Tucan Travel offers carbon offsetting service to travellers

Worldwide adventure tour operator Tucan Travel has teamed up with international conservation charity World Land Trust to provide a carbon offsetting service to travellers. Holidaymakers can calculate the carbon emissions of their international flights and compensate for them by making a voluntary contribution direct to World Land Trust’s Carbon Balanced programme. The scheme funds a range of projects which help to mitigate the environmental damage caused by carbon emissions.

Projects include restoring degraded forests in tropical habitats, preventing deforestation and protecting biodiversity through local land purchases.

Tucan Travel researched the carbon offsetting industry carefully over several months to find the ideal carbon offsetting service, but the solution was obvious to Managing Director Matt Gannan as soon as he learned about World Land Trust.

“Tucan Travel has always been careful of the environment wherever we’ve operated tours, but now that we’re a worldwide tour operator, we realise that we need to intensify our efforts. That’s why we’ve rewritten our Responsible Travel policy to cover our worldwide operations, and enlisted the help of World Land Trust to promote carbon offsetting to our clients,” Mr Gannan said.

He went on to explain: “There are now many businesses offering a variety of carbon offsetting services, but we support World Land Trust because it takes a very direct, active, scientifically sound and socially aware approach that is grounded in conservation and saving biodiversity. World Land Trust is passionately focussed on the environment, not the bottom line. We think their not-for-profit philosophy will also be attractive to our clients, who like us, find profit-driven carbon offsetting schemes a bit off-putting.”

World Land Trust’s CEO, John Burton, said that WLT was pleased to align with Tucan Travel. “We all recognise that international flights are a significant source of carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions, but sensitive tourism to threatened parts of the world raises both awareness of the importance and plight of these fragile habitats, as well as helping bring income to local communities.

“It is encouraging that Tucan Travel has taken this responsible and proactive approach, and has chosen to turn their admirable company ethic into direct action, and to extend this opportunity to its clients. World Land Trust welcomes this opportunity for positive action.”

Tucan Travel clients may also choose to support World Land Trust by making an online donation of £50 (or their equivalent currency) that will enable the purchase and protection of one acre of tropical forest or other threatened habitat into perpetuity. That’s about 1/3 of a football field, or 200 parked cars worth of rainforest which could support 150 trees and many endangered species.

Tucan Travel will not profit in any way from clients’ carbon offsetting payments. Contributions will be made directly to World Land Trust and Tucan Travel will not receive any direct financial benefit or commission from this.

Find out more at Tucantravel.com.