Top 11 Nature Positive Vacations

The natural world is one of our greatest assets in fighting change but it is in crisis. Our forest, river, sea and grassland habitats – which absorb up to 50% of global carbon emissions – are disappearing at a devastating rate. Tourism plays its part in this global destruction, but it doesn’t have to. All vacations rely on nature and all vacations impact on it. Let’s start turning those impacts into positive ones. Not all vacations have to cost the earth; here’s our top eleven nature positive vacations that actively support the conservation of our wild spaces.

Wellness Retreat in Wales

Hop off the merry-go-round of modern life and sink into nature with yoga, meditation, paddleboarding and more. All the while, your trip actively funds the creation of a new native woodland in the Moel Famau Country Park. Every person booked on this vacation means one more tree planted – a Birch, Oak, Rowan, Holly, Hazel, Hawthorn, Cherry or Elder – to rewild an important habitat for UK native species.

Our trip: Wellness retreat in Wales

Amazon Photography Vacation in Peru

Improve your photography skills, explore the Amazon and spot some its most elusive creatures. At the same time create a more resilient habitat for them too. Entry fees into the Tambopata National Reserve and Bahuaia-Sonene National Park support the 30 million hectare Vilcabamba-Amboro Conservation Corridor. Here, the objective is to reverse biodiversity loss by strengthening the voices of local organisations representing over 40 forest-living ethnic groups, and supporting suitable small businesses and agroforestry initiatives.

Our trip: Amazon photography vacation, Peru

Rewilding Vacation in the Apennines

A walking and wildlife vacation with a difference. You’ll explore some of Italy’s wildest mountains on foot, tracking brown bears and discovering an exceptionally beautiful area that is being supported through the Rewilding Europe project. For every person traveling, 100sq metres of the Italian Appennines will be rewilded. You’ll also be traveling with our vacation partner that has pledged to become net nature positive across all its trips by 2024. We love that.

Our trip: Italy rewilding vacation in the Appenines

Argentina Whale Watching Tour

Immerse yourself in the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world and watch orcas lunging into the surf to catch sea lion pups. Patagonian wildlife is as dramatic as the wild open scenery. This trip actively supports the Punta Norte Orca Research team which monitors orca populations to inform conservation efforts. You’re also encouraged to buy a permit to the “Attack Channel” for those unique orca sightings. Funds go directly to Chabut coastal management projects which are helping to maintain and protect the penguin, seal and sea lion colonies along this part of the Patagonian coastline.

Our trip: Argentina whale watching tour

Kenya Safari & Beach Vacation

A safari vacation that goes beyond simply watching animals, this wildlife and beach trip immerses you in the knowledge, culture and unique environmental understanding of the nomadic Maasai communities that live in the savannah grasslands surrounding the Masai Mara. 70% of Kenya’s wildlife is estimated to live outside its national parks and reserves, so there is a real need to conserve wildlife on privately-owned land. On this trip you’ll stay on a community-owned nature conservancy adjacent to the Masai Mara National Reserve, where tourism provides the Maasai with a viable alternative to other land uses – sale for development or agriculture, for example – and keeps land for wildlife, creating vital corridors that allow animals to migrate in and out of the Masai Mara reserve.

Our trip: Kenya safari and beach vacation

Croatia Hiking Vacation

A rapid increase in tourism in Croatia’s coastal areas has driven a mass exodus of people from its rural interior. Hiking in the beautiful, rugged Velebit Mountains is world-class, and its forested rocky peaks overshadowing the turquoise Aegean Sea hide bears, wolf and lynx – some of Europe’s most elusive predators. Vacationing here supports the area’s vast potential as a sustainable nature tourism destination – one where tourism income can provide enormous conservation value. 5% of the booking fee for each trip goes directly to the local Rewilding Europe organization which has been instrumental in creating the Velebit Nature Reserve and in adding two areas of forest within the Rewilding Velebit area to the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Our trip: Croatia hiking & wildlife vacation

Northern Greece Bear Conservation Vacation

Conservation organisations in Greece have few means left to support their work. Tourism can plug a vital funding hole. On this trip you’ll be hiking and tracking brown bears in the Pindos Moutains, eating traditional rural Greek cuisine and enjoying a part of Greece that is defined by local people and not tourists. You’ll also be directly funding Callisto – a nature conservation organisation which works to protect and preserve the mountain habitats you visit.

Our trip: Northern Greece bear conservation tour

Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh Vacation in Vietnam

Just one of a number of vacations that fund work to restore our ocean’s kelp forests through marine permaculture. Kelp forests are a vital marine habitat, sustaining biodiversity by offering shelter and food for a range of fish and sea invertebrates. They are also a buffer against climate-induced change – reducing coastal erosion by absorbing the power of storm surges and waves.

Our trip: Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh vacation in Vietnam

Yoga Vacation in Portugal

This yoga retreat in Portugal’s remote Sierra de Estrela Mountains understands the positive impact nature has on our mental wellbeing. It understands the need to protect it too. Not only is all food plant-based – with a much lower carbon footprint than non-vegan alternatives - but our vacation partner also works to sustainably manage the forest in which the retreat is based. They continue to plant thousands of trees and shrubs to encourage bees, insects and birds to make a home here, have cleared low level bush vegetation to allow large trees to thrive – which also protects the forest and nearby village from flooding and forest fires – and make and spread their own rich compost to increase soil fertility. The result? A steady increase in native biodiversity in an otherwise mono-cultural forest environment.

Our trip: Yoga vacation, Portugal

New Year Northern Lights Vacation, Sweden

What better way to see the Northern Lights than at the hands of the Sami, whose folklore and innate winter knowledge bring the lights and landscape to life. You’ll also hear how Lapland’s forests, mountains and rivers are under constant threat from mining exploration, logging and dam construction. By choosing this vacation you are directly providing employment – as accommodation owners, nature guides and restaurateurs - for local communities in a way that supports the preservation of the forests in their natural state.

Our trip: New year northern lights vacation, Sweden

Tanzania Indian Ocean Beach Break

A stay on the white sand beaches of Chole Mjini Island – part of the Mafia Archipelago - directly supports the Mafia Island Whale Shark Conservation Society, founded by the owners of your lodge who also serve on the advisory committee of the Mafia Island Marine Park (the largest in East Africa). Chole’s mangroves, whale sharks and fragile fringing coral reefs are all protected, in large part thanks to revenues generated by tourists staying on the island, paying a nightly tax and through day visit tickets. All you have to do is kick back and relax on some of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the world.

Our trip: Tanzania Selous safari vacation & Zanzibar