Sustainability and the Environment

Hands Up is committed to sustainability – in the communities in which we operate and in the ecosystems that we encounter. Our independent travel options and small group size help us to tread lightly, minimising impact, and ideally enriching the environment.

Hands Up Holidays Sunderbans India trip was named "Ultimate Eco-Trip" in The Observer in 2007!

We are a founding member of the Ethical Tour Operator's Group - committed to running sustainable tours that benefit both local communities and the environment.

We are an affiliate member of Green Globe, the worldwide benchmarking and certification program for the travel and tourism industry.

We have been awarded 'Best Responsible Tourism' site for 2008 by Travel Mole.

One way we seek to conserve the environment is by including the cost of offsetting carbon emissions in the price of your tour. We pay for the equivalent number of trees to be planted to offset the CO₂ emissions from the flights and the trip. Where practical, you can even plant the trees yourself!

Our trees are planted by our partner, Climate Stewards, in the tropics (Ghana) and native species are used as well as mango as a source of healthy fruit for the communities. Biodiversity is promoted in the following ways:

• Planting more extensive and better quality habitats, with increased connectivity in the otherwise fragmented human landscape;
• The proliferation of small forest islands can act as stepping stones and refuges for species;
• Conserving local genetic diversity of plants and animals;
• Better for the soil and the animals and insects depending on it;
• Increased water quality and quantity;
• Provides a wider range of habitat niches for different animals and insects

Climate Stewards are operating in several sites in Ghana. Climate Stewards is planting 50 hectares initially, with rapid growth expected. Some sites are owned by the local communities, some by schools and universities. We work in partnership with the local community at all sites.

In areas where logging is a problem, Climate Stewards is planning to plant woodlots and introduce fuel efficient stoves.

Bushfires are a big problem in Ghana. Careful selection of fire resistant trees around the site perimeter where necessary and good local monitoring and management should minimise this risk. Trees lost to fire or other cause will be replaced.

Is this the entire solution?
Not at all, but it is a step in the right direction.

As mentioned above, we are providing fuel efficient stoves in areas where logging is a problem, and through channelling at least 10% of our profits into the Hands Up Foundation, we will be investing in bio fuel creation and storage devices which provide clean burning gas from methane or crop waste.

If you have any suggestions for how we can do better environmentally and be carbon neutral please let our CEO, Christopher Hill know, by emailing him at chris@handsupholidays.com. If your suggestion is adopted, you will win a guidebook of your choice!

Getting involved in environmental volunteer projects
We have some superb environmental projects that you can get involved in:

• China 'Home of the Giant Pandas' - you can help clean panda reserves
• Vietnam 'Vietnamese Venture' - an organic gardening project with victims of Agent Orange
• Guatemala 'Mountains & Mayans' - a reforestation project
• Argentina 'Northern Explorer' - bird monitoring, recording orchids, reforestation
• Australia 'Far North Adventure' - sea turtle conservation in conjunction with an Aboriginal community
• New Zealand 'Southern Encounter' - natural habitat preservation, including for penguins
• Borneo 'Sabah Discoverer' - tracking and recording Sumatran Rhino
• Namibia 'Classic Namibia' - assisting with Elephant/farmer conflict resolution practices
• Mozambique 'Bush and Reef' - coral reef surveying and humpback whale monitoring
• Kenya 'Captivating Kenya' - environmental boardwalk maintenance, beach clean up, bird ringing
• Galapagos Islands 'Galapagos & Volcanoes' - coastal clean up with local fishermen

Come and join us!

Training and mentoring local guides
We are committed to using local guides wherever possible. Our guides are trained in responsible, sustainable tourism and will help you to be both culturally and environmentally sensitive. Where practical, we use locally run and owned accommodation, restaurants, markets and home stays.

The Hands Up Foundation
We have established a charitable trust through which you can maintain a vital link with the Community Development project you participated in. Donations to this trust you go directly towards the project. All the administration costs are borne by Hands Up.

A percentage of Hands Up’s profits are also donated to other development work, such as an educational bursary fund, micro-finance projects, or large capital projects such as building a school.

To summarise:

• We offer “carbon neutral flying” whereby we pay for the trees to be planted to offset CO₂ emissions from flights and from the trip itself
• We frequently stay in locally owned accommodation
• We offer the opportunity to really "go local" with homestays in Fiji, Vanuatu, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand and Peru
• We are committed to training and mentoring promising people as guides from the local communities
• We interact directly with communities through our volunteer projects, which are all sourced in consultation with the community
• Our group size is a maximum of 12 with average of 6
• We have environmental Community Development projects in Vietnam, Thailand, China, Tibet, Guatemala, Argentina, and Brazil
• We have set up a charitable foundation where at least 10% of our profits go into further development projects in the communities we operate
• Our guides all instruct our guests on how to minimise impact, teach local language and customs, and act respectfully