On the ground
Many travel companies consider the areas in which they run
tours as resources to be exploited. We consider that we are
merely borrowing the area from the local people and that they
too should be involved in the projects that we run. By doing
so we encourage greater ownership by local communities of
our challenges and encourage people to practice their own
conservation policies in order to protect the resource that
we came to visit in the first place.
In the planning stages of establishing a new challenge we
take into consideration environmental, cultural, economic
and political issues before committing ourselves to operating
in an area. We aim to work with locally based travel partners
to provide our challenges and only use locally owned accommodation
and campsites.
We have a comprehensive Porter
Protection Policy.
We aim to;
- Achieve zero litter targets.
- Minimise deforestation by not using wood for cooking in
areas where wood is scarce.
- Educate and inform challenge participants about environmental
and social pressures in the areas they are travelling to.
- Provide opportunities for discussion.
- Provide financial and logistical support for local environmental
initiatives.
- Integrate environmental considerations into a challenge
selection criteria.
At Across the Divide, we are committed to contributing
to conservation in the areas in which we operate. We have
established a long-term support network for various wildlife
organisations around the world.
We believe that short-term cash gifts do little in helping
the long-term aims of any organisation. We therefore provide
support for a minimum of five years at a time, consisting
not only of financial support, but also specialist help, and
advice.
In Patagonia for example, we support the work of Gladys
and Oscar Oguineo - naturalists working to study and preserve
the very rare Humules Deer, which is endemic to the southern
part of South America.
In Sub Antarctic regions Across the Divide supports
the work of Dr Peter Cary, the director of SAFER, the SubAntarctic
Foundation for Ecosystems Research.
In South Africa we work with the Leopard Conservation
Trust; Save
the Rhino (Namibia), the Elephant Human Relationship Association,
plus ‘the Vulture Study Group’. This is an almost
unique network of naturalists and park wardens who monitor
and plot the fortunes of the Lappet-Faced Vulture.
Often in the world of conservation it is the large attractive
mammals that benefit from support, whilst the less attractive
suffer. We have set out to redress this imbalance with long-term
financial support.
During our charity treks we invite speakers from supported
organisations to join us to speak about their work and the
animals they care for.
In the Office & UK Operations
Our office and UK challenges operate within the same very
high standards that are applied to our overseas challenges.
Our office energy consumption is monitored closely and we
proactively seek to reduce our energy consumption by the use
of low energy equipment and by improving management systems.
All office stationery is printed on recycled paper and all
waste paper is recycled, used for horse bedding then composted
and returned to the soil. |
