THE SAVVY TRAVELLER
ADOPTING CHANGE
You don’ t have to be at the frontlines of conservation to make a positive impact on the environment. You can make a difference without leaving the house writes Dawn Jorgensen(@ DawnJorgensen).
Being inspired by the work of conservationists and communities across the globe, and sharing the knowledge in a bid to create awareness, is a start. But is it enough? How can altruistic keyboard warriors make a lasting difference? Here are some simple ways to invest in change.
1. Adopt an orphaned elephant
It’ s frightening to imagine, but it’ s true – every 15 minutes an elephant is killed. And in Kenya, a country once recognised as a protector of these gentle giants, more than seven tonnes of ivory was seized last year, according to worldelephantday. org. Today, anybody who buys ivory has blood on their hands.
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust( DSWT) was founded in 1977 to offer hope for the future of these threatened elephant populations that bear the cost of human greed. Over the years, they have successfully hand-raised 150 infant elephants and achieved their conservation goal of reintegrating them into the wild.
Of the babies currently in care at Nairobi’ s DSWT, 80 % are victims of poaching, the rest of humanwildlife conflict. But even these lucky few that are given a second chance don’ t always pull through, as the trauma of separation and loss is often too great for them. But passion and hard work prevail and the DSWT continues to break boundaries as the most successful orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation programme in the world. You can adopt an elephant for $ 50 a year: www. sheldrickwildlifetrust. org
2. Fund a project on Kiva. org
Kiva is a clever, forward-thinking way of supporting emerging entrepreneurs and social programmes around the world. Currently with borrowers in more than 80 countries on five continents, Kiva allows you to lend money to low-income startups and students. You find the project that interests you, be it agricultural, tech or educational in the country of your choice and fund it.
Field partners do incredible work screening borrowers and their mission is to connect. They share one thing: the desire to improve people’ s lives through safe and fair access to credit.
Lenders browse and choose an entrepreneur they wish to fund. Then the lenders transfer their funds to Kiva through PayPal. And once the project is off the ground, you have the choice of further investing or being repaid your foundation capital and moving on to the next idea. Minimum contribution of $ 25, which you get back: www. kiva. org
3. Plant trees for travel
For the frequent flyer there’ s always a tinge of guilt as one tries to ignore the fact that long-haul flights produce on average twice as much emissions per mile travelled per passenger than cars. In fact, a Boeing 747 uses about four litres of fuel every second, or 150 000 litres of fuel on a 10-hour flight. Unlikely to give up the speed or ease of air travel, we can turn to something good and tangible instead. Greenpop have
18 Travel Update | issue 9