by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 6:00 PM ET, Mon March 4, 2019
Wild Women Expeditions, a company that pioneered women-only adventure travel, is launching a new campaign that calls upon women to help protect the planet.
Announced to coincide with International Women's Day (March 8), the Wild Womenkind campaign will kick off by focusing on the critically important issue of climate justice.
In particular, the company and the campaign will address this issue in the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia. A temperate rainforest made-up of 1,000-year-old Western red cedar and Sitka spruce, the Great Bear Rainforest spans the Pacific Coast of British Columbia and is part of the world's largest remaining, pristine, coastal, temperate rainforest.
A place teeming with life, among the most notable inhabitants here is the Spirit Bear, a white (thanks to a recessive gene) relative of the American black bear. Additional wildlife includes cougars and wolves. In the surrounding waters, there are dolphins and humpback whales.
Wild Women Expeditions will invest in a conservation economy here with a $10,000 contribution. The primary recipient of the donation will be the Great Bear Forest Carbon Project. The company will also donate carbon offsets on all of its flights, including those involving staff travel and is inviting clients to engage in similar efforts by making donations to Offsetters.
"Our adventure in the Great Bear Rainforest celebrates the spirit of the international campaign to bring attention to this endangered coastline and its iconic wildlife. If we want to see precious places like this protected, we need to go there and enjoy them and show the world their tremendous value," said Jennifer Haddow, the company's owner, and guiding director. "We support the end to the trophy bear hunt and making sure that threatened species such as sea wolves are targeted in a positive way by tourism."
Wild Women Adventures is also offering an eight-day Great Bear Rainforest Kayak Adventure, an experience that will include kayaking and camping. Departures are scheduled for July 8 and July 15.
Women Rising
Yet another part of the new campaign involves supporting women to take their place as leaders in the world of outdoor adventure travel.
In such diverse countries as Morocco and Thailand, Wild Women Expeditions' outreach to women - as guests on trips, as guides on trips, as workers in their communities - is making a difference in the lives of the women themselves.
"The key is empowerment that can lead women to taking on leadership positions," the company said in a statement.
For example, two itineraries being introduced this year focus on the Berber culture of the women of Morocco.
Morocco is known for being one of the most progressive states in the Middle East and North because of its support for women's rights. Despite these advancements, women's education in Morocco still lags behind and more than 80 percent of women are illiterate. By casting Moroccan women among others as drivers and guides for these trips, Haddow hopes that both guests and locals will be empowered.
"On our Morocco tour we put the stories of women in the spotlight while empowering them with opportunities to benefit from tourism and play a leading role," she said.
Some of the other ways Wild Women Expeditions tours in Morocco intends to help empower women include:
-Working with a female Berber entrepreneur who owns the transportation company for these tours and who hires female drivers
-Engaging Berber Moroccan women as tour leaders are hiring female guides
-Supporting trek guide training for Moroccan women
-Visiting women's cooperatives where locally made items are sold
-Basing in a riad in Marrakech that employs women trained by the Amal Centre for disadvantaged women
-Conversing over a women-hosted dinner in Casablanca through Al Hidn, an association that empowers illiterate widow women in rebuilding their lives through a series of educational programs as well as providing them with financial and educational support to keep their kids in school
-Supporting the Henna Café, a social enterprise project for women in Marrakech
-Using accommodations that reflect the company's commitment to women's empowerment, such as the Kasbah Toubkhal that co-founded the Education for All program for girls' education (an additional five percent of the revenue from a group stay here is donated to this local project)
-Donating to the Education for All campaign as a project partner
-Being mindful of the environment - through women - with an overnight at an eco-lodge owned by a local woman and part of an ecotourism initiative focused on empowering local women in the Riff.
More details about the itineraries being offered can be found here and here.
Wild Womenkind is also extending its efforts to include wildlife. On its Elephants, Treks, and Temples Tour, Wild Women Expeditions supports an elephant project run by the Karen Hill Tribe women to protect elephants that have been abused in an exploitative riding camp.
The company is also notably a funder of the first elephant hospital in Thailand and supports the campaign of the Asian Captive Elephant Working group, a leading coalition of elephant experts and conservationists.
"Our company is about heart. We want to change how women perceive leadership and empowerment, to value connection and compassion more than competition. Women are rising in the adventure travel industry and approaching each other and our environment with kindness is the key," said Haddow.
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