How to travel without ruining the planet

Words by Ella Kiddell

There’s an ache of hypocrisy that sits deep in the belly of the environmentally conscious traveller. We want to visit the ecosystems that are vital in maintaining ecology, climate and atmospheric conditions. Yet we are acutely aware that by treading on these wild kingdoms we are leaving a footprint and directly contributing to their downfall. Or are we?

Dian Fossey was famously opposed to gorilla tourism, reporting several cases in which gorillas died of communicable human diseases, believing that it interfered with natural behaviours and criticising programmes often paid for by international organisations for compromising both her research and the gorillas’ peaceful mountain habitat. But the hard truth is that in a commercially driven world, many wildlife species such as chimps and gorillas would not survive without tourism. Revenue from tourism helps cover the salaries and operating costs of protecting forests and daily observations dissuade poaching and facilitate rapid intervention when necessary, for example to remove snares. Tourism is the third-highest foreign currency earner for Rwanda and this has placed great economic value on the areas of Volcanoes National Park, Akagera National Park and the Nyungwe Forest Reserve. With habitats under increasing pressure, loss of habitat through farming, logging or mining is considered a far greater threat to the gorillas than tourists, especially when those tourists can be carefully monitored and restricted in number.

In this one example it’s clear that tourism can and does hold value in protecting the integrity of our planet but what about the whole herd of other elephants in the room? How can we, as travellers with the best of intentions, reduce the footprint of our adventures?

MINIMISE AVIATION

There is no way to sugar coat this. Aviation is one of the most energy intensive forms of transport, and given the damaging effects of water vapour and nitrogen oxides being released at altitude, its effect goes far beyond the issue of carbon. Biofuels are being touted as the solution but the reality is that these could take decades to implement commercially. Electric planes are on the cusp of lift off but battery technology isn’t yet adequate for long haul flights. Evation is redefining regional transportation with their all-electric aircraft and Faradair’s Bio Electric Hybrid Aircraft powers take off (the most fuel intensive part of any flight) electrically, leaving the plane to cruise in the equivalent of 6^th gear after that. These are all steps in the right direction but what can you do in the meantime, short of not travelling?!

Given that take off is the most fuel hungry part of any flight, long haul flights are less damaging per passenger per kilometre. Rather than taking several short-haul breaks throughout the year, consider travelling once to somewhere fabulously far flung and stay for longer.  Once on safari, avoid lots of flying ‘hops’ and consider travelling by train or vehicle as an alternative. You could also think about offsetting your carbon through a reputable scheme. More on these points below.

CONSIDER CARBON OFFSETTING, BUT WITH CAUTION

Carbon offset schemes calculate the rough carbon output of any given activity then allow individuals or businesses to ‘offset’ their footprint by channelling funds to green initiatives. Although the logic is rational, the industry certainly has its critics with many seeing it merely as a money making venture or a way for the resource-hungry western world to buy their way out of responsibility. Environmentalist and writer George Monbiot questioned “How has this magic been arranged? You buy yourself a clean conscience by paying someone else to undo the harm you are causing?”. And Joseph Romm of climateprogress.org goes one 

step further likening the schemes to “trying to save the Arctic by collecting left-over ice cubes and shipping them up north.”

There are questions about how the ‘price’ of carbon outputs are reached, the ecological impacts of blanket-planting trees, whether commercialising carbon offsetting invites corruption, and so on. The issue is so complicated that you’d need a degree in environmental economics and a crack team of investigators to even begin to understand whether a scheme is effective or not.

To prompt the consumer into asking the right questions, the Natural Resources Defence Council outline four criteria that a truly effective offset should match:

• Real – does the scheme actually exist or is there an imaginary landowner planting fictional trees?
• Verified – has an independent third party seen the operation?
• Enforceable – is there a mechanism for penalising those who don’t deliver?
• Permanent – Is this a long term solution or will those newly planted trees be burnt down in 6 months time?
• Additional – Is your transaction paying for additional carbon sequestration or just offering windfalls to schemes that are already operating without help. If so your payment has no impact on the amount of carbon being removed from the atmosphere.

When it comes to crack teams, Google actually does employ a squad of people to investigate the quality of the its carbon offset strategy. While you may not have the resources to do the same, you can benefit from their due diligence by following which schemes they support. Alternatively take heed of  guidance offered by standard-setting groups, such as the Climate Action Reserve or Gold Standard, which establish rules and protocols for offset projects and ensure that Kyoto Protocol guidelines are met.

So should you buy carbon offsets from third-party sellers to counterbalance the carbon footprint of flying? Yes, but selectively. The potential benefits are huge but do your research.

SLOW DOWN

Many argue that to reduce our impact we simply need to learn to sit still. A busy itinerary flying from one destination to the next and spending just one or two nights in each camp is the fastest way to rack up a significant carbon footprint. Instead visit fewer places and spend longer in each. Not only will it give you time to rest and recharge, but you’ll also sink into your destination and understand it in far greater depth.

It is also worth slowing your game viewing activities down, and not just to reduce your carbon footprint.  While game drives undeniably present the best opportunities for photographing dangerous wildlife, there is no better way to understand the minutiae of an eco-system than by experiencing it on foot. Exposed to the elements your senses will be on overdrive as you startle at a rustle in the scrub, feel the weight of a hunk of leadwood or catch the scent of rain on the earth. Likewise, gliding silently through a channel in a traditional dug out canoe you’ll get so close to birds you could touch them and their song won’t be drowned out by engine noise. If you are looking to experience paradise and capture it in macro detail, this is the way.

CONSIDER YOUR MODE OF TRANSPORT

Although public transport seldom reaches Africa’s safari regions, the romance of rail travel does live on between its cities, with luxury locomotives whisking passengers between such destinations as Cape Town, Victoria Falls, Dar Es Salaam and Lobito (Angola). The journey itself is the destination rather than a necessary transition between home and holiday, your comfort is never compromised in less developed regions and better still, you only have to unpack once. Paul Theroux famously stated ‘I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it’. And who could blame him? Few would insist on flying if train travel of this calibre was a viable alternative, even if it does take a little more time.

Trains aside, generally road transfers produce less carbon than flying, although it’s a close call. According to EcoPassenger, a short haul journey can be done with lower emissions per passenger by plane, if (big if) the car is carrying just one person and the plane is full. If you add just one more person into the vehicle, as you would if you travelled with a companion or shared a road transfer, the car wins. Yes, it takes longer but you’ll see the country sailing past, make interesting stop offs, and experience the real culture of Africa when you pass through towns and villages. The experience is all the richer for the time you invest.

SUPPORT THE OPERATORS INVESTING IN SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE

Not all safari operators were created equal. While some are purely profit driven actively invest in the environments and communities in which they operate. There are too many examples to list, but to name a few:

• Wilderness Safaris structure their operations around the ‘4 Cs’ – Commerce, Community, Culture and Conservation. This approach ensures that the people of Africa’s safari destinations benefit from careers and training while the wildlife also flourishes under careful management.
• Chobe Game Lodge has an electric fleet of four vehicles and four boats, three of which are entirely solar powered. This have saved almost 16, 000l of fuel so far.
• The Great Plains Foundation has relocated rhinos to safe havens on a scale never seen before, set up the famous Maasai Olympics to discourage the killing of lions, established academies and training programmes and protects over a million acres of land.
• Singita have set up several state-of-the-art anti poaching operations bases, including a handful of canine anti-poaching teams who re-train rescued dogs to patrol land, pursue intruders and sniff out animal products.
• African Bushcamps work with rural communities in vulnerable wildlife areas to create opportunities through education, community infrastructure and conservation. They ensure that the people of wildlife-rich regions are invested in protecting the wildlife and are party to the spoils of tourism.

There are many more examples besides, and those mentioned do far more than these brief bullet points suggest, but in choosing your operator you are making an active decision about where your dollars are channelled. In the right hands those dollars hold remarkable potential for good. Do your research, ask Yardstick for guidance and spend them wisely!

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS AROUND WILDLIFE EXPERIENCES

As mentioned, Dian Fossey was opposed to any kind of wildlife tourism, believing that the very presence of humans in a gorilla habitat was detrimental to their wellbeing. Though the habituated primates that facilitate today’s trekking activities are used to humans, they remain 100% wild. They are free to behave naturally, move through the forest at will and retreat away from humans should they wish. Not all wildlife is so lucky.

Africa presents many opportunities for ‘animal encounters’, defined as such when meeting an animal face-to-face is the main focus of an activity. A game drive through a national park, passively observing animals going about their natural behaviour in the wild would not be classified as an animal encounter, but petting an elephant or walking with a lion would. Animal encounters of this nature have faced intense scrutiny and many have been boycotted or closed down due to fundamental ethical flaws. However, there are plenty of animal encounters available with genuine conservation value. As an innocent traveller, how do you spot the difference?

The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) have produced an decision tree style Animal Interaction Guide to assist with the evaluation process and the Blood Lions charity suggest asking the following questions:

1. Do they offer any activities based on animal and human interaction? If yes, then why?
2. If it claims to be a sanctuary, do they offer life-long care for the animals?
3. Are they trading in animals?
4. Where did all the animals come from and where do they go?
5. Who is their recognised ecologist or scientist?
6. Have any of their animals been released into the wild? And if so, where and when?

The short answer is follow your gut and don’t be afraid to be ‘that person’ asking difficult questions. A reputable outfit will relish the opportunity to share the ins and outs of their work. A not-so-reputable operator will squirm. If you don’t feel happy with the situation remove from yourself from it and report your concerns.

At the very least, a good safari treads lightly on the environment. At best it actively enhances it while bettering the lives of the people who live within it or depend upon it. Being environmentally conscious doesn’t mean never travelling again. Far from it. Planned carefully with the right operators, your safari could be tremendously powerful as part of a very real solution.