Photo credit: Will Whitford

by Sue Watt (Post Pandemic Travel Feature)

 

The climate-change crisis facing our planet is, rightfully and thankfully, getting a lot of press these days, conveying a real sense of urgency in the need to reduce our ever-increasing carbon emissions.

In August, the Sixth Assessment Report from the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was published, and described as a ‘code red for humanity’. For the first time, it stated unequivocally that our actions as humans are responsible for global warming, causing such catastrophic events as destructive wildfires and floods, those melting ice caps and rising sea levels.

And in November, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the COP26 summit, takes place in Glasgow, with world leaders coming together to further deliberate on how they’ll deliver the historic goals they first set out in the Paris Agreement of 2015. Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, is calling it ‘a turning point for humanity’, emphasising its significance on a global level.

But what can we do on an individual level? Of course, in the more prosperous global north, there are plenty of changes we can make in our everyday lives. Reducing the energy we use in our homes, cutting out single-use plastic, getting rid of our cars or at least driving them less, eating a more plant-based diet, and travelling by boats and trains rather than planes, are just some of the seemingly simple options.

 

The ‘Shame’ of Flying

But it’s this last option, frequently giving rise to flight-shaming, that causes me concern. I’m not talking about short-haul flights, flitting away for those indulgent weekend city breaks, which are usually easily accessible by other means of transport. I’m talking about travel to long-haul destinations in the global south where the tourism dollar, euro or pound is desperately needed, not only for local economies, but for community development and conservation too.

I’m no expert on climate change, but I’ve been working as a travel writer specialising in African responsible tourism and wildlife conservation for many years, and have seen just how vital tourism is to the developing world.

Covid-19 has only emphasised that. Anthony Ham’s excellent blog, African Safari Travel in a Post-Covid World, succinctly sets out the importance of tourism and the benefits it brings, along with the issues involved in returning to safaris safely in the post-pandemic world. But return we must, and many of us are desperate to do so.

Let’s be honest here: there’s no practical or less-polluting way for international tourists to reach Africa’s safari destinations other than by flying, unless they have the time and tenacity to take a cargo ship and then travel cross-country or cross-continent. And it’s those international tourists who bring in most of the much-needed income.

But how does the need to return to travel for all these social, economic and restorative reasons in the post-pandemic world sit with the increasing urgency to reduce global warming? What about flight-shaming: if long-haul flights are so bad for the planet, should we even be thinking of getting on a plane? To my mind, the answer is a very firm ‘yes’.

 

The Population Boom & the Pressures on Africa’s Wild Places

Because, somewhat paradoxically, the need to protect wild places and wildlife is becoming ever more urgent for different reasons. Africa’s increasing population is predicted to double to 2.5 billion by 2050, and that will have a huge impact on natural habitats and biodiversity, with its own knock-on impact on global warming. Even now, habitats are under huge pressure – if they have no value through tourism, which comes through wildlife, they will be lost, providing space instead for ever-encroaching human settlements and demands.

Once those habitats are gone, they’re gone for good and nature’s circle of life, the delicate balance of biodiversity that protects us all, will be gone too. The lush rainforests that are such vital carbon sinks could no longer exist, falling victim to humankind’s demands for space, timber and the mining of natural resources. The endless savannah plains could be seriously denuded through crop production or overgrazing by cattle to feed the growing populations. Human–wildlife conflict would only increase, with an increase in retaliatory killings of wild animals, as villagers and their livestock move on to what was once the natural domain of lions and elephants. Of course, this has already been happening to some extent, but the economic value of tourism to local communities has helped to protect these precious habitats too.

 

Tourism: a Force for Good

If done well, sustainable tourism can be a huge force for good, protecting landscapes, conserving wild animals and improving local lives. I’ve explored countless parks and community projects that have benefitted. Examples include Rwanda’s Gishwati-Mukuru Forests, which suffered desperately through illegal felling for charcoal and mining. Today the region is a national park, with its remnant forests being restored to protect its primate population, including chimps. Its first community guesthouse, which will welcome travellers, has just opened. More are planned.

I’ve flown over Liwonde National Park in Malawi where people’s homes, and their farmed and grazed plots of land, were squeezed right up to the park border, with no buffer zone to protect them. Poaching was commonplace, and 60 people were killed by elephants in the four years before non-profit organisation African Parks took on its management. They erected a periphery fence, translocated elephants away from the park, developed tourism and provided employment.

In Uganda and Rwanda, I’ve seen how tourism has helped to save mountain gorillas from extinction, funding their conservation and the communities that live alongside them. And in Zimbabwe and Zambia, I’ve met schoolchildren whose education has been transformed through tourism, bringing in much-needed funds. Education for girls, in particular, is vital: those who’ve been to school often escape getting married or pregnant in their early teens, they make informed life choices and have fewer children. Another vital reason to visit and contribute to local life.

 

Mitigating the Environmental Costs of Flying

These are just a handful of examples I’ve come across over the years, but they show how vital tourism is when it’s done properly and ethically. Now more than ever, these places need their international tourists back and, realistically, flying is the only practical means of getting there.

Yes, there might be a moral dilemma as far as flying is concerned, but there are ways to mitigate the environmental cost of your flights, which can help to alleviate the so-called ‘shame’ of flying.

Juliet Kinsman in her informative book The Green Edit: Travel gives several pointers on choosing less-polluting flights. Check the aircraft your airline uses – more-modern planes will be lighter and more fuel-efficient. Flying economy is greener because the more passengers a plane carries, the less fuel it uses per head. Flying direct without stopovers reduces the excessive emissions resulting from takeoff and landing of aircraft. And driving to your final destination, rather than taking small (bush) planes, helps too, where that’s possible.

Take some time to research carbon offsetting, a scheme whereby you donate to ‘pay back’ for the carbon cost of your trip. It has its critics because of the leeway it gives to keep on flying and the greenwashing of certain funds, but some make a tangible difference. I’d suggest checking out those that focus on Africa, including Lion Carbon and BioCarbon Partners.

My other tips include taking fewer trips, but enjoying longer breaks on a slow safari, staying in just one or two camps and getting to know the area and the people rather than flitting around several different places as many safari-goers do. And choose your camps and companies wisely, selecting those that employ local staff and directly benefit local communities and conservation, so that your trip truly has value on the ground. There are plenty of responsible companies out there, but some of my favourites are Imvelo and African Bush Camps in Zimbabwe, Remote Africa Safaris and Green Safaris in Zambia, and Asilia Africa in Kenya and Tanzania.

Then sit back, relax and enjoy your holiday, knowing it’s making a truly positive difference to places knocked so badly by this dreadful pandemic.