Socially responsible travel can be a great means of not only supporting a given destination's local communities, but also of ​bringing the area's little-known threatened ecosystems into the limelight.​

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Our team at the environmental nonprofit 'Organic Perspectives' has led a number of conservation projects with rural smallholder farmers in one of Uganda's remotest communities (Kamuli & Buyende) since 2007. Over this time, our main observation is that whereas environmental degradation (especially the relentless deforestation in Uganda's tropical rainforest areas) is at its height, there is little stakeholder involvement—including from the tourism industry—in reversing the trend.

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Literally, with the destruction of ecosystems, whether the cause is local (e.g. due to deforestation) or the result of a wider global impact on the environment—such as climate change—both sides lose: the country's beautiful tourist sceneries disappear, while local communities (especially the poor) take a hit from the subsequent catastrophes such as droughts—as a result of environmental degradation.​

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EcoTours & Travel Uganda will pursue a 'market-based environmental social enterprise' in the tourism & travel industry towards building the capacity for scaling what Organic Perspectives has championed over the last 5 years—in agroforestry, sustainable household energy and organic gardening. To learn about the work of Organic Perspectives, go to our activities page.

 

You can also take a visual tour of what we do on our YouTube Channel here.

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Visitors interested in low-level tourism (to non-commercial tourist sites) in Kamuli & Buyende, e.g. mountain climbing at the Kagulu hill whose top provides a beautiful view of the entire eastern Uganda & the confluence of River Nile and Lake Kyoga, are highly welcome. You can also take a tour of the remote countryside (where you could join us on one of our local meetings/outreaches with rural smallholder farmers at our community tree nurseries).