Red Panda tracking tour in Nepal

Planet

It is important to be aware of the fragility of the Himalayan ecosystem, by traveling with local guides, the impact on the environment is a minimum. As many things are recycled as possible and we make sure that all signs of our camp are taken back with us to the town and disposed of responsibly.
All our fees go either directly to the forest guardians, red panda trackers or the RPN and therefore to their on going work to protect and conserve the ecosystem here.
Every person booking on this tour will receive a comprehensive pre-departure pack which will outline the do’s and don’ts when on the tour, these guidelines help to increase your chances of seeing wildlife as well as protecting the environment and conserving the area for future generations. All these points are common sense and by following them will increase the enjoyment of the entire tour.
As mentioned about the educational side of the work being carried out here (and supported by joining this tour) is very important both for the local community in providing an alternative source of employment as well as helping to protect the environment by explaining about their importance and the need to conserve them for future generations.

Wildlife:

The wildlife is of course of the upmost importance to us on this tour and all other tours run by us. All pictures and videos which we take of wild red pandas are handed over to the RPN for their ongoing studies. This helps to keep tabs on the individuals in the area and further understand the behaviour of the species; as the red panda is still far from understood completely, every sighting is invaluable to conservation and research efforts. We also actively campaign against poaching and the illegal fur trade worldwide; we are also keen to report any abuse of the environment or wildlife that we see to the local authorities. The tour also supports efforts to stop poaching and deforestation by employing forest guardians and by donating to their work. We also help support programmes that increase the sustainable use of bamboo (living large tracts of the red pandas food intact) and we also help support their work to make sure that the red pandas ecosystem is better understood and that the local people use the environment in a sustainable way.

People

The local community benefits directly from this tour in many ways. The most obvious being that the guides, trackers and accommodation owners are all local to the Dobate village and surrounding rural areas. The work that the RPN are doing here in conserving the forest is incredible, they are employing full time guides to become eco-guides as well as forest guardians in control of protecting the forests here. This as made guiding a genuine career prospect which has helped to keep the current generation of men in the villages (as opposed to the migration out of the mountains and into the towns and cities). As well as contributing directly to employing the guides and staying at the local rest houses and tea houses we contribute to the RPN and their forest guardian scheme and their continued educational work conducted for all age groups in rural Nepal. The education side of the work conducted here (and supported by joining this tour) is to raise the level of awareness in local villages surrounding red panda habitat, as well as to raise awareness in the general public worldwide. Communities surrounding red panda habitat are usually marginalized and have inadequate elementary education. This work complements this education through its “forest guardian” program. ‘Forest guardian” workshops are also run that provide educational training about the importance of red panda and the fragility of the Eastern Himalayan ecosystem. At a “forest guardian” workshop community members are trained to perform monthly monitoring of sample plots in each community forest area, documenting presence/absence of red pandas, other wildlife, and take note of changes in vegetation.
All our guests are encouraged to embrace and understand Buddhism and the daily lives of the local people, we find that this is the best way for the local ethos and culture to embed itself into foreigners and as a result the awareness of the area and its people becomes more ingrained in the mindset of tourists.