When it comes to travel in the 21st century, “sustainable” is the buzzword. It’s heartening to see savvy travellers researching tour operators’ impacts on local communities and wildlife and generally being more curious about how their travel habits impact our world and the health of all its inhabitants.

Experiencing wildlife in their natural habitat is still one of the most amazing experiences on a Botswana Safari. 

Whether the term eco-tourism was coined as a marketing gimmick or as a well-meaning venture into tourism with a conscience is not clear but certainly today the term is used widely as a self-imposed stamp of approval. Who would not want to be eco-tourism wise?

But how do safari companies in Botswana practice eco-tourism in the remote lodges of some of the purist wilderness areas left in Africa? There is a code of conduct in place for operators in Botswana that is enforced by the government. Regular checks are done by officials to ensure that companies stay focussed on the environmental protection policy.

Botswana has designed an Ecotourism Certification System to encourage tourism businesses to support responsible environmental, social, and cultural behaviour. This also helps ensure that they provide eco-friendly products and services to consumers.

The system is a set of performance standards that have been designed to meet basic environmentally responsible standards.

The five guiding principles from the Botswana National Ecotourism Strategy are: