Northern Greece Bear Conservation Tour

Environment

This trip is all about observation and conservation! You will be supporting a Greek wildlife charity (a NGO) in a time where the country suffers from an unprecedented financial crisis. Environmental organizations in Greece have very few means left to support their work and that is why tourism can be such an important tool for conservation! This holiday respects wildlife and biodiversity in more ways:
* Wildlife species are not harvested, consumed, displayed, sold, or traded, except as part of a regulated activity that ensures that their utilization is sustainable, and in compliance with local to international laws.
* No captive wildlife is held, except for properly regulated activities, in compliance with local to international law. Living specimens of protected and wildlife species are only kept by those authorized and suitably equipped to house and care for them humanely.
* The trip supports and contributes to biodiversity conservation, including natural protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value. You make a donation to wildlife charity Callisto.
* Interactions with wildlife, taking into account cumulative impacts, do not produce adverse effects on the viability and behaviour of populations in the wild. Any disturbance of natural ecosystems is minimized, rehabilitated, and there is a compensatory contribution to conservation management.
* Information about and interpretation of the natural surroundings is provided to travellers, as well as explaining appropriate behaviour while visiting natural areas.

In order to keep our environmental impact as low as possible we use group transportation (minibus) and walk as much as possible.
Furthermore we give the option to offset carbon emissions of this trip.

Community

One of our core values is to celebrate a Diversity of Place & Culture whilst delivering you rich and authentic experiences at an affordable price. It is done because we are 100% local. You will visit an area that is hardly touched by tourism and thus offer you authentic experiences such as local traditional cuisine and local traditional architecture.
We support the community in the following ways:
* Information about and interpretation of the local culture, and cultural heritage is provided to travellers.
* Local services and goods are purchased and offered, following fair-trade principles.
* Supporting local small entrepreneurs to develop and sell sustainable products that are based on the area’s nature, history and culture (including food and beverages, crafts, performance arts, agricultural products, etc.).
* Purchasing policies favour locally appropriate and ecologically sustainable products, including building materials, capital goods, food, beverages and consumables.
* Use of hotel(s) and other tourist providers with a sustainability certification system: your Thessaloniki hotel is a Green Key Hotel.