By Ian Green and Fiona Dunbar First and foremost, we are a small company and plan to keep it that way! We started the company in 1994. Ian, who had already been leading and organising wildlife tours for another company for five years, noticed a yearning on the part of many of his customers. Those on birding holidays rather wanted to stop and look at the butterflies and flowers that were being passed by, and customers on butterfly trips were covertly sneaking looks at bird books, floras, and even the odd tome on reptiles... Sometimes, there would even be couples with different areas of wildlife interest! Greentours was therefore born, with the aim of looking at the best of the flora and fauna of areas chosen from all over the world. Our leaders are chosen to be sociable, and for their in depth knowledge of a range of areas of natural history, rather along the lines of 'old-fashioned' naturalists. In summary, our holidays are all about great wildlife, great scenery, good company, food and fun, and not too much strenuous exercise! Both ecology graduates, we try to follow ecological ideas within Greentours, from using recycled paper, through to donating binoculars, telescopes, tripods and field guides to local guides in areas where these items are hard to come by and out of the price range of local people. We also donate 5% of the profits from five tours each year to conservation projects in the relevant countries. We look forward to experiencing many more wonderful days in the field, with both new faces and all our regulars alike.
Greentours- Working For Conservation
Greentours believes that eco-tourism can help to conserve our natural world by giving you the chance to experience and learn about wildlife in natural habitats. Furthermore, our holidays can provide new and valuable data. Important new regional records add to the distribution data available to researchers - for example the many rare and little known orchids found during our holidays to the Turkish Lake District and the Pontic Alps over the past few years. We can even produce some startling new finds. In 1996 a new breeding bird for Turkey (Corncrake!) and in 2004 we discovered Turkey’s first Plain Leaf Warbler. In 1999, a marsh in the Turkish Lake District held a surprise - an umbellifer new to science, and since we’ve added several new species to Turkey’s already exceptional flora. We also send our detailed trip reports and species lists to the relevant conservation organisations worldwide. We also believe that we can engender interest and support among the locals in the countries we visit, by showing them that they have a valuable resource at hand. To further this we have in the past supported various initiatives local to areas we visit. In 2005 we decided that we would instead support just one project each year. Then the Tsunami happened. December 2004’s disaster has left an indelible mark on Sri Lanka and many other places, with so many killed and so much destruction. Those who have travelled on our tours to the island will know that the Yala Safari Lodge was completely destroyed with much loss of life. Rebuilding work all over the island has progressed rapidly and as far as the hotels go, capacity is back to normal. Sri Lankans and of course those involved with taking tourists to the island are keen to encourage visitors to return as your cash is needed! We agree and think the best thing we can do is take more people - so come and see Sri Lanka! Back to the Tsunami. Vast amounts of aid poured into Sri Lanka soon after the disaster giving immediate succour to victims. However for many the destruction of their homes and loss of relatives pose long term problems, the most pressing of which is a new home. Our ground agent, Mr Silva, has organised a project providing new housing of a good standard to some needy families. The Greentours Sri Lankan Housing Appeal has been set up to channel funds to this undertaking and we’d welcome donations. Around £3000 has already been sent and we will continue to support this project through 2007. Building work on the first house should begin shortly. Please give us a call if you would like to find out more. We would welcome comment and ideas on how we can help the environment in all areas visited by our groups, and indeed at home. Please feel free to ring and have a chat if you know of any projects either in progress, or that you think should be undertaken, in any of our destination areas.
Greentours and Climate Care
An exciting initiative which we are pleased to be part of. Global warming is a major threat to our planet and air travel is a contributor to this process. We believe that eco-tourism can clearly benefit the natural world but this form of tourism often requires air travel. Climate Care is an imaginative way to combat this dilemma, and let the tourism thrive to the benefit of local communities, whilst repairing much of the damage done to the climate. Climate Care invests donations in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies as well as reforestation programs, all aimed at reducing CO2 levels in the atmosphere. So how can you help? Climate Care has calculated the cost of removing from the atmosphere the CO2 generated per person on your flight, based upon the hours flown. To keep it simple we've divided the holidays into short haul (Europe & the Mediterranean) £5, medium haul (Eastern Turkey, Central Asia, West Africa) £10 and the rest of the World £15 all return per person. To contribute please tick the relevant box on the booking form and include the payment with your deposit. This donation helps make you part of the solution and not the problem. If you would like to know more : please ring Hannah at Climate Care on 01865 207000.