Responsible Tourism

As a tourism stakeholder we believe in low impact tourism to conserve Uganda’s wildlife and heritage for future generations to enjoy. With our understanding and shared passion for biodiversity, our active Responsible Tourism Policy supported by our Future Generations Trust consciously and actively aims to protect the surrounding communities and wildlife areas in which we operate daily.

Our tours are centered around experiencing, viewing and photographing wildlife – but with as little impact on the wildlife and environment as possible. We also operate tours involving community activities and we aim to ensure they are authentic and noninvasive as possible for the people involved.

Our operations are almost exclusively managed by a Ugandan staff compliment (over 95%) and are fully Ugandan registered, operating in a legal and tax compliant manner belonging to trade and industry associations such as AUTO, ATTA, and USAGA and where possible we also sit on the boards of these organizations to help with guidance within the industry so that others may also benefit from our experiences learnt over more than twenty years of tourism in Africa.

We choose, to utilise facilities for our guests that comply with these low impact aims – fuel efficient vehicles and boats, accommodation at small intimate camps and lodges and those with sustainable fuels use. By encouraging our safari guests to act in a responsible way with insight and understanding with local customs – to ensure your safari in Uganda is more enjoyable and fulfilling

The Future Generations Trust, established in 2019, and overseen by a Board of Trustees, is an extension of our time as a company in Uganda since 1996. Funded by Wild Frontiers and Exclusive Camps & Lodges Uganda guests with each person and bed night contributing towards the trust income which is used to fund our commitment to achieving these goals:

1. Creating a New Generation of Conservationists and Solutions to counter Human/Wildlife Conflict.
2. Promoting and Supporting Sustainable and Self-Funding Mechanisms to provide economic growth to our surrounding communities.
3. Encouraging Staff Volunteer Programs to assist local communities and younger generation educational projects
4. Ensuring our impact on the Environment within our Operations Are Ethical, Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable.

Participate in the community tourism products we offer, sample local food and buy local crafts as this helps generate income for those people.

If you who wish to make donations eg schooling items, clothes or monetary gifts we would encourage you to do so through our Future Generations Trust or organisations we have identified. We can also advise on what would be most useful – please do ask us. An example of one of the easiest and well received gifts that can be shared by many is a football – brought to Africa flat and then pumped up and delivered to a group of children at a school.

Some of our preferred projects and community products that are also supported by the Future Generations Trust are listed below:

Ishasha Community Uplift Group was initiated up by Wild Frontiers Uganda and the Ishasha community to provide help to the local agricultural communities around the camp who live on the fringes of Queen Elizabeth National Park and fight a continual battle between growing their crops and the game incursions which raid them as an easy source of food.

Assistance is provided with their locally made craft products being marketed at Ishasha Wilderness Camp, simple training for rural healthy living, saving schemes and small loan administration as well as providing guidance for larger funding that is available for such communities. From a visitor perspective we also offer locally guided tours for visitors of a local homestead including Agartha’s Taste of Uganda Tour which provides a wonderful opportunity for you to see how rural Ugandans go about their daily lives. Moreover, they are just off the Bwindi-Ishasha Road, so these tours can easily be fitted into most itineraries.

Bwindi, which is the epicentre of tourism to Uganda and has grown tremendously over the years. We feel this hospital project which has been running for some time plays a big part in supporting this large and scattered community and hence support it with annual donations, and often take visitors to see the work that is being done first hand.

Ride 4 a Woman is a charitable organisation set up to support and empower women struggling with poverty, HIV and domestic violence in Buhoma. The Trust provides ongoing support by buying, using and selling their locally made products and taking clients to visit their projects

We support visitors participating in the Batwa Experience which was created by the displaced Batwa pygmies to educate their children and to share their amazing heritage and traditions with the world. This cultural site is a project of the Batwa Development Program, a community organization that supports the Batwa at becoming self-sufficient.

It offers an incredible day hike in the rain forest with Batwa guides, see how the Batwa lived and hunted, learn about medicinal plants, and watch for animals and birds. You will share a traditional meal with the Batwa, hear ancient legends and traditional songs, and join in on a mock hunting party. You can even test your skill with a Batwa bow and arrow and participate in traditional dances.

We have actively supported and also encourage support to this organisation which is involved in many productive projects around Uganda including the Elephant trench in Ishasha which is close to our Ishasha Community and Wilderness Camp. The Conservation Foundation works tirelessly on Park Recovery in Uganda as well as a network of Anti-Poaching activities in mainly Queen Elizabeth National Park and Murchison Falls National Park and has provided invaluable support to The Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Started in 1975, Wildlife Clubs of Uganda is a nationwide organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and the environment by engaging youth in conservation education. We maintain a network of over 1000 Wildlife Clubs in schools and communities nationwide, and work with youth everyday to realize the importance of Uganda’s wildlife, wild landscapes, and natural resources. In all our activities, we seek a more sustainable and prosperous future for all Ugandans. The Trust is initiating Wildlife Clubs at:

• Paraa Primary School for the youth surrounding Paraa at Murchison Falls National Park
• Zendaiere Primary School for the youth adjacent to Ishasha, Queen Elizabeth National Park
• Watoto Primary School in Buhoma adjacent to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park

Spearheaded by the Wildlife Conservation Society, The Lion Alliance is a grouping of stakeholders in Queen Elizabeth National Park who work towards initiating mechanisms to recover the Lion population in the Park with the aim of addressing the lion-human wildlife conflict using the monitoring data available and develop a formal collaborative framework for all stakeholders.

Our policy is to be as environmentally friendly as possible and in keeping with this our camps and lodges are small establishments catering for a maximum of 20 guests and with an ecological footprint as small as possible whilst at the same time ensuring that international standards and visitor expectations are met.

“War on Waste” – We are constantly searching for new ways in all our operations to use best available practices to actively minimize the amount of waste at all of our lodge and camps including refuse disposal methods, recycling, reusing and repairing.

We construct from local materials, for example commercially farmed wood, with designs that do not require huge foundations and thick brick walls or use canvas tents that can be easily removed at the end of the term of occupation.

We support local industry purchasing as many products manufactured within Uganda as possible when designing and building the lodge or camp – woven bed spreads, local furniture, matting, baskets and local art for décor.

We employ local Ugandan staff in our lodges and camps including in management positions. We also actively encourage their growth and advancement within the organisation often with internal training to assist in this process. Our first source of staff is always from the local communities around the area where the lodge / camp is based and only if skills required are not available do we search elsewhere.
Supplies of fresh food are done locally whenever possible. Menus are tailored to utilise the best of the fresh fruit and vegetables currently available – this is generally a seasonal thing as within Uganda there is a large range of suitable fresh produce available.

Dry goods and manufactured goods are also purchased locally with the emphasis on Ugandan products – tea, coffee, honey, flour, and sugar to name a few. We avoid using products of manufacturing companies known to not be using sustainable production methods.

Our power sources are predominately solar which is used for lighting and limited power supply for charging of computers and cameras.

Water heating is done with energy efficient burners that use shavings and off cuts from the local saw mills. No indigenous trees or supplies from within National Park areas are used.

Water supplies are rainfall and gravity fed whenever possible, but where pumps are used they are small independent ones that are linked to storage facilities where it can be efficiently monitored.

Guests are encouraged to not have fresh linen / towels each and every day as an added way to also saving on water usage.

Waste disposal systems are designed and implemented in line with Ugandan environmental laws and international practices.

The above seeks to give an overview of our responsible tourism practices developed within our Uganda operations and should you have any specific questions or require further information or clarification we would be happy to assist you – please contact us.