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About us >
Responsible Tourism
Social and Environmental
Responsibility Programme
Operation Wallacea adheres
to a social and environmental responsibility programme that meets (and
exceeds in some aspects), the requirements of a Responsible Tourism
Operator. The policy is described below with examples from some of
the 25 sites in 11 countries in which the Operation Wallacea research
programmes run, on how each of the clauses are met.
To ensure that all field operations are
run by local NGOs or host country academic institutions who own the
facilities and equipment used
The purpose of this clause is
to ensure that as much as possible of the funding provided by the
project is spent in the host country. In some countries there were
existing NGOs or academic institutions that could run the research
programme from the outset. These included the University of Havana for the
two
Cuba sites, AmazonEco for the two Peru sites, Wildlife and Ecological
Investments for the sites in South Africa and Mozambique, and Honduran
Coral Reef Foundation and Coral View for the two marine research
programmes in Honduras. For other countries new NGOs have been
formed to run the research programmes and to use the facilities created
by the programmes to attract additional income outside the Opwall
season. These include NGOs that have been formed with assistance
from Operation Wallacea such as the Nature and Science Foundation of
Egpyt that runs the Egypt
sites and Grupo de Apoyo al Desarrollo that runs the projects on the
Honduran coast. At some of the largest sites there were no
obvious existing partners and the expeditions were therefore run
initially by Operation Wallacea directly. After a few years of operation
the most reliable local staff were encouraged to form a new NGO and the
facilities and equipment built up by Operation Wallacea were then handed
over to them and a period of joint operation agreed. All these sites are
now run by these new NGOs including Lawana Ecotone for the Indonesian
forest sites, Lembaga Alam for the Indonesian marine sites and Expediciones y Servicios Ambientales de Cusuco for the Honduran
mountain sites.
To maximise the
income from the field operations to local communities
In order to avoid leakage of
funds away from the research site a number of techniques are used,
including using locally owned homestays wherever possible rather than
hotels. Tents or hammocks which belong to
the NGOs are used in many of the sites. Food and supplies are purchased locally wherever possible and
guides, cooks and porters drawn from local communities to staff the
projects. Boats, buses and vehicles used for the project are locally
owned and operated in most cases.
To ensure that
staff and volunteers understand and have minimal impact on local culture
and customs
Maximum numbers of volunteers and staff are set for each of the sites.
All volunteers and staff are briefed on local culture and customs and
required to adhere to agreed standards of behaviour.
To ensure that much of the research
programme is targeted at providing information to help the host
countries with conservation management
This is one of the main
objectives of the Operation Wallacea research programme (see
Global
Research and Conservation Management Strategy) so there are many
examples of how this is achieved (see Research Objectives for each
country).
To work with local communities to develop
income streams linked to conservation management
Much of this work is done via the Operation Wallacea Trust. Activities
include helping with developing ecotourism using the Operation Wallacea
facilities outside of the Opwall season. These include the development
of the carrageenan extraction plant as a method of buying out fishing
licences at the Indonesian marine site and the sale of products such as
coffee and cashews from the Indonesian and Honduran forest sites through
the Wildlife Conservation Products scheme from villages that have agreed
conservation contracts.
To work with local
communities to increase awareness of environmental issues and provide
skills training for conservation management and associated businesses
The substantial promotional
programme to raise awareness about the biodiversity of the Lambusango
forests in SE Sulawesi and the problems with the reef fishery in the
Wakatobi Marine National Parks are good examples of raising awareness.
Provision of skills training for local students and collaborations with
local academics has occurred in all countries.
To ensure the
research programmes have minimal impacts on the use of resources
Resource usage (water, fuel, energy) at each of the sites has been
identified and targets set. Many of the sites have limited water
supplies (island marine sites in Honduras, Egyptian sites and research
ship based research in Cuba and Peru) so reduction of water usage is
part of the expedition protocols.
To ensure all wastes are recycled or
disposed of responsibly
All waste streams and their
disposal routes have been identified and described. There are high
levels of recycling at most of the sites because in the remote areas
where the projects run, local communities put a high value on re-using
materials.
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