Japan bear watching tour

Planet

In Japan we (as with everywhere we go) we carefully choose accommodation, suppliers and transportation that either minimise their effect on the environment or that help 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 onsens, lodges and hotels 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. We try and make sure that all the accommodation that we use is ecologically responsible and uses solar power electricity and water recycling pumps etc.

In Japan many of the places we will be staying in use their own geothermal power from the many hotsprings that dot the country – particularly in Hokkaido. We also make sure that all the food consumed is produced locally. We also contribute and participate in as many studies that the local researchers and scientists are conducting as possible.

Wildlife Promise:
By bringing people here with a professional zoologist/naturalist as well as professional local guides we aim to showcase the environment in full but also to allow you to learn about the problems facing the ecosystems here and highlight the ways that continued development and human exploitation are affect the species and how cutting edge research is countering the problems as well as showing you examples of success stories.

We also keep a record of all the great sightings we see on each tour and record the environmental factors, this data is used by ourselves but also given to the researchers who are working on many of these species. All the information collected in invaluable as the knowledge of some of the animals that live here are little understood. We also donate our pictures to the researchers to aid in their photo identification studies.

As part of this trip we also use the expertise of a bear rehabilitation center which has been set up to allow bears to be humanly captured and re-introduced to the wild when they come into villages and towns. These initiatives are relatively new and have stopped bears being shot and persecuted.

People

As with any of our tours throughout Asia or elsewhere in the world we always employ local guides and drivers. They have a much better local knowledge and also helps to bring in revenue sources to the local community.

All of the onsens, hotels and lodges that we stay in make sure that all our resources such as food, drink and equipment is locally sourced. We also try and make sure that all the local guides that we hire and who work for the lodges, camps and guesthouses that we visit are from the local area.

When in Hokkaido our main guide is a local naturalist who is at the forefront of the attempt to reintroduce the wolf back to the island. He is a local scientist and we contribute to his ongoing conservation. We think that by employing local guides we have encouraging a future generation to follow this career.

Many of the accommodations that we use are involved in community based projects and schools in particular. Many of the projects that are funded by people staying here are geared towards helping children in townships get better education and enhance their career opportunities in the future. We also encourage the purchasing of local handicrafts which are all created in a sustainable way and provide great unique souvenirs.