Top 10 Nature Positive Holidays

The natural world is one of our greatest assets in fighting change but it is in crisis. Our forest, river, sea and grassland habitats – which absorb up to percent of global carbon emissions – are disappearing at a devastating rate. Tourism plays its part in this global destruction, but it doesn’t have to. All holidays rely on nature and all holidays impact on it. Let’s start turning those impacts into positive ones. Not all holidays have to cost the earth; here’s our top nature positive holidays that actively support the conservation of our wild spaces.

Dive for Conservation in Belize

Lionfish are an invasive species causing havoc in the Caribbean. With no natural predators, a ferocious feeding habit, and prodigious breeding going on, populations have exploded which is very bad news for indigenous fish species. Volunteer scuba divers are welcomed to come along and spear as many lionfish as they can in Belize – and enjoy the fruit of their labours too, because although a serious conservation issue, lionfish are also a delicious one.

Our trip: Lionfish spearing marine conservation holiday in Belize

Amazon Photography Holiday in Peru

Improve your photography skills, explore the Amazon and spot some its most elusive creatures. At the same time create a more resilient habitat for them too. Entry fees into the Tambopata National Reserve and Bahuaia-Sonene National Park support the 30 million hectare Vilcabamba-Amboro Conservation Corridor. Here, the objective is to reverse biodiversity loss by strengthening the voices of local organisations representing over 40 forest-living ethnic groups, and supporting suitable small businesses and agroforestry initiatives.

Our trip: Amazon photography holiday, Peru

Rewilding Holiday in the Apennines

A walking and wildlife holiday with a difference. You’ll explore some of Italy’s wildest mountains on foot, tracking brown bears and discovering an exceptionally beautiful area that is being supported through the Rewilding Europe project. For every person travelling, 100sq metres of the Italian Appennines will be rewilded. You’ll also be travelling with our holiday partner that has pledged to become net nature positive across all its trips by 2024. We love that.

Our trip: Italy rewilding holiday in the Appenines

Argentina Whale Watching Tour

Immerse yourself in the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world and watch orcas lunging into the surf to catch sea lion pups. Patagonian wildlife is as dramatic as the wild open scenery. This trip actively supports the Punta Norte Orca Research team which monitors orca populations to inform conservation efforts. You’re also encouraged to buy a permit to the “Attack Channel” for those unique orca sightings. Funds go directly to Chabut coastal management projects which are helping to maintain and protect the penguin, seal and sea lion colonies along this part of the Patagonian coastline.

Our trip: Argentina whale watching tour

Kenya Safari Holiday

A safari holiday that goes beyond simply watching animals, this wildlife trip immerses you in the knowledge, culture and unique environmental understanding of the nomadic Maasai communities that live in the savannah grasslands surrounding the Masai Mara. 70% of Kenya’s wildlife is estimated to live outside its national parks and reserves, so there is a real need to conserve wildlife on privately-owned land. On this trip you’ll stay on a community-owned nature conservancy adjacent to the Masai Mara National Reserve, where tourism provides the Maasai with a viable alternative to other land uses – sale for development or agriculture, for example – and keeps land for wildlife, creating vital corridors that allow animals to migrate in and out of the Masai Mara reserve.

Our trip: Nine day safari in Kenya

Activity holiday around Lake Skadar, Montenegro

By visiting Lake Skadar, the enormous, beautiful lake between Montenegro and Albania, you’ll be saving wildlife as you swim. The lake is a vital breeding ground for the Dalmatian pelican, one of Europe’s rarest birds, and tourism companies in the area are committed to funding conservation efforts. Kayak in the shadow of towering breeding platforms on an activity holiday, knowing that the money you spent on this trip has helped build them, and, in doing so, has, to date, doubled pelican populations in the area.

Our trip: Activity holiday in Montenegro

Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh Holiday in Vietnam

Just one of a number of holidays that fund work to restore our ocean’s kelp forests through marine permaculture. Kelp forests are a vital marine habitat, sustaining biodiversity by offering shelter and food for a range of fish and sea invertebrates. They are also a buffer against climate-induced change – reducing coastal erosion by absorbing the power of storm surges and waves.

Our trip: Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh holiday in Vietnam

DOLPHIN CONSERVATION IN GREECE

Bottlenose and short-beaked common dolphins used to be a common sight off western Greece, but now they’re under threat. Despite the beautiful surroundings in which you find them, their habitats are being degraded and polluted. Fishing boats taking their food, and their equipment causes harm to dolphins every year.

But you can help this population come back, by working on a dolphin conservation project. Live in a research station in Vonitsa, on mainland Greece. Your research boat – a little inflatable with a reinforced hull – helps you get good sightings of the animals. You’ll leave the harbour at 7:30 sharp every morning, and spend the mornings cruising the Gulf of Ambracia. You’ll learn to identify the dolphins and their pods and record their behaviour – all this information is important for making a case for changing how the gulf is managed to bring these species back from the brink. What’s more, you may also see monk seals and turtles.

Our trip: Dolphin conservation in Greece

New Year Northern Lights Holiday, Sweden

What better way to see the Northern Lights than at the hands of the Sami, whose folklore and innate winter knowledge bring the lights and landscape to life. You’ll also hear how Lapland’s forests, mountains and rivers are under constant threat from mining exploration, logging and dam construction. By choosing this holiday you are directly providing employment – as accommodation owners, nature guides and restaurateurs - for local communities in a way that supports the preservation of the forests in their natural state.

Our trip: New year northern lights holiday, Sweden

Greenland cruise

Cruising around Greenland, and the wider Arctic region, brings you into some of the most pristine environments on the planet. But sadly the scourge of plastic pollution reaches even here at the top of the world. On land excursions during this small ship cruise you might pitch in with beach cleans, But the ship is also a floating laboratory where you’ll be invited to help with various citizen science projects, whether that be mapping cloud formations, tagging whales or collecting samples of phytoplankton, with data passed on to agencies and institutes that are studying and protecting these fragile landscapes.

Our trip: Greenland & Northern Lights cruise