January 4, 2012

Green Traveler: Robin Pope Safaris

Luangwa Safari House, Zambia. Photo credit: © Dana Allen.

Responsible tourism consultant Dr. Cheryl Mvula wrote this guest post about green safari company Robin Pope Safaris.

Robin Pope Safaris runs safaris and beach lodges in Zambia and Malawi. The company was joint overall winner of the 2011 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards, along with winner of the Best for Poverty Reduction category.

Robin Pope Safaris is one of the oldest photographic safari companies operating in Zambia and Malawi.

We have six safari properties in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, and two lodges in Malawi in Lake Malawi National Park and Majete National Park.

As pioneers of green safaris, we have for many years worked hand-in-hand with local communities neighboring our properties to implement sustainable development initiatives.

We start inside our company, taking care of our local staff, offering people from neighboring communities’ employment in all areas of our business, and by paying fair and competitive wages.

We employ 130 people from the local community in all positions from bedroom attendants and waiters through to safari guides and camp managers.

On average 11 members of the extended family are dependent on each of our employees, so our employment policy benefits over 1,430 local people.

Obi Mukabiko guiding a client on a walking safari. Photo credit: © Dana Allen.

In partnership with the local community, we have implemented development projects, improving access to education and healthcare and raising awareness of HIV/AIDS.

We support grassroots projects that empower people to take responsibility for their own development through a ‘hand up’, as opposed to a ‘hand out’ approach.

Some of the green safari initiatives include:

Purchasing local produce and services;
Showcasing locally-made handicrafts in our gift shops;
Promoting community-based tourism enterprises and giving them access to tourists;
Marketing Kawaza Village Tourism Project internationally and acting as their booking agent;
Recycling waste materials through community enterprises to enable them to produce goods for sale e.g. waste paper and sawdust to women’s alternative fuel enterprises;
Guiding responsibly;
Funding anti-poaching patrols;
Conducting snare sweeps;
Leasing land to set aside for wildlife conservation and
Supporting the work of local conservation organizations.

We believe that investing in education provision is the best contribution we can make to end the cycle of poverty in rural Africa.

Our Kawaza School Fund has improved the learning environment for thousands of children through the construction of classrooms, the provision of educational materials and the funding of teachers’ salaries. This means that children can benefit from smaller class sizes and more classroom time with qualified teachers.

Perhaps our greatest recent achievement is the set up of Project Luangwa. This independent, local charity encourages the support of all lodges in the valley to fund educational projects and community enterprise development. Rather than keeping our community projects ‘in-house’ we took the innovative step to let other safari operators ‘share’ in them. This grows the funding pot and spreading the benefits further.

Our commitment to responsible tourism does not stop with the community. We support the conservation of wildlife and the protected areas in which we conduct safaris.

We are also increasingly becoming active on the recycling, waste reduction, and water and energy conservation fronts. We still have some way to go!