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 34 sites in 7 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 NGO's 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 NGO's or academic institutions that could run the research programme from the outset. These included University of Havana for the 2 Cuba sites, AmazonEco for the 2 Peru sites, Wildlife and Ecological Investments for the 9 sites in South Africa and Mozambique, Honduran Coral Reef Foundation and Coral View for the 2 marine research programmes in Honduras. For other countries though new NGO's have been formed to run the research programmes and to use the facilities created by the programmes to attract additional income outside the Op Wall season. These include NGO's that have been formed with some assistance from Operation Wallacea such as Conservation Egypt that runs the 2 Egypt sites and Grupo de Apoyo al Desarrollo that runs the projects on the Honduran coast. At some of the largest sites though 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 NGO's including Lawana Ecotone for the 7 Indonesian forest sites, Lembaga Alam for the 2 Indonesian marine sites and Expediciones y Servicios Ambientales de Cusuco for the 7 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 are used in many of the sites, which belong to the NGO's. Food and supplies are purchased locally wherever possible and guides, cooks and porters drawn from local communities to staff the project. Boats, buses and vehicles used for the project are locally owned and operated in most cases. In many of the sites the Operation Wallacea research programmes has a big impact on the remote local communities. For example at the Indonesian marine site $175,000 was spent in the local communities in 2008, equivalent to the income from 2000 Full Time Equivalents or more than 5% of the total Kaledupa island economy. In the Honduran mountain communities there is an even bigger financial impact with larger numbers of volunteers. 

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.

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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 the Op Wall season at the Indonesian marine and forest sites and the Honduran forest and coastal sites. 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 are other examples.

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. The extension of the Operation Wallacea volunteer programme to Egyptian universities and schools to provide the manpower for more ambitious biodiversity atlas programmes and the proposed collaboration with South African birders in the Kruger biodiversity monitoring project are good examples of this approach. 

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.

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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.

To ensure that an annual social and environmental responsibility report is produced outlining progress against each of the clauses against agreed timetables of improvements benchmarks for expeditions in each host country
A report describing the achievements over the previous year for each of the countries against each clause is being published on the Operation Wallacea web site annually. In addition in each of these reports benchmark targets to achieve for the following year are set for each clause.