FamilyTours.co.uk
Title
Ecotourism overseas family educational adventure holidays/travel abroad.
Description
We maintain our strong and proven belief that small-scale, natural history-oriented tourism is the best kind, and benefits areas of outstanding natural beauty and importance in that it offers an incentive to landowners and governments to preserve their wilderness areas intact, instead of logging and converting them to grazing and agriculture. They are able to see that the sustainable long-term rewards of a steady stream of paying visitors far outweigh the unsustainable short-term gains of clear-felling and slash-and-burn, whilst also conserving their irreplaceable natural heritage for the enjoyment of future generations. Salient examples include the Rio Bravo Conservation Area in Belize, the Santa Rosa Forest Reserve in Costa Rica, Berenty Reserve in Madagascar, Manu Biosphere Reserve in Peru, Venezuela's Henri Pittier National Park, Brazil's Pantanal wilderness, and there are many more. We use local guides wherever and whenever possible, benefiting not only the local economy but also our clients, who gain from the unique knowledge the guides possess of their own environments. This has the advantage of educating the local inhabitants in conservation matters, imbuing them with a sense of pride in the species which share their land, and strengthening their communities' desire to protect their natural resources through enthusiastic interaction with visitors. A great many of our locations are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites: naturally the best on Earth.
Our highly popular Aye Aye and I Group Tour to Madagascar was successfully run for the fifth time last year, again leading to a sizeable donation to the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (formerly Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust). Although he is unable to do so for 2001, Quentin Bloxam, the Trust's Programme Director, has agreed to lead the tour again for 2002 (see page 12). For 2001, we are very glad that Nick Garbutt can take over and we are sure it will be just as enjoyable, and further assist DWCT in its invaluable work aiding conservation in Madagascar. Should any of our clients wish to visit Jersey, we shall be glad to forward a request for Quentin or one of the other senior staff to provide a private tour of the captive breeding projects. The Trust also runs an international education programme for conservationists from many countries, thereby perpetuating its founder's ideals through local conservation projects to the benefit of those countries in particular and the natural world in general.
The Belize Audubon Society is, as always, supported by us in its valiant efforts to conserve Belize's natural treasures. Now celebrating its thirty-second anniversary, it was the founding conservation organisation in Belize, and its work has led to the gazetting of numerous national parks and reserves. Belize Audubon Society also leads the fight against unsuitable developments in Belize, such as cruise ship ports and captive dolphin displays, and relies solely on private support. Should any of our clients wish to lend support to the Society, we shall be happy to forward information about the work they perform and how you may contribute towards it.
Logos
