Falkland Islands tour, birds and wildlife

Planet

As with many of our worldwide adventure tours our Falklands trips have a great emphasis on seeing and discovering the remarkable wildlife that reside on these islands, and it is our number 1 aim to ensure that these wonderful animals are respected and helped to thrive in their natural environments. One of the many ways in which we can help to do this is by promoting the local wildlife conservation efforts that are in effect and ensuring that our customers are fully briefed before arrival on how to interact safely and conscientiously with the wildlife they may encounter. Our highly-trained local destination partners ensure that every effort necessary is made to protect the local wildlife. We find that our customers tend to all be wildlife lovers and so would never do anything to jeopardise the safety and wellbeing of the animals they encounter, but even so there are strict guidelines for interaction with wildlife that are stringently enforced. Respecting Falklands Wildlife by-laws and giving distance and respect to nesting birds plus keeping specific distances within penguin colonies is particularly essential.

Our pre-trip literature also includes guidelines for ensuring that the stunning Falklands scenery is in no way tampered with and information on how to reduce your carbon footprint while on the tour, including advice on waste disposal.

As a company we firmly believe that environmental responsibility starts at home (and the work place of course). We encourage recycling of waste as a company and as individuals. Where possible for business use we use public transport. We are also heavily involved with a project to recycle used or damaged binoculars, which are then sent to conservation projects across the world.

In addition, we only work with expedition partners who are members of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) and therefore agree to a strong code of ethical conduct and responsible travel which works very successfully.

On this tour we will be taking a number of Internal FIGAS (Falkland Islands Government Air Service) flights in order to reach our multiple destinations. The Falkland Islands have a great air transport network and this network is relied upon for tourists and residents to move freely across the multiple islands, allowing for some of the smaller and less frequently visited islands to gain from the many advantages of tourism. Opportunities to fly around the world in pursuit of amazing wildlife and birds makes a few traditional and purist naturalists uneasy because of aircraft pollution and conservation issues, but as conservationists ourselves we defend the conflict between ecotourism and carbon emissions. We believe that the biodiversity crisis is every bit as bad as the carbon environmental crisis and that we can’t possibly promote wildlife conservation efforts if we don’t open the world up to tourists witnessing these remarkable animals up close in their own natural habitat. We find that our clients generally come back from wildlife expeditions with a higher degree of environmental awareness which naturally results in a better understanding and usually a more effective call to action with their own general environmental habits at home and away, often becoming advocates and becoming much more supportive of wildlife and environmental issues. In an effort to further enhance the positive effects of our tours on the wildlife of the Falkland Islands we are part of the Falklands Conservation “Adopt a Penguin” scheme and we will be actively promoting this scheme to our customers upon return from their trip.

People

Our land-based Falkland Islands tours heavily support the local economies on the islands we visit. By only using local guides, local agencies who in turn employ local people, staying in locally-owned lodges and hotels, and actively encouraging our customers to invest in the local communities and initiatives, we can directly create a positive influence on the islands’ economy. The pre-departure information that we provide contains details from our Falkland Island Partners who know all there is to know about the islands and our in-house experts offer tips on local restaurants and bars and activities operated by those who live and work on the islands, ensuring that every penny spent in the islands stays within the local economy. As part of the tour there will also be a number of battlefield and historic site visits which we believe helps to increase understanding of the political environment in which the residents of the islands live in.

We believe that only by seeing up close the efforts that the residents of the Falkland Islands put in to sustaining and protecting these areas can we encourage customers to help with these conservation efforts, and as with all of our trips across the world, when a customer embarks upon a tailor-made Falklands tour with us we actively promote the idea of making a contribution or donation to a charity or conservation effort related to the destinations they are visiting such as the RSPB’s “Save The Albatross” campaign and local Falklands Wildlife Conservation charities.

As a company we are proud of our principle based values which our community can always depend on. We support several home and overseas charities, organisations and campaigns including AfriCat, Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), Save the Albatross, South Georgia Habitat Restoration Project, Wader Trust, Wildlife SOS India and sponsorship of individual and underprivileged children in many countries. We are committed to ethically working with overseas partners who employ and support local communities and local guides who know and love their region like no other, delighted to share knowledge and are dedicated to looking after our valued passengers.

Our Falkland Islands Partners have unsurpassed experience in creating and operating tours to the islands that they call home and they place great importance on ensuring that the excellent relationships that currently exist between tourists and the residents of the islands continue to prosper. Information will be provided pre-departure on local etiquette such as the tipping culture and respecting the traditions of local people, as well as the environments that our customers will be visiting.