Our Responsible Tourism Policy
Wandering Aengus Treks was born out of a love of the mountains and the Earth's natural wealth, and we care passionately about the environment. While we have always observed the ‘country code’ which can be summarised with the mantra “leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photographs”, the challenges of the 21st century require a more sophisticated approach to environmental conservation. The local environment and our heritage In Britain our natural wild areas are a fragile resource. The upland areas of Wales, Northern England and Scotland, are particularly vulnerable to the demands made by increasing awareness of health and the consequent growth of activity based recreation. Wandering Aengus Treks has a policy of small group travel. Wherever possible we use less frequented routes which helps to reduce footpath erosion and overcrowding in environmentally threatened ‘hotspots’. For this reason we also refuse (despite many requests) to organise charity events involving large numbers of people on our most popular peaks. We are members of the National Trust which works tirelessly to manage the National Parks and other areas of outstanding natural beauty in Britain, and of English Heritage which looks after our rich legacy of historical buildings and monuments. By supporting these organisations we are playing our part to preserve the countryside and its history for future generations. Global Warming and Carbon Offset Possibly the biggest challenge facing the global traveller today is global warming and the production of greenhouse gasses. Most forms of motorised travel generate CO2 (the main cause of human-induced climate change.) It is an inescapable fact that planes are the worst offenders here, but we believe that global tourism also brings benefits, both to the traveller and to communities who depend on visitors for their livelihood. Most people would if it were possible, wish to ensure that their personal travel did not contribute to higher levels of CO2 and one way to ensure that your journey is ‘carbon neutral’ is to use a carbon offset scheme such as 'Climate Care'. This is not simply a way of clearing your conscience. A good carbon offset scheme will help you to repair the damage your activities do to the climate through a raft of projects which lower greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy, energy efficiency and rainforest restoration. projects not only fight climate change, but bring benefits to communities round the world. Climate-Care uses a 'carbon calculator' that allows you to offset greenhouse gases you are responsible for with a payment to projects that reduce greenhouse gases by the same amount. Wandering Aengus Treks uses Climate Care to offset all its omissions during your holiday with us. If you want to make your trip totally carbon neutral, use the carbon calculator to work out the emissions from your flights
|
