Meet the latest member of the New Zealand team!
Felicity Goldsmith May 6th, 2008
The New Zealand team has grown considerably since we started out in 2004, and recently we decided to sponsor our own kiwi chick, Ra, who lives at Rainbow Springs in Rotorua, New Zealand. Rainbow Springs Nature Park is a tourist attraction committed to the conservation of native New Zealand plants and birds, and the development of sustainable tourism within the region. A major part of its efforts are in kiwi conservation, and the birth of ‘Kiwi Encounter’ means visitors can now see their work in action. Chicks such as Ra are incubated and hatched at Rainbow Springs, and raised until they are 1kg in weight. They are then released back into the wild by the Department of Conservation.
Ra is named after the Ancient Egyptian sun god, as the egg was lifted during the summer solstice. At this stage it is too early to tell whether Ra is male or female, but before he/she is released a feather will be sent away for DNA testing in order to determine the sex!
As a company we are constantly seeking new opportunities for involvement in responsible and sustainable tourism projects. New Zealand as a country is pretty environmentally aware, but for travellers from the UK it is hard to reconcile such long-haul travel with responsible travel policies. We work closely with a variety of eco-lodges, local Maori operators, and Green Globe accredited tours and accommodation, and we actively encourage carbon off-setting through schemes such as Friends of Conservation. We hope that efforts such as these will allow our clients to travel to New Zealand feeling that they are contributing to an overall drive for responsible long-haul travel.
- Responsible Travel
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