Sustainability
Not just a buzz-word
How we ensure sustainability
In the era of climate change, Greta Thunberg and the millennium goals, sustainability has often become a buzz word and a marketing strategy. How we ensure the places we travel to are making a genuine effort to ensure maximum sustainability?
Our Portfolio & Sustainability Criteria
Our portfolio of lodges is handpicked and based on our own experiences as well as a number of criteria. We aim to make sure that we only include lodges that are genuinely sustainable. The process to decide whether a lodge is sustainable is quite a complicated one and it requires on-going attention, dedication, checking and verifying.
Below we have listed the main criteria we take into consideration.
GSTC (Global Council for Sustainable Tourism)
We look at whether there is a sustainability mindset, and and consideration and actions consistent with the criteria of the GSTC. These criteria are arranged in 4 pillars:
- Sustainable Management
- Socio-economic impacts
- Cultural Impacts
- Environmental Impacts
We review which measures lodges take to ensure sustainability and we add these to the i-Brochures on our Safari Planner Page (You can view this information by clicking on an accommodation and then find it under ‘About us’ – ‘Why stay here’.
Certification and Awards
Eco-tourism certification and Eco Awards also play a role, however making sense of certifications and assessing whether they have real value can be somewhat complicated. There are various certification and awards programmes and it is not always clear what standards these programmes use.
Some certification bodies are accredited by the GSTC so we know they use the same standards, but there are other programmes that are not accredited.
On the other hand many accommodations are not certified by any programme, but do have a genuine sustainable tourism strategy in place.
Therefore we do look at certifications and awards, but it is not our main criterium.
Carbon Footprint
We feel that one of the best ways to determine whether a lodge is sustainable is to calculate the carbon footprint per visitor and per year. This gives you something to actually measure and compare to the average.
While it would be extremely difficult for an accommodation to be ‘net zero”, (meaning it would have no carbon footprint at all), lodges can strive to be ‘carbon neutral’, i.e. offset their footprint by compensating for their emissions.
Ideally, they would both try to reduce their carbon footprint and offset whatever can not be reduced further.
Currently, not all lodges track and calculate their carbon footprint however, we are having on-going conversations on this subject with all the lodges in our portfolio.
Participation in projects
Most of the accommodations we offer will either run or participate in projects within the wider environment of where they operate
Think for example of wildlife research and conservation programmes, community programmes (which can involve schooling, training & education, entrepreneurial support, but also things like human-wildlife conflict handling, to assist farmers and other community members.
These projects are immensely important and make a great contribution to the sustainability of the destination.
You indirectly contribute to these projects, just by booking the lodges that run or support them.
How does your holiday contribute to nature conservation?
By staying in one of our preferred accommodations, you will not only have an extraordinary travel experience, but also make a positive contribution to the natural environment, wildlife and local communities in your destination of choice.
These are a few ways your trip will make an impact just by choosing the right accommodations:
- Safari Lodges usually charge a ‘Conservation Fee’ which is used to preserve and maintain private game reserves that offer a refuge for wild animals
- Some accommodations fund research project to protect local and endangered species
- Lodges with a genuine sustainability strategy will employ and train local staff, offering employment and economic growth for local communities
- Most accommodation on this site will run community and/or conservation projects such as building schools and clinics, or doing research into endangered species
- Sustainable accommodations ‘buy local’ and ensure tourist’s dollars stay in the destination and support local businesses
You can read more about this and find out what each accommodation does to ensure sustainability in the i-brochures on our Safari Planner Page. Some accommodations offer short videos of their various projects in the gallery tab.
Sustainable Travel Tips
We often get asked: "You are promoting sustainable travel, but most travellers need a long-haul flight to Southern Africa. How is this sustainable, because airplanes are a big cause of environmental pollution. Should I even book a long-haul safari holiday?".
This is a valid question and one that can be debated from many sides. In short, our point of view is that firstly, it's not realistic to expect the world to stop travelling altogether and secondly - more importantly - that eco-tourism can make a positive contribution that outweighs the negative impacts. Above, we have mentioned a few ways in which your trip can make a positive impact and we offer more elaborate information on this as part of our Tailormade Consultancy Package.
- If you do decide to make a long-haul trip, we have some travel tips you could consider. Here are a few ideas:
- Try to make a MAXIMUM OF 1 LONG-HAUL TRIP per year, and travel locally when possible
- Consider SLOW TRAVEL where you stay longer in one or two places, rather than making an entire roundtrip within your destination
- AVOID CRUISE HOLIDAYS as cruise ships are not only highly polluting, but also bring very few benefits to the destinations they visit
- TRAVEL BY TRAIN! You will find some luxury train options in our Safari Planner
- Purchase SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL PRODUCTS for your trip so you can avoid single use packaging while travelling
- BUY LOCAL – While in the destination, buy local products and souvenirs rather than internationally made products
Our Tailor-made consultancy package contains an extensive list of sustainable travel tips you can use before, during and after your trip.
