WHY IT RATES: Natural Habitat Adventures has committed to effectively counteracting about 20,000 metric tons of CO2 each year.-Mia Taylor, TravelPulse Senior Writer.
In honor of Earth Day on April 22, 2019, Natural Habitat Adventures, the world's first 100-percent carbon-neutral travel company, will now offset the carbon emissions stemming from all its guests' air travel as of 2019 - effectively counteracting approximately 20,000 metric tons (roughly 40 million pounds) of CO2 in a single year.
The decision is expected to boost the company's total offsets by approximately 300-400 percent annually - and decrease the carbon footprint of nearly 8,000 travelers each year.
A global leader in responsible adventure travel, Nat Hab has been offsetting all carbon emissions stemming from its field and office operations since 2007, including its travelers' tours and internal flights, accounting for roughly 17,272 metric tons (34 million pounds) of CO2 in total to date.
This new initiative, which adds offsets for guest flights to and from their Nat Hab tour destination, will be applied retroactively from January 2019 and continue as standard practice.
"In the past, we've offered our guests the opportunity to offset their own flights by purchasing carbon credits, but we found that typically, only five to 10 percent of travelers opted to buy them," said Ben Bressler, Nat Hab founder, and president. "That wasn't good enough for us, so we decided to do it all on their behalf. This way, our guests can say their trip was 100-percent carbon-neutral from the moment they take off to when their flight touches down back home."
In partnership with sustainability consultant South Pole, Nat Hab will invest in carbon credits that will fund three primary community and conservation projects: the construction of wind farms in India, the distribution of fuel-efficient, electricity-generating cookstoves to households in Rwanda, and the development of a rainforest biodiversity corridor in Zimbabwe.
"Conservation is, and will always be, in our DNA," Bressler said of the projects, which were chosen to support the eco-friendly wildlife experiences Nat Hab offers in all three destinations.
"We always want to do more when it comes to lessening our impact on the planet, being a leader in conservation, and challenging other travel brands to take responsibility for tourism's role in climate change. If we all took steps to make sustainable travel more accessible to our guests, we could certainly effect some significant change in the regions we operate within."
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