SUSTAINABILITY PLEDGE

SUSTAINABILITY PLEDGE

Responsible travel is about travellers making informed and responsible choices, and planning trips which have a positive impact on the country they’re visiting, and its wildlife, environment and people. This usually means getting closer to local cultures, learning about the people and the history of places, and embracing diversity. It’s something that is part of our DNA at African Impact, it’s something we’ve built our lives and our reputation around, and it’s something that we like to think we’re pretty good at.

We love sharing Africa with our intrepid travellers, seeing the difference that you can make here, and seeing the changes that Africa makes on our customers. It’s a very special symbiotic relationship and one that we work constantly to improve and refine.

Our Global Awareness eLearning programme is designed with these values in mind. Schools and students can connect with our programmes without flying to Africa, thus reducing carbon footprint.

As a result of our knowledge and attitude towards this, we have won multiple awards for our Responsible and Sustainable tourism programmes, which are outlined below.

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Here is what we are currently doing to as a responsible organisation.

  • We develop our projects alongside local communities, making sure we are meeting the needs of the host community. We run our projects in collaboration with the community, their buy-in is essential and we work hand in hand with local tribal chiefs, community leaders, government departments, clinics and schools to ensure that the best possible impact is being made.
  • Through careful sustainability planning at our project locations we seek to increase the positive impact of our teams and operational practices on the social, cultural and physical environment within which our projects are based.
  • We offer an eLearning programme which offers young people the opportunity to engage and support our programmes without visiting Africa, reducing carbon footprint.
  • We run and manage our own projects and have teams made up of trained and experienced people managing our operations and relationships on the ground.
  • Our projects have long term goals in line with the communities we work in, and they embrace sustainable best practice.
  • We operate our projects year round.
  • We employ and train local staff wherever possible on projects.
  • We support local economies via buying locally produced food and materials, wherever possible.
  • We deliver educational programmes to local communities, on topics such as health, nutrition, plastic pollution and animal poaching.
  • We deliver gender equality programmes in our local communities.
  • Our conservation projects promote and support wildlife and environmental conservation.
  • At each location we run Eco-bricking initiatives removing plastic waste from the streets, communities, water-ways and beaches and using the bricks to build useful structures.
  • We run swap-shop initiatives for schools and community groups to trade eco-bricks for useful items (school materials, tools, clothes).
  • We do not allow the use of single use plastic items within our support groups, school clubs or craft workshops e.g. balloons, glitter.
  • Our charity, The African Impact Foundation, combines with our volunteer projects to ensure a deeper impact in local communities which contributes to sustainable conservation initiatives.
  • Our teams in Africa and the UK work remotely full time, so we reduce our car journeys, as much as possible.
  • We believe that service learning is very much a two-way thing which brings value to both the local communities and wildlife and the students themselves, who benefit from an authentic cultural exchange and knowledge transfer about a new country, its environment and threats facing its animals.
  • We also put measurable aims and achievements evaluation processes in place for everything we do. Each Quarter Managers from our projects submit reports to our Operations team, who then analyse the success and impact of the project and any improvements to be made. Please ask us for our Impact Reports.
  • In Africa, wildlife conservation supports healthy economies. Over 7% of Africa’s total GDP comes from tourism, with much of this being wildlife tourism. Tourism increases job opportunities for locals and can ultimately make a difference in a community’s economic well-being.
  • We will plant a tree locally for every student who enrols in one of our programmes, whether they travel to Africa or not. The trees are planted locally in the areas where we work.
  • We are encouraging people to take less flights overall, but to prioritise their flights.
  • The Imvelo Responsible Tourism awards were initiated to coincide with the World Summit on Sustainable Development that was held in South Africa in 2002. They recognize tourism and hospitality businesses that make measurable and sustained contribution to responsible tourism. We won the Best Social Involvement award.
  • We abide by a strict Code of Conduct and Child Protection Policy.
  • Modern slavery is a heinous crime and a morally reprehensible act that deprives a person’s liberty and dignity for another person’s gain. At African Impact, we have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and are fully committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our operation and supply chain.
  • We have a clear stance against the institutionalizing of children in orphanages and we have implemented a strict policy to help ensure that we only work with organizations that aim to transition children into permanent family environments.
  • We recycle and upcycle as much as is possible reducing the impact of our operation on the plant.
  • International EcoTourism Society Members
  • Travellers against Plastic supporter https://www.travelersagainstplastic.org/
  • See our awards here https://africanimpact.com/our-story/our-awards

Learn about the Global
Awareness Programme

Learn about the Global Awareness Programme

To speak to us, visit our
contact us page

To speak to us, visit our
contact us page

  • 01202 125430
  • African Impact,
    The Gallery, Kings Wharf,
    The Quay, Exeter
    EX2 4AN
  • [email protected]
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GLOBAL AWARENESS PROGRAMME

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