Wildlife vacations in Brazil, tailormade

In order to protect against the ever increasing ‘arc of deforestation’ to the south and add to the corridor of protected areas in Southern Amazonia rainforest is purchased by the owners of Rio Cristalino Jungle Lodge as it becomes available to manage as a Private Natural Heritage Reserve. The land the lodge is built on and some of the surrounding forest (a total of 700 ha) is in private ownership, and 7,150 ha of rainforest on the opposite side of the Cristalino River is currently being purchased. Including in the cost of the stay at the lodge is a $25 per person ‘wildlife preservation fee’ paid to the Cristalino Ecological Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the conservation and development of sustainable practises in the southern Amazon.

Flights are automatically carbon offset through The Travel Forest, which plants indigenous trees on your behalf (currently in northern Tanzania). Whilst the primary motivation for planting the trees is to offset carbon emissions, the project also works as a poverty alleviation and environmental improvement scheme.

Our local operator in Brazil reinforces practices considered fundamental for environmental conservation and works to inform visitors, local staff and the population in general. They are one of the country leaders in ecotourism and one of the company directors is president of the Brazilian Bureau of Ecotourism. The company was founded to supply nature studies trips for students in the preserved areas of the country such as the Amazon and Pantanal. Though the company now also has an incoming tourism department there is still a very active study trips department. They strongly believe that these trips should promote the sensitivity of students towards nature preservation, present and promote models and techniques of sustainable exploration of natural resources and stimulate the sponsorship of local projects. The contact between urban students and local communities brings a possibility of development of other social and economic relations that value cultures and, at the same time, their peoples.