Environmental Principles
The New Zealand Ministry of Education’s Environmental Education Guidelines formalise the potential of education outside the classroom under three headings:
“Education ABOUT the environment”covers knowledge and understanding of how the natural environment works and the challenges that living in harmony with it presents.
“Education IN the environment” is about the outdoor experience that consolidates understanding and develops field skills.
“Education FOR the environment” is concerned with the sense of personal and social responsibility created by interactive experiences in stunning settings that touch the soul.
Environmental policy
The principles above summarise our practice of promoting environmental awareness through the programmes we deliver to our clients.
Recently we’ve begun working on ways to “walk the talk” better in terms of our infra-structure, as well as making sure that everything will be properly documented. This is in line with Qualmark’s® new Responsible Tourism criteria, against which we’ll be assessed next time our accreditation is due for reconsideration.
These are the areas we’re looking at;
- Sustainability of main suppliers
- Supporting local environmental projects
- Minimising waste of energy and materials in office and on tour
- Surveying visitor expectations and satisfaction in relation to environmental criteria
- Maximising efficiency of company vehicles
- On-going refinement of environmental policy and procedures