During 1999, Explore Worldwide initiated a major review of their environmental performance, which included an in-depth environmental audit which was sent out to all suppliers overseas, in more than 90 countries, and all tour leaders running tours overseas

• Planned a major event dedicated to cleaning up the campsites and pulling-in places along the River Nile between Aswan and Luxor ( to take place in June 2000)
• Eliminated the use of wood or charcoal burning from trips to Kilimanjaro, and pressurised the Tanzanian authorities to ban charcoal and wood burning on the mountains. This was a major conservation breakthrough as the limited supplies of wood were not enough to support the increasing number of visitors
• Porters pick up all rubbish that they find along trails on Kilimanjaro trips. This is burnt at each camp site along the way, and any bio-degradable rubbish is carried to Moshi and disposed of in an appropriate manner
• Ongoing improvement to waste management in Negril, for example, no plastic bottles are used on camping trips and iodine is used to purify boiled water
• Empty toners from photocopiers are recycled by local scout groups
• Spares from medical kits are given to the Red Cross
• Licensed recycling company collects all paper waste, which is then shredded, and then pulped for reuse as recycled material in different mills around the UK, thereby ensuring that waste does not go to landfill sites

• Use kerosene for cooking on treks
• Stay in lodges where electricity is supplied by solar power
• Identified energy and conservation projects undertaken at hotels we stay at
• Several of the hotels used have recently installed electricity saving devices in the form of electricity keys

• Strict guidelines for trek leaders to ensure that toilet tents, and kitchen water waste areas are set up away from streams and rivers
• Identified the Bandiagara escarpment in Mali as an area in need of support for maintaining pipelines and water pumps and are currently investigating options

• Agents in Peru for the Inca trail trek to Machu Picchu are committed to avoiding non-biodegradable detergents

• The audit showed that Explore needed to upgrade their bus in Scandinavia and this is targeted for the summer
• Omitted boat journey to the coral reef at Hurghada as, despite commitment from the Egyptian authorities, there is still considerable reef damage and a lack of permanent buoys

• As a result of the audit all agents have been required to address environmental issues related to all tours conducted on behalf of Explore Worldwide
• Clients painted school classrooms in South Africa, and Explore funded the painting of a school in Morocco
• Participated in seminar on the Inca Trail in Cusco, Peru, which was designed to bring together the concerns and views of the local agents, porters, government authorities, local environmental and archeological experts, tour operators and their clients

• Work with partners overseas who are recognised for their environmental programmes, including Drousha Heights Hotel
• Indian and Kazakh partners have both been honoured with awards from their respective Tourism Ministries

• Worked in conjunction with the bushmen in a village in Southern Tanzania who are keen to develop controlled small-scale community based tourism

• Ensure that the vehicle and motor boat transport used in all overseas destinations are regularly serviced

• Tour leaders are briefed on behaviour in National Parks and give briefings to clients

• Explore endeavour to ensure that the local communities benefit financially from their tours by dealing with local operators
• Paper used for printed material comes from a sustainable source
• Brochure paper comes from a Finish mill which has achieved the Nordic Environmental Label and whose forest management operations have an environmental system in accordance with the ISO 14001
• Printers used for brochure production are ISO 9002 credited

Suzi Poole

Publications Manager

Explore Worldwide