Borneo holiday, Mt Kinabalu, orangutans & rainforest

Borneo holiday, Mt Kinabalu, orangutans & rainforest

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How Borneo holiday, Mt Kinabalu, orangutans & rainforest makes a difference

It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies in place, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.

Leaders & local suppliers
As a part of our continued commitment to responsible tourism, we work closely with our local operator to run this trip in a way that aims to reduce impacts and to give as much back as possible to the local communities.

We are working to build an excellent long-term relationship with the operator which this helps to stabilise their income generation and so helps to create a more sustainable future. We use local leaders who are committed to responsible tourism and helping to preserve the way of life in their area. The leaders will give a briefing on Responsible Tourism issues to help you understand how you can help reduce your impact and maximise the benefits to the local community from your visit.

At all of the featured destinations we use local guides recruited from the community ensuring that the money stays local. We pay fees to help preserve the national parks and protected areas as well as supporting various projects in Borneo.

We provide guide training (and refresher training on a regular basis) as well as certified first aid training to all of our staff as a matter of course. We also offer extra training courses to selected guides free of charge at the end of each year allowing them to develop their skills; these might include nature, management, driving or environmental awareness courses.

We use predominantly locally owned and run accommodation on this trip. This contributes directly to the local communities as local staff are employed and locally produced and sourced goods are bought for the accommodation benefiting the wider community. All the hotels we use have in-room advice on towel washing and conservation of the environment.

In Mulu National Park the Penans, and others are employed by the park thereby generating income for their families and improving their economies. The staff are encouraged to provide cultural entertainment (traditional dances and music) helping to preserve their culture. The boats used in the park are all owned and operated by the local people.

Supporting Responsible Tourism Projects in Borneo
The trip supports two main local projects in Borneo; the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and the Turtle Conservation Project, as well as smaller community projects such as KOPEL community eco-tourism project where we use a homestay programme.

Group size
We operate small group tours (on average about 13 clients per group on this tour) that have a low impact on the communities we visit and we always ensure our operations do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. This allows us to stay in unique and characterful accommodation that would not have benefitted from tourism due to their limited size.

Borneo holiday, Mt Kinabalu, orangutans & rainforest

Borneo holiday, Mt Kinabalu, orangutans & rainforest