Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
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Local communities have benefited from our business activities; many jobs were created in the construction of the three traditional houses, and we employ 2 local people all year around and approx 10 people on a seasonal basis.
The majority of our partners (tour organisers, car rentals, suppliers, bakery, tavern & restaurant owners, etc) have their business in Lesvos. We organise tourist tours around region of the Golf and have donated 10 street signs, on behalf of the municipality of Gera, for the tourist promotion of the wider area of the Golf.
All our houses are from locally-found building materials and have been built according to the local traditional architecture of the island. During the house construction period, all the olive-trees were removed using the method of transplantation. In addition, over the last two years, we have acquired and implanted into our estate more than 13 old olive trees.
Our farming practices do not use chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides unless it is necessary and we are starting a biological agriculture programme that promotes practices of sustainable farming. We still participate in the reforestation of the Charamida area, which was destroyed by a severe forest fire in the summer of 2006. A considerable amount of our budget was spent on the cleaning of the sea side area and the reformation of the beach, which is now ready to host not only our guests but also the public.
We have recycle bins for glass, plastic, paper, batteries and tins, and instead of dumping the food scraps we use these to feed animals. We urge our guests not to waste water and to follow simple save-energy management practices during their stay. We use energy saving lighting and the two guesthouses use a solar heated water system.
Fishing is for tourism so is small-scale, non-extractive and is performed in the traditional old-fashioned way. We take in stray animals pet or livestock - found neglected or abused. Some of them live on our premises and others have been taken to animal treatment centres.
We have initiated efforts, together with the municipality and various enviromental protection organizations, to raise public awareness about the protection and conservation of the Golf of Gera and Kalloni, two places unique to the natural ecosystem of Lesvos, wet-land hotspots for thousands of resident and migratory bird species, amphibian species, endemic populations of invertebrates and fish.
We are happy to provide pre-departure information on the area, local norms and values and ways to respect and minimise negative impacts on local cultures and communities. We encourage local groups/communities to keep up engaging in handicraft activities (woodcarving, pottery, weaving), which promote the cultural heritage and the old-forgotten traditions of the island of Lesvos. Many local artists such painters and potters have presented their work on our estate. Similar efforts have been made for promoting the culinary tradition of Lesvos island.
We have set up a deposit box account to donate to the local churches, who work with care and love with people living in poverty. We also try to give clothes and unwanted items to the churches.
20 years ago my grand mother sold secretly our family house. When we discovered that, we decided to find another area to build our new house. During the building works, we had the following thoughts: 1) We are surrounded by such natural beauty so it would be shame ,this beauty not to be shared by other people. Showing people the beauty of a place can reinforce or lead to a respect for the environment. 2) It is amazing to have a job which basically does not feel like a job and offers you the chance to meet all sort of people coming from differend social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
