Have Horse Will Travel encourages their overseas agents to comply with our responsible tourism philosophy. Each one has produced a statement below of how they promote responsible tourism.

UK
To ensure our North Downs rides in Kent are sustainable environmentally, economically and socially, we aim to have minimal impact on our local community by undertaking the following responsibilities;


- We make our own hay
- Employ local staff to guide tours
- Use local accommodation
- Buy products from our local farmers
- Bring economic business to our local suppliers e.g. Pubs and B & Bs
- Recycle any waste
- Educate visitors about the area
- Promote the local countryside

BRAZIL
Our aim is to offer our adventure tours in Brazil, groups whilst minimising the effect of negative impacts we have on the local environment and giving back as much as possible to the local community.Each of our guides has been briefed on responsible tourism and the issues related to tourism. Each of them receive a special training of how they need to work to help minimise the impacts and maximise the benefits. Buy stationery and materials from small local shops, shred paper for recycling, use mugs instead of plastic cups in the office, reduce unnecessary lighting, switch off electrical equipment when not required. Ways in which we are trying to help improve the service we offer as a tour operator whilst keeping the local environment that we use, sustainable. Where possible we use local staff to guide our tours and employ them from the local community. Not only does this increase employment locally but also, in turn the money from tourism will then filter down to some of the poorer communities, which will increase their quality of life. We try and visit areas rarely visited by tourists to expand the wealth of tourism beyond the front line of large chain restaurants and hotels. We use local guesthouses, which employ local people and reserve to eat in local restaurants, which serve local food. When visiting National Parks such as Bocaina National Park, on our trek tours we recommend that our guests read up on the protected wildlife/animals conservation projects and encourage them to stick to the guidelines produced by the authority. Where animals are used for transport on our tours we try and ensure that they are well cared for and have no signs of mistreatment, illness or malnourishment and are well looked after not only on the event but also afterwards. In addition we ask our travellers to notify us if any of our suppliers have been mistreating the animals or there are sign of ill health they feel are suspect. Litter is a huge problem in most places due to the limited facilities for waste disposal and high temperatures. We therefore bring with us plastic bags and encourage our travellers put their litter into it and we take the litter home. We also encourage travellers where it is safe to do so, to take their own water container with them and use the local water instead of using plastic bottles. We use reusable plastic for packed lunches to reduce the amount of waste thrown away. Travellers are also warned not to throw food waste on the floor, it can take months for foods to decompose. Cigarettes should never be dropped on the ground but put in a rubbish bin once it has been stumped out to ensure no unnecessary fires are caused and to reduce the spread of infections. In order for tourism to be sustainable we must ensure that the place people visit is keep as it is found. We encourage our travellers to read up on the area they are visiting and to respect the people and their way of life. Where our tours consist of camping, our guides ensure that all rubbish is disposed of appropriately in the correct manor. Travellers are asked to put their rubbish in our plastic bags. Guests are asked not to wash any pollutants in the river as local communities may be using this water to drink from downstream. Travellers are asked not to leave food lying around as this may encourage unwanted wildlife. Campsites should be checked for litter before departing the area. Due to the mass amount of paper produced in the world today we have decided to reduce this by using electronic mail. Our newsletter is emailed to anyone who requests to receive information by email.

We have also encouraged our travellers to help reduce the impacts by educating them on responsible tourism and giving them ideas of how they can help.

ECUADOR
We have several Ecuadorian full time staff on contracts, with all the usual benefits (holidays, health insurance etc.) They also receive extra benefits such as above average working conditions (good treatment, respect and a place to stay if needed) and above average wages - our staff are paid 50% above average if contracted in on a daily basis.) Workers that are sick get special medical attention from our own doctor too.

We arrange free clinics for chagras (gauchos) on horse care and health. The horses are in excellent condition, and receive regular visits from vets. Sally is an experienced British horsewoman and personally keeps a close eye on them all year round. They are exercised daily to keep them fit and more so to prepare them for a trek and are monitored carefully for any problems.

On tour our policy is to be as low impact as possible on the environment - we always take great care where we ride, never leaving rubbish, not polluting local water sources and not starting fires. Haciendas are all owner managed and employ local staff so money goes straight into the local economy. Some of our haciendas are very aware of ecological issue and others are not so aware so we are trying to influence them, without being overbearing.

We also support, through donations of money, clothing and medicines, an orphanage and old peoples home in Quito. We also assist a doctor who treats patients that do not have the means of paying for medicines.

ICELAND
Íshestar riding tours offers high quality tours in the natural environment. Our goal is to support the sustainable development of nature, society, culture and the economy.

We put special importance on:
· Choosing riding trails in full agreement with local stakeholders.
· Taking care that horse and man disturb nature as little as possible.
· Using renewable resources in our activities as far as possible.
· Minimizing the production of waste and emphasizing recycling and reuse.

In addition, we aim to:
· Create healthy and secure working conditions for our employees.
· Prefer to employ staff from nearby communities.
· Prefer local products and services that have minimal environmental impacts.
· Give all employees regular training on environmental issues.
· Inform our guest about environmental matters and encourage responsible conduct towards nature.
· Work closely with environmental organizations and other stakeholders regarding environmental matters.
· Fulfill all relevant environmental laws and regulations.
This policy will act as guidelines in our daily operations. It will be annually reviewed and followed by targets and steps to improve our environmental performance. The policy will be communicated to all our stakeholders.

INDIA
At Discovery Journeys we understand our social responsibility and obligation to environmental protection as a tour outfit. We are committed to play our part in conservation activities in areas where we operate, and by maintaining high standards of services in all spheres of operations; we encourage and practise responsible tourism, thereby contributing to serious initiatives to protect the environment and its wild life.

Over the years we have followed several good practices that include a “minimum impact policy” taking care, that while our tours provide positive experience to the visitors and hosts, we disturb the environment as little as possible.

Once on the trail we follow the simple dictum “We shall leave behind nothing, except our footprints” and to ensure this we take care that little waste is generated and whatever there is, is disposed off carefully (we carry back all non bio degradable litter with us).

On our nature oriented tours we use local accommodation wherever possible and source our supplies (vegetables, fruits etc) locally, providing direct financial benefits and empowerment for the host communities. This also includes recruiting guides locally wherever possible.

Discovery Journeys core philosophy is “respect for the environment and local cultures” and to fulfill these objectives we have joined hands with a charity (Tigres – Wildlife Vigilantes Planet Earth Foundation) to save species and natural surroundings by developing cutting edge techniques to inform, educate, involve, enlist, and rouse travellers into becoming conservationists.

Increasing travel activities, whether for leisure or business, have begun to put severe demands on the natural resources of host countries. Consequently, the expanding tourism industry has now a greater responsibility to shoulder and need to embrace environmental causes and must contribute to the great effort being made to conserve the planet’s only remaining natural habitats and its biodiversity.

By merging (1) the interests of host communities, with (2) the need for conservation, and (3) sustainable travel, our goal is to promote responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the ecosystem, educates the traveller and the public about environmental issues, while improving the welfare of the host communities.

Environmentally
Arvind and his team are putting a lot of thought into developing new ways to conserve the amount of water and electricity the use.
Arvind is actively involved in farming and employs local staff with his tours. As they have a wealth of knowledge about the area they can bring a rich education to guests and visitors on the tours.

Economically
The income earned by the staff helps support families and educate the children especially the girls.

Arvind plans to contribute part of his earnings to an NGO (Help in Suffering) which helps protect the well being of animals.

MEXICO
In Mexico there is no such responsible/green tourism
But we do work this way! We take care of the environment, we see that no trash is left behind and we pick up any trash we find on the riding routes we do. We promote among the villages we pass through that they take care of the trash and we pay for every bag of it they pick up. We promote that this is done by children who, hopefully, they will be the ones acquiring conscience of living in a clean healthy environment. In each place where the horses overnight, we have rented a piece of land owned by the local people so our horses sleep there. This gives the locals employment as they have to take care of stalls and we paid them to build them.

All the food we buy is from local producers and we hire services from local people in restaurants, to masseuse ladies that come to give massages to riders that ask for this service.

During the time the Monarch butterflies are here we hire the service of local guides that live where the Monarchs hibernate so they take us up to see them and they receive payment for doing this. This way these people will learn that taking care of the forest and the butterflies will provide to them an income as tourists will pay to see the Monarchs!

Once a year we organize a one day "plant a tree" campaign (right before the rainy season), where everybody that uses the forest, like horse people, trekking people, mountain bike people, and local schools and local people can participate and give back something to the place that provides to them an opportunity to make an activity in it. We teach them how to plant a tree and the importance of doing this and taking care of our forests as they are a very important source of water. So each year we plant around 3,00o pine trees in areas that the government recommends us to do it near the town of Valle de Bravo.

We explain to our guests everything we know about the Monarch Butterfly migration. We inform our guests about the way they are expected to behave and act when seeing the butterflies as to not disturb them have and impact on them.

We make our guests aware about water problems around the world and that Mexico is no exception so we ask that they take care of the amount of water they use.

PATAGONIA
As a Biologist, Conservationist and Adventure Tour Operator, I strive to incorporate ecologically sustainable practices in my company operations. We purchase all fruits, vegetables, meat and seafood locally at fair cost to growers. We employ help locally whenever possible and keep revenue within our small community. While on the trail we practice Leave No Trace methods of camping and travelling, leaving as little impact on the natural ecosystems as possible, and packing all trash and waste out to be disposed of properly . Chemical toilets are provided at campsites, and waste contents are disposed of safely. In an area as stunning and undisturbed as Patagonia, Chile we understand the need to minimize the human footprint so that future generations may enjoy this great landscape as much as we do today¨- Magan Radich, Patagonia

TURKEY
We maintain our horses and property to a good standard;
use safe, well fitting and comfortable tack;
respect and support our local community;
help to raise the standard of local Turkish horses and owners.
provide information about our area;
respect the countryside that we ride through.