Many tourism businesses are actively involved in community development and conservation initiatives. Daniella Di Gaspero looks at some of the projects currently under way.

1. Community projects

Gondwana Game Reserve, a five-star lodge on the Garden Route, is home to the Gondwana Conservation Foundation, which focuses on the protection of endangered wildlife and endangered vegetation; environmental education; and community upliftment, says Mark Rutherfoord, Director of Gondwana. The reserve’s community upliftment project focuses on community initiatives such as creating employment, local school empowerment programmes and community development.

Sanctuary Retreats, a collection of luxury African safari camps and lodges, has integrated conservation and responsible tourism into the constructions of its properties as well as daily operations. The company uses locally sourced materials and local craftsmen to maintain the authenticity of the accommodation and sponsors long-term, self-sustainable local projects.

Sam Dalais, Marketing Manager at Return Africa, says Pafuri Camp in the Makuleke Concession in northern Kruger National Park offers travellers the unique opportunity to interact with the local community. Return Africa has a partnership with the Makuleke community, who own the land on which the concession operates. Dalais says Return Africa’s objectives include skills development, increasing economic benefits and educating the community about land conservation. All operations within the Makuleke Concession adhere to the rules laid out by the local community and Return Africa’s aim is to have as little impact on the natural surroundings as possible.

2. Conservation

Gondwana focuses on the protection of endangered wildlife and the relocation and long-term sustainability of the endangered rhino species, cheetah, bontebok and Cape Mountain zebra through the Gondwana Conservation Foundation. The foundation has also trained anti-poaching units. Gondwana’s flagship project, the Rainbow Rhino Initiative aims to combat rhino poaching on the reserve through skills and technology development. The project has a 10 year plan of introducing 165 individual rhino and placing 108 trained anti-poaching soldiers into reserves across Africa.

The Wilderness Wildlife Trust is an independent, non-profit entity associated with the Wilderness Group. One focus area of the trust is anti-poaching and management that includes performing aerial surveys, training anti-poaching units and increasing capacity for researchers. One project within the Wilderness Wildlife Trust is the Education for Carnivore Conservation. This project raises awareness of the importance of carnivore needs, ensuring a sustainable future in the Kalahari region, including community outreach and education programmes that involve communities living with carnivores.

Sanctuary Retreats is participating in a relocation programme to transport Black and White rhino to the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana. Nine Black rhinos from South Africa and another group of rhinos from Zimbabwe were successfully relocated in May and June 2015. Commenting on the conservation project Charl Badenhorst, Sanctuary Retreats Operations Director of Botswana, said: “As an organisation, support for environmental and philanthropic projects is fundamental to our ethos and we are committed to taking the very best care to monitor this group of rhino to ensure they settle into their new environment.”

Welcome Tourism Services, a division of Tourvest, has its own green initiative geared toward saving the rhinos.  Tourists can participate in the fight for the survival of rhinos by adding a Green Seat badge to their booking. By buying a Green Seat, visitors donate directly to SANParks’ Honorary Ranger Programme.

White Sharks Projects is a Fair Trade Tourism-accredited company that adheres to environmentally friendly practices and caters for discerning green tourists. Inge Altona-de Klerk from White Sharks Projects said the company was involved in sharing the country's natural and cultural riches, whilst contributing positively to the preservation and growth of the local community and environment. White Sharks Projects has implemented various green projects such as encouraging visitors to use water sparingly; installing environmentally friendly engines; using recycled paper; and running a Bokashi system, which reduces wet waste from the lodge. The company also runs a Recycle Swop Shop that collected 15 tonnes of recyclables last year and runs an annual awareness campaign - 21 Days for the Ocean - which educates communities on how they can change their daily activities to assist the environment.

Sanctuary Baines Camp in Botswana offers eco-travellers a unique green tourism experience as the camp was built out of recycled cans.

3. Kids’ programmes

The Gondwana Conservation Foundations’ environmental education initiative, Conservation Kids, is predominantly designed for children from underprivileged backgrounds who reside close to conservation areas. The initiative fosters wildlife and environmental awareness by developing passionate young individuals to pursue a career in conservation. “Educating children about ecology and invasive species, heritage and social responsibility, sustainability and endangered wildlife provides young individuals the tools to protect South African wildlife for future generations,” said Rutherfoord.

Wilderness Safaris’ Children in the Wilderness initiative facilitates sustainable conservation through leadership development and education of rural children in Africa. The programme focuses on the next generation and aims to inspire them to care for their natural heritage. Children in the Wilderness increases children’s awareness of their environment and encourages the children to continue their education and maintain a love of wildlife through programmes run at local schools.

4. African Responsible Tourism Awards

World Travel Market (WTM) Africa has a comprehensive responsible tourism programme designed to make travellers aware of opportunities around eco-traveling and green tourism. It highlights those products that do business differently, says Heidi van der Watt, Responsible Tourism Awards Project Manager for Thebe Reed. This programme occurs through the seminar series, which is available to anyone who attends the WTM tradeshow. WTM also hosts the African Responsible Tourism Awards, which culminates with the World Responsible Tourism Awards. Van der Watt says these awards celebrate the most inspiring stories in responsible tourism and on the African continent as well as showcasing tourism operators that are actively taking responsibility to make tourism stronger.