Gorilla safari and game parks, Uganda

We pay gorilla tracking fees of £280 / $420 for each client on the tour and this goes to the National parks to pay for the protection of the gorillas and into government coffers to help pay for schools and hospitals. We have been involved in helping out a school for orphans which is just outside the National Park, we take them books, stationary and building materials. We plan to increase our involvement / donations. We take some our groups to this school while other members of the group go off to see the gorillas. Here you will have the opportunity to purchase locally made crafts, and food and coke from the streetside stands. We have supplied raincoats and wellington boots for the guides and trackers to improve their lives a little.

A lot of local people benifit in other ways from our visits as a 'gorilla industry' has sprung up arround the visits, where local people run camp grounds, supply food, souveniers. We also carry in gas for cooking rather than use the local fuelwood which seems to be cut from forests. We take out garbage, and we employ locals to help out with side trips and for guided walks into the villages. We provide opportunities to ensure you are able to spend money with members of the community.

We have become one of the first tour operators to have their UK offices 'climate balanced' with an independent audit carried out by C-Level (www.clevel.co.uk). We are taking steps to reduce waste and power in the office, and are compensating for the CO2 we do produce by planting trees in their Uganda forests.

We are already planting one tree per pax trip week for all vehicle based tours in Africa, are offering clients the chance to compensate for their flights by linking them to our calculator. This will indicate the carbon footprint of their flight and the cost of compensating through tree planting.