Specialist tour operator Journey Latin America share some of their conservation initiatives and community-led projects that positively impact the region they’re truly passionate about and demonstrate how travel, managed well, can be a force for good.
Chilean Patagonia
In our efforts to promote biodiversity we have partnered with Rewilding Chile, a non-profit organisation in Chile that takes a progressive approach to conservation, working to rewild Chilean Patagonia. Through the creation of national and marine parks, ecological restoration, and fostering a conservation culture, Rewilding Chile has created 7 national parks, and expanded 3 others, creating the Route of Parks of Patagonia, which connects 17 national parks, 60 gateway communities and protects 11.8 million hectares of wilderness. On behalf of every client that books a holiday, Journey Latin America donates to Rewilding Chile. Last year we were thrilled to have given just over £24,000.
Lake Atitlán, Guatemala
The Pintando Project is a Guatemalan charity that paints houses and public buildings in a contemporary manner with influences from traditional Mayan textile designs to attract tourism to the area. A key area of focus is Santa Catalina, a poor rural community with high incidences of teenage pregnancies and a serious lack of food and sanitation located on the lake shores of Atitlán. In addition to fundraising activities to paint houses in the area, Journey Latin America aims to create a legacy by raising awareness and incorporating a free visit for our customers staying in that region. For every client booking the experience, we donate to The Pintando Project and we try to get our customers actively involved in the project.
“The densely populated neighbourhood of Moravia was once Medellín’s municipal rubbish dump”
Medllín, Colombia
Clients travelling with us to Colombia are encouraged to visit the community of Moravia in Medellín where they can meet with the local community and discover how they are working to transform the opportunities for the residents. The densely populated neighbourhood of Moravia was once Medellín’s municipal rubbish dump. The mountain of rubbish was surrounded by a large shanty town, whose residents used to live in almost absolute poverty. Due to Colombia’s armed conflict and the number of displaced refugees more and more people arrived in Moravia, located right next to the city centre. Moravia nowadays is considered to be the most populated “barrio” of Medellín. Plenty of local community-run projects have transformed Moravia into a model urban centre, with the mound of trash turned into an overgrown hillside and represents one of the landmarks of social and urban transformation of Medellín. The excursion explores the area guided by community leaders who offer an insight on this unique story of social and urban transformation and directly supports the local community projects.
Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala
As part of our commitment to reducing single-use plastics in Latin America, last year we requested our tour leaders to carry out an audit of the plastic used in hotels and on excursions by our clients travelling on our Alción group tour. The 22-day journey travels mostly overland through six Central American countries starting in Panama and finishing in Guatemala. The aim is to get a baseline on the amount of plastic used in each country across the continent so we can set up a plan to reduce it.
Southern Pantanal, Brazil
The Onçafari Jaguar Project aims to promote conservation through tourism, rewilding and research to generate far-reaching associated benefits for the Pantanal. Journey Latin America is delighted to support Onçafari Jaguar Project and all clients visiting the region are encouraged to book the Jaguar Experience at Caiman which not only offers a unique insight into the world of the elusive jaguar, but also helps fund the project.
Sarah Bradley, MD for Journey Latin America comments, “Providing authentic experiences, promoting responsible travel and developing worldwide relationships are all part of our vision for sustainable tourism. Since we were founded over 40 years ago, we have always endeavoured to protect Latin America’s incredible places and people.”
For further information visit journeylatinamerica.com or call 020 8747 8315.
About Journey Latin America:
Journey Latin America is the UK’s no.1 specialist in travel to Latin America, offering holidays to all of Central and South America as well as Cuba and Mexico for over 40 years.
Journey Latin America is committed to taking a sustainable approach to all we do. We measure the impact of our business against the UN’s key 17 Sustainable Development Goals, seeking long-term improvements and meaningful change throughout our business – both at home and overseas.
We are proud to be independently verified by Ethy on a growing number of sustainability standards and in 2023 we received the top British & Colombian Chamber of Commerce Responsible Business Award (SMEs) in recognition of our sustainable journey so far.
We have a company-wide Climate Action Strategy that follows a five-step pathway to Measure, Decarbonise, Regenerate, Collaborate, and Finance.
As part of our climate commitment, we are a proud signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. In doing so, we pledge to deliver an aligned plan to cut tourism emissions in half over the next decade, by 2030, and aim to reach net-zero emissions as soon as possible before 2050.
Journey Latin America supports The LATA Foundation, a UK-based charity that supports grassroots social and environmental projects throughout Latin America. These projects are carefully chosen and always aim to relieve poverty through sustainable development and environmental conservation. Last year we collected almost £25,000 in opt-in charitable donations.