation of Madagascar’s fragile Mahavavy Delta Wetlands, an area under continual threat from draining, agriculture, hunting and over-fishing. This is the only site in the country supporting all of western Madagascar’s endemic wetland bird species, amongst them the critically endangered Sakalava Rail – at the time a bird seen by fewer than 10 living ornithologists! As well as donating £5,000 as an associate sponsor of the Birdfair, we further worked to bring wildlife tourism – and much needed finance – into the region by organising the first, expeditionary tour there in November 2004 (which was successful in seeing the Rail!). This tour brought employment and financial benefit to the local community, plus an additional £2,536 (10% of tour proceeds) which was gifted to the Programme. We subsequently ran a similar, successful fund-raising tour to the regions of Ethiopia needing assistance with the protection of habitats critical to the survival of the country’s southern endemic birds.
In April 2015, we were devastated to wake up to the news of a shattering earthquake in Nepal, which killed nearly 9,000 people and destroyed the homes of an estimated 2.4 million. Relieved to learn that all our friends and colleagues in Nepal were safe, we wanted to do what we could to help with the relief effort. We quickly established an appeal and encouraged our customers who had travelled to Nepal with us to donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee relief fund. We pledged to match all donations up to £10,000, in the hope of jointly raising £20,000 or more. We were overwhelmed by the response from our staff, friends, leaders and clients, and reached this target within 24 hours. Together, our donations and the associated gift aid raised over £40,000 for the DEC, which was used to provide emergency shelter, distribute essential food items and medical supplies, provide water filters, set up temporary learning centres and safe spaces, and ultimately go on to help with rebuilding the country’s homes and infrastructure.
In 2023, following the devastating earthquake in the vicinty of Morocco's High Atlas Mountains – one of the very first Naturetrek destinations and a region where we still have many friends and colleagues – we once again established an appeal to support the British Red Cross disaster fund. Together with our friends and clients, we raised over £22,000, which included a £10,000 donation from ourselves.
In April 2015, we were devastated to wake up to the news of a shattering earthquake in Nepal, which killed nearly 9,000 people and destroyed the homes of an estimated 2.4 million. Relieved to learn that all our friends and colleagues in Nepal were safe, we wanted to do what we could to help with the relief effort. We quickly established an appeal and encouraged our customers who had travelled to Nepal with us to donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee relief fund. We pledged to match all donations up to £10,000, in the hope of jointly raising £20,000 or more. We were overwhelmed by the response from our staff, friends, leaders and clients, and reached this target within 24 hours. Together, our donations and the associated gift aid raised over £40,000 for the DEC, which was used to provide emergency shelter, distribute essential food items and medical supplies, provide water filters, set up temporary learning centres and safe spaces, and ultimately go on to help with rebuilding the country’s homes and infrastructure.
In 2023, following the devastating earthquake in the vicinty of Morocco's High Atlas Mountains – one of the very first Naturetrek destinations and a region where we still have many friends and colleagues – we once again established an appeal to support the British Red Cross disaster fund. Together with our friends and clients, we raised over £22,000, which included a £10,000 donation from ourselves.
In 2002 we joined forces with the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme (BDRP), putting paying customers onto a research vessel in the Bay of Biscay to fund key research into the huge numbers and variety of whales, dolphins and other marine-life realised to be using the Bay (regarded as one of the most important regions of the world's oceans). BDRP has since been absorbed into the charity MARINElife, with whom we have been working in Lyme Bay since 2008, sending records of our sightings from each of our cetacean-watching cruises into the Bay.
In 2002 we joined forces with the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme (BDRP), putting paying customers onto a research vessel in the Bay of Biscay to fund key research into the huge numbers and variety of whales, dolphins and other marine-life realised to be using the Bay (regarded as one of the most important regions of the world's oceans). BDRP has since been absorbed into the charity MARINElife, with whom we have been working in Lyme Bay since 2008, sending records of our sightings from each of our cetacean-watching cruises into the Bay.
The Bald Ibis Appeal Fund
We established this Appeal Fund in the late 1990s in order to encourage donations from clients interested in saving the magnificent Bald Ibis, which was the most threatened species of bird in the Western Palaearctic region at the time with just 200 surviving individuals. Funds were used, amongst other things, for the purchase of a freezer – essential for storing dead birds for autopsy and other vital research! Updates on the Bald Ibis situation (now much improved), and the gathering success of researchers in saving it from extinction, were included in our newsletters, together with further appeals for funds needed.
The Bald Ibis Appeal Fund
We established this Appeal Fund in the late 1990s in order to encourage donations from clients interested in saving the magnificent Bald Ibis, which was the most threatened species of bird in the Western Palaearctic region at the time with just 200 surviving individuals. Funds were used, amongst other things, for the purchase of a freezer – essential for storing dead birds for autopsy and other vital research! Updates on the Bald Ibis situation (now much improved), and the gathering success of researchers in saving it from extinction, were included in our newsletters, together with further appeals for funds needed.
In Nepal, we inspired and assisted local naturalists in the development of the country's first bird club, originally known as the Nepal Bird Club, and now known as BCN (Bird Conservation Nepal). BCN, now a partner organisation of BirdLife International, is committed to conservation, education, recording, research and community involvement in saving Nepal's threatened birdlife and habitats. With Hem Sagar Baral, Nepal's foremost conservationist and longstanding Naturetrek tour leader, we planned and funded the first ever BCN newsletter, and long since continued to sponsor this regular and successful newsletter.
In Nepal, we inspired and assisted local naturalists in the development of the country's first bird club, originally known as the Nepal Bird Club, and now known as BCN (Bird Conservation Nepal). BCN, now a partner organisation of BirdLife International, is committed to conservation, education, recording, research and community involvement in saving Nepal's threatened birdlife and habitats. With Hem Sagar Baral, Nepal's foremost conservationist and longstanding Naturetrek tour leader, we planned and funded the first ever BCN newsletter, and long since continued to sponsor this regular and successful newsletter.
- Our annual programme of butterfly holidays has raised £266,000 for Butterfly Conservation to date between 2002 and 2024.
- Our Tiger and Orang-utan tours on behalf of the EIA (the Environmental Investigation Agency) raised £53,503 between 2000 and 2011 to aid the conservation of these endangered species.
- Between 2005 and 2008 we raised £14,000 for the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) by operating tours to their overseas conservation projects, which included Cheetahs in Tanzania, Vultures in India, Rhinos in Kenya, Ethiopian Wolves (in Ethiopia) and Corncrakes in Lincolnshire.
- Our annual programme of butterfly holidays has raised £266,000 for Butterfly Conservation to date between 2002 and 2024.
- Our Tiger and Orang-utan tours on behalf of the EIA (the Environmental Investigation Agency) raised £53,503 between 2000 and 2011 to aid the conservation of these endangered species.
- Between 2005 and 2008 we raised £14,000 for the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) by operating tours to their overseas conservation projects, which included Cheetahs in Tanzania, Vultures in India, Rhinos in Kenya, Ethiopian Wolves (in Ethiopia) and Corncrakes in Lincolnshire.
Travelling Responsibly
Naturetrek’s founders, staff and tour leaders are naturalists and conservationists turned tour operators, and sustainable tourism has been a key part of Naturetrek’s ethos since the company began in 1986. We are, of course, utterly dependent on the well-being of the world’s wildlife for the success of our business… and the habitats, reserves and national parks that protect it. Thus, our core aims are, and always have been:
- To focus on visiting national parks, wildlife reserves and wilderness areas which do not benefit from the rewards of mass market tourism.
- To minimise our environmental impact by exploring in small groups and, as much as possible, on foot.
- To use local guides wherever possible… and to train them to the highest standards expected by today’s wildlife tourists.
- To involve local communities wherever possible in our operations, and to ensure that they receive a fair share of the benefits of wildlife tourism.
- To use small, locally owned, family-run accommodation, and similarly owned and operated specialist in-country partners with a wildlife/conservation bias and sympathy.
- To purchase local produce over imported goods.
- To fund and develop partnerships with local communities and naturalists in order to develop low-impact and environmentally friendly tourist facilities in exceptional wildlife areas. Koshi Camp and Suklaphanta Wildlife Camp are examples of such partnerships.
- To run our UK office (a beautiful barn conversion set amongst a 12-acre grassland site in the village of Chawton) in as energy-efficient a manner as possible.
- To encourage and develop a passion for wildlife and wild places amongst our customers (many of whom are novices, trying this form of holiday for the first time).
If you do choose to travel, then ‘make travel count’. Ensure that you, and your travel company, are off-setting all emissions that relate to your journey. Minimise your impact whilst you are travelling, support the local community and conservation efforts in your destination, and become an advocate for the wildlife that you are visiting. We encourage all of our customers to consider the following suggestions and take a responsible approach to tourism around the world:
Air travel is one of the major causes of global warming and many of our holidays involve flying. While our donation to the World Land Trust on behalf of every passenger booking a Naturetrek overseas holiday (£15 for each long-haul and £5 for each short-haul passenger) goes towards offsetting the carbon emissions from your flights, we invite you to match our donation and further offset some of the emissions resulting from other aspects of your holiday (airport transfers, coach travel, lighting, heating, etc.). You could even ensure that your holiday is carbon negative by means of a more generous donation!