Tadoba National park tiger safari, India
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
We leave the least impact on the local land as the camp is fully tented & they are put into use only when we have guests. We conduct business with eco friendly lodges which adhere to a policy of responsible tourism and encourage the visitors to follow the same. Lodges that use locally available resourceable material in order to minimize impact on ecosystem and employ waste disposable methods. Lodges that use solar power, recycle natural resources are energy efficient and conserve water. As responsible tour operators we conduct follow an environmental friendly policy. We operate small feasible groups with upper limit being twelve persons.
During off season we try to bring the trained naturalist from other National Parks to train the local people how to cater to wildlife tourism and share their local knowledge with tourist.
Community
The Staff of the camp are all from the surrounding villages. With the combination of local knowledge, it now boasts of its host of in-house naturalists and field guides, who are best suited to orient travellers in protected area visitation. In order to encourage local participatory management we hire experts, guides and helpers from local communities. This also results in greater respect for heritage inheritance among the locals as it supports their lively hood.
Hiring locals is a good way to ensure conservative efforts of ecosystems and properties as it instills a feeling of participation in the tourism and benefiting from it. This also avoids the deep seated alienation among them which results when local communities are ignored. From time to time we keep in touch with the lodge owners on the local community development and the staff which are hiring, and have clear instructions that more and more employment should be given to the local people and their families.
We discourage purchase of animal products or items of archeological and historical importance. We promote handicrafts and local craftsmanship instead. We actively participate in social service like donating a part of our profit to Jagriti which cares for orphans. We fund schools and hospitals in vicinity. We organize educational tours and lectures for the less privileged.
On this trip we support an NGO called Jagriti who are involved in giving education, accommodation, clothing and food to small children who are found begging in railway stations. An amount of £10 per person goes to this NGO. All efforts are made from our side to keep a periodical training camp for the local boys who are keen in learning the wildlife and thus choosing tourism as their career.