Jaguar watching safari of the Pantanal, Brazil

Environment

In Brazil we (as with everywhere we go) we carefully choose accommodation, supplies and transportation that either minimises its effect on the environment or helps to contribute to its sustainable development. By choosing small, privately owned accommodation where possible we also look to only stay in truly eco-lodges that abide by basic and also pioneering methods of ecological sustainability. Where possible, we make sure that the lodges, camps and ranches that we use support local projects for the protection of the wildlife and local communities which rely on tourism as the principal source of income. The jaguar camp we stay at in Porto Jofre has developed several nature trails and is purchasing more and more land around the fishing village which it plans to leave and protect for the forest to continue is growth. It is the owners dedication to the natural world that inspired him to start the camp and with only 10 luxury safari tents available at the camp he intends to keep everything sustainable with an overall aim of being able to supply everything on site (from solar power electricity and water recycling pumps to all the food consumed). We also contribute and participate in as many studies that the local researchers are conducting as possible.

At the end of each we offset our carbon footprint (based on the number of tours we have completed and the number of passengers we have taken with us), with the Carbon Trust.

Wildlife Promise:
By bringing people here with a professional zoologist we aim to not just showcase the jaguars and their environment in full but also to allow you to learn about the problems facing the jaguar and other species in the area and how cutting edge research is countering the problems as well as showing you examples of success stories (such as the hyacinth macaw). We also keep a record of all the jaguar activity we see on each tour and record the environmental factors, this data is used by ourselves but also given to the researchers who work for Panthera. All the information collected in invaluable as the knowledge of this jaguar population very little understood. We also donate our pictures to the researchers to aid in their photo identification studies.

Community

Throughout our tours of Brazil we engrain policies for continued environmental conservation ethics and look to employ as many local staff in our tours. We strongly believe that all of our trips to the Pantanal should help introduce local people towards nature preservation, present and promote methods and techniques in which natural resources can be sustainably and continually harvested for future generations. By staying at our jaguar camp in Porto Jofre we only eat locally caught, raised or grown food which helps the local community continue traditional agricultural and fishing policies. The owner of the jaguar camp is heavily involved with community based projects and schools in particular. Many of the projects that are funded by people staying here are geared towards helping the local people of the Pantanal deal with an increasingly developed world and how they can continue to live in harmony with the wildlife and environment into this technological age. We also support projects which are looking into alternatives to retribution killings of jaguars, when a jaguar takes a livestock or even attacks a human we need to provide alternatives to just killing the problem jaguar. This is a very valuable part of keeping the balance between human life and the natural world. We also encourage the purchasing of local handicrafts which are all created in a sustainable way and provide great unique souvenirs.