Responsible Tourism
Our Responsible Tourism Pledge
We now offer trips to all corners of the world, and whilst this growth is welcomed, we are conscious that inevitably our holidays have a detrimental impact on the world around us, and we want to do all we can to reduce our carbon emissions.
To this end we have become a signatory to Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, along with a growing number of like-minded reputable tour operators, and have pledged to do the following:
In the coming year we will be focusing on:
- How we can reduce the carbon emissions that our holidays produce.
- and how to counter balance this carbon by supporting carbon offset measures.
Here are some of our current and future plans we have to minimise the impact of our business as a whole:
Carbon Offsetting
Already doing:
- We have been offsetting carbon since 2007, but will be continuing our donations to tree planting in Peru this year. This is with a trusted partner where the funds generated go directly to a project where the community plants trees on its own land.
Will do:
- Carbon offsetting will be included in the prices of our Flight Inclusive holidays.
- For every person booking a long haul flight inclusive holiday with us we will plant 20 trees in Peru, and for every person booking a short haul flight inclusive holiday with us we will plant 7 trees in Peru.
Reducing Carbon Emissions
Already doing:
- We already offer the majority of our customers a free filtered water bottle which means they can instantly cut down on their single-use plastic consumption. This will be an ongoing project.
- We already predominantly use local hotels and restaurants but will continue to ensure that, where possible, we always use these rather than multinational chains.
- We joined the Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency initiative to stand alongside like-minded travel companies, to work together to initiate best practices to make tourism as sustainable as possible.
- We joined the AITO Sustainable Tourism Committee which promotes best practice in sustainable tourism.
Will do:
- We will re-evaluate our flights to make sure we are using the most fuel efficient airlines with the youngest fleets and, where possible, direct flights for each trip.
- We will eliminate unnecessary staff flights wherever possible.
- We will endeavour to minimise internal flights.
- We will be asking all our worldwide agents and suppliers to look at their own carbon footprint and encourage them to reduce it.
- We will promote our more low impact trips to give customers an informed choice.
Within our office
Already doing:
- All the electricity used to power our office comes from an energy supplier who generates their power entirely from renewable sources.
- All our office waste either already goes to be recycled or if it is non-recyclable it does not go to landfill. Our waste is recycled at one of the country’s most efficient recycling centres. Our non-recyclable waste is guaranteed not to end up in landfill and goes to a site that creates energy from waste. Any leftover ferrous deposits from this process are recycled, and the remaining residue is converted into aggregate which is used to resurface roads or made into carbon negative building blocks.
- As part of our Responsible Tourism initiative, we will continue to support our favourite charities, such as the Shiva Charity in Nepal (Ginette Harrison School), Community Action Nepal (porter welfare) and Simien Mountains Mobile Medical Service, as well as setting aside a sum for disaster emergency relief. We will also support other charities with whom we have historical links on an ad hoc basis.
- We have stopped offering unnecessary optional flights – for example our Everest sightseeing trip.
- We have joined our town’s Plastic Free Pledge initiative, meaning that Wotton-Under-Edge will be the first town in the country to commit to coming together to reduce the town’s plastic consumption as a whole, and to offer each other ways to collaboratively find alternatives.
Will do:
- Following an ‘energy survey’ of our office we hope to install instant water heaters and secondary glazing in the near future.
- We will investigate installing solar panels to provide our electrical needs and possibly replace our gas-fired central heating.
- We commit to using environmentally friendly cleaning products in the office in, if possible, reusable containers.
- We will continue to minimise paper used in the office.
- We will buy recycled and refillable office stationery supplies.
- We are working on an online portal where clients will complete their personal information, instead of filling out paper forms.
We feel strongly that all our holidays should benefit the local communities, protect the environment by minimising pollution, and respect local traditions, religion and heritage. We tread lightly - low volume, low impact holidays are the best way of preserving the beautiful and fragile places we visit. Mountain Kingdoms is a previous winner of the prestigious annual Association of Independent Tour Operators' (AITO) Responsible Tourism Award. We acknowledge the importance of AITO's sustainable tourism ethos, which recognises the social, economic and environmental responsibilities of tour operating.
Responsible Tourism Initiatives
In 2020 we were rewarded for completing AITO’s Project Protect programme, where AITO encourages its members to participate in making an annual pledge to sustainable tourism. We decided that our filtered water bottles would be a perfect fit for this initiative. Mountain Kingdoms has been offering clients, who are not given a free Mountain Kingdoms kit bag (these are required for certain treks), a free Water-to-Go bottle. This helps to drastically reduce the amount of single use plastic water bottles that they might have otherwise bought on their trip.
We have supported many charities over the years and we will continue to support some of our favourites, but we will be focussing primarily on carbon offsetting initiatives with our trusted partner, Ecoan, who are based in Peru.
Further information about all our Responsible Tourism initiatives can be found below.
Through one of our trusted partners in South America, we donate directly to a tree planting project in Peru run by Ecoan. Their aim is to restore the endangered Queuna forests in the Andean mountains of Peru and it works with villagers to grown seedlings and plant the trees. As well as absorbing carbon, the trees help prevent flash flooding in the mountains.
Five hundred years ago, when Spanish conquistadors first set foot in Peru, the high Andes had abundant forests of a low-growing and durable tree called Queuna (kay You nyuh). The forests, home to to more than 150 native species, absorbed and later released water from rain and glaciers, produced oxygen, absorbed carbon dioxide, and provided firewood and construction material to native people. Five hundred years later, these ancient forests have almost disappeared, and with them many of the species have almost become extinct. Now the aim is to replant these forests and bring back the diversity and other benefits.
Ecoan have been planting trees since 2007 and are committed to planting thousands more - Mountain Kingdoms are very happy to support them financially with this quest. For every person booking a long haul flight inclusive holiday with us Ecoan will plant 20 native Andean Queuna trees on your behalf, and seven trees for every short haul booking. For all the flight inclusive bookings we took in 2023 we have contributed approximately 7,500 trees to the project. These will be planted in communities near to Cuzco or above Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley.
Water-to-Go are a revolutionary company with an aim to firstly cut down on plastic waste created by the huge amount of discarded single use water bottles while also protecting customers’ health and well-being by offering safe, healthy water anywhere in the world. They have achieved this by developing a unique multi-use drinking bottle with a filtration system that eliminates over 99.9% of all microbiological contaminants including viruses, bacteria, chemicals and heavy metals from any non-salt water source. Water-to-go work together with organisations such as Mountain Kingdoms to provide clean healthy water from almost anywhere and reduce environmental damage created by plastic water bottles. By choosing a Water-to-Go bottle you reduce plastic pollution and save resources.
To find out more about the company visit:
https://watertogo.eu/about-us/
To find out more about Mountain Kingdoms involvement with Water-to-go click here
Together with other leading tour operators and travel professionals, we joined the Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency initiative (www.tourismdeclares.com) to declare a climate emergency and come together to find solutions. We acknowledge the science stating we have 10 years to address this crisis. We accept our responsibility to tell the truth, act now, and work together to help turn it around.
The welfare of animals in tourism is extremely important to us here at Mountain Kingdoms. In 2017, in conjunction with World Animal Protection and the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), we stopped offering elephant-back safaris in any of our destinations. This is because it is not possible to train an elephant to accept a human onto its back without inhumane treatment. Also, elephants' spines are not designed to carry heavy loads, and the houdah (chair) that they are fitted with is uncomfortable and leads to sores.
Since then, ABTA has carried out further research and there is now a strong weight of evidence to suggest that, sadly, harmful training methods of elephants are still widespread. For that reason, ABTA has revised its guidelines to advise against any form of direct interaction with elephants including, bathing or painting. Instead, we support organisations that promote elephant welfare and offer activities such as simply observing elephants or walking with them (keeping a respectful distance) in their natural habitat.
We will be keeping a close eye on any further recommendations from ABTA and will revise our policy accordingly.
On some of our treks, where there are no roads or tracks suitable for vehicles or animals, your luggage and camping equipment is carried by porters. In conjunction with Tourism Concern, we have drawn up comprehensive
guidelines for porters' rights and working conditions which our agents
are obliged to adhere to. The welfare of our local trekking staff is of
great importance to us, and we try our best to ensure they have
appropriate clothing, shelter and footwear.
The post-trip questionnaire
we send to all clients asks for feedback on the welfare of our trekking
staff, and any reported concerns are swiftly acted upon.
Ginette Harrison School, near Kathmandu, was named after one of the world's most famous 20th century female climbers. The original school building had to be vacated, and the school was moved to old temporary buildings, while a new school was constructed. Now the work is completed, the children have much more space and equipment, and a good place to learn, thanks to generous donations made by individuals and organisations to SHIVA Charity. The charity provides education for some of the poorest children in Nepal.
Ginette Harrison School Latest News:
To date Mountain Kingdoms has raised over £19,950 for SHIVA through a host of fundraising activities and client donations. The next task is to
improve the quality of resources in the school and to give the
teachers extra
teacher training.
Two of our dedicated clients, Wendy and Brian Lovatt, established the Simien Mountains Mobile Medical Service (SMMMS) in 2011 after trekking with Mountain Kingdoms in the Simiens and seeing first-hand the lack of basic medical and healthcare services available to remote communities. Since then, they have worked under a series of project agreements with the Ministry of Health and the local health authorities to improve the availability and delivery of essential medical and healthcare services in the Simien Mountains, especially reproductive healthcare for women.
They started by taking over a small mud-hut clinic and deploying their first mobile medical team into the mountains and built a new clinic which they continue to operate. Gradually, they expanded and extended their activities by deploying mobile medical teams and BSc level midwives, which they trained, to health centres in 13 of the most remote and underserved areas in the Simien Mountains, benefitting more than 350,000 inhabitants.
Since 2019, they have been helping to develop health centres of excellence to meet the healthcare needs of women in the Simien Mountains, including basic emergency maternal, obstetric and neonatal care, comprehensive family planning, and prevention of cervical and breast cancers.
Simien Mountains Mobile Medical Service Latest News:
This year, they launched a new project focused on developing additional health centres of excellence, including the first two comprehensive emergency maternal, obstetric and neonatal care centres in the region, and a mentoring programme for health centres on reproductive healthcare. They are also providing the required specialised training courses and equipment. Most recently, they completed the construction of a new maternal waiting home at their clinic to allow expectant mothers to come to the clinic in advance of their expected delivery date.
They are registered as non-profit, tax exempt, public charities in the United Kingdom, Number 1162302, in the US, EIN 47-5150326, and in Belgium, number 0838.437.019. They are also licensed as a foreign charitable organisation in Ethiopia, with their own head office in Debark, the administrative centre for the North Gonder Zone.
If you'd like to make a donation to this project, or contact our Responsible Tourism Manager Niki, or visit their website (http://simienmountainsmobilemedicalservice.org/donate) There are donation options for the UK, USA and the EU and all donations are tax deductible.
All of the charity officers and trustees are unpaid volunteers.
Brooke's vision is of a world in which working horses, donkeys and mules are free from suffering. Their mission is to transform the lives of vulnerable working horses, donkeys and mules around the world. They relieve their immediate suffering and create lasting change by working with people, communities and organisations. We particularly support their educational work in Asia.
New Futures Nepal is a UK registered charity, founded in 2002. New Futures Nepal empowers disadvantaged children and adults of Nepal by raising funds for initiatives that promote health, education and independence and supports social integration for children with disabilities to live in the community and within safe and loving homes. We adopt a hands on, personal approach, keep our administration costs low and work with local charities and organisations worldwide to facilitate the charities goals and aims.
New Futures Nepal is run entirely by passionate volunteer trustees and supporters. The charity supports several core projects, including The Hope Centre, a well established purpose built residential children's home for disabled, orphaned and abandoned children in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. The children are supported through education, health care and social integration to overcome discrimination and promote independence through vocational training and higher education. The impact of this support is evident through the achievements of those young adults who have left the home with some now working as nurses, engineers and hotel managers. As older children progress into adulthood more children in need are welcomed into the home. With support their future can be equally bright.
To learn more visit: https://newfuturesnepal.org
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