Selene Orellana

Did you know that over 70% of Planeterra’s project partners invest a percentage of their profits into environmental protection ensuring income from travel positively impacts local conservation efforts?

Around the world, communities are working to protect their surrounding ecosystem which serves as both a resource and a home. Planeterra believes that tourism should help improve environmental well-being for the benefit of communities instead of degrading or misusing their natural resources.

Responsible tourism has proven to have the potential to support conservation efforts, mainly by creating awareness and providing communities with resources, helping them to move away from engaging in environmentally-destructive activities such as logging or illegal hunting just because they cannot find other means to survive.

Planeterra supports programs that positively impact their communities by conserving the natural environment for future generations to enjoy, such as our program with Soa Zara.

Soa Zara seeks to protect Madagascar’s natural environment while empowering its people, and the result is the reforestation of the area around Ranohira.  They work with the local community on a number of environmental initiatives, such as the  “energy tree” project, which encourages locals to grow and use trees solely for the purpose of firewood and charcoal (like fast-growing acacia and eucalyptus) and to discourage the cutting of forests. This will lead to a renewal of habitat for species like endangered lemurs, and also expand the current ecosystem within Isalo National Park. 

Planeterra has partnered with Soa Zara on a tree-planting activity for travellers staying at the ITC Lodge. They also create awareness by giving visitors the chance to learn about this reforestation project.

Along with this steady stream of income from the tree planting experience, we are also helping to support Soa Zara’s current washbasin project to protect the nearby river from pollution. For this, they work with the local women’s cooperative, the goal is to create a washbasin station and water filtration system in Ranohira, which will allow the community to do their laundry in a safe environment without polluting nearby water systems.

Another interesting environmental initiative is Mi Cafecito, a tourism and agriculture co-op in Costa Rica. They have used the production of delicious organic coffee, amongst other local root vegetables and cacao, to create employment opportunities as well as connect local farmers and artisans with a market to sell their products.

Planeterra supported the development of the Mi Cafecito program, which includes a coffee tour and a meal experience at their on-site restaurant, and other related tourism services in the area. Hosting travellers has been an opportunity to make their business sustainable.

Over the years the cooperative has obtained several certifications, all of them showing their commitment to improving the environment, taking care of the land, using organic fertilizers, supporting farmers and fostering entrepreneurship.

Like Soa Zara and Mi Cafecito, there are many community tourism businesses working to protect the environment, however, COVID-19 made it difficult for them to have the necessary resources and facilities to continue hosting travellers.

This is the case of Osmose, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the environmental preservation and the socio-economic development of the Prek Toal area, located in the Tonle Sap UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Cambodia. They created several floating structures: a Saray water hyacinth handicraft workshop, an environmental education school, and a community restaurant all connected by a floating bridge to welcome travellers, but they need maintenance and repairs.

Having no income from tourism due to COVID-19, they had to use their savings for emergencies and there was not enough left to pay to repair the floating structures. Planeterra has supported the renovation of some of the various platforms. However, the community is in need of additional resources to complete these repairs so that it is safer for staff and visitors to the area.

Part of building a sustainable future for all includes being mindful of the decisions we make today. We support communities by providing the mentorship, training, and skills they need, in addition to facilitating the market connection for their projects to be successful. 

We want to continue giving them the tools to protect the places they call home and that we all love to visit. If you’d like to support our work, consider donating to Planeterra today.

Did you know youth in many parts of the world still have limited access to formal education and fewer job opportunities?

You probably did, but why is that a problem? Young people help build the present and shape our future. Whether this future is sustainable or not, will depend on the decisions made not only by our generation but also by the next. Needless to say, we have to give youth the tools and support they need to create positive life paths and unleash their power.

Developing skills to work in industries such as tourism and hospitality provides them with exciting opportunities and empowerment. Planeterra is proud to support programs that help at-risk youth develop new skills and create a better future for themselves and their communities. 

Take Bike with Purpose, a student-led bicycle tour of Caye Caulker Island, Belize, for instance. We developed this project in partnership with the Ocean Academy, the first and only community high school on the island that opened in 2008 to give students a decent education. Before the academy opened, the youth had to travel to the mainland to study, so by the age of 12 many have chosen to quit school and find work.

Today there are 125 students enrolled in Ocean Academy and 25 of them are directly involved in the Bike with Purpose project. As the local economy of the island has shifted to aquatic sports, tourism and hospitality services the youth involved in the project develop the skills and training needed for future employment opportunities. Further, the project has reduced the school dropout rate. 

To support Bike with Purpose, Planeterra raised donations to fund needed bicycles and other materials. We also connected them to our tourism partners, creating a constant stream of travellers. Nowadays, Bike with Purpose also funds nearly 15% of the educational programs for the students at Ocean Academy.

Another great example of youth empowerment is  City Walk run by Salaam Baalak Trust, an organization that provides safe housing, counselling, education, and support to over 5,000 children in New Delhi, as well as managing five safe homes across the city.

India has the highest concentration of street children in the world, with more than 18 million kids living on the streets. Without adequate shelter and care, children often suffer from malnourishment and do not have access to formal education and medical treatment. Likewise, without support from family, they are left to fend for themselves, entering the labour market at an early age. Many are vulnerable and forced into child prostitution, drug trafficking, or resort to begging to earn an income for their exploiters.

That is why Salaam Baalak Trust’s work is so important. Through City Walk, they give youth the opportunity to gain a new set of skills, improve their communication skills (including learning English) and boost their self-confidence. 

Youth lead tours and show travellers a different perspective of Delhi. At the same time, the interaction with visitors from across the globe exposes them to different points of view. Since its inception, over 33 guides have been part of this program. Eighteen former guides have completed their higher studies from universities in India and the US with scholarships; and today are entrepreneurs, working in travel companies, interning at the Indian Parliament and Indian railways, and studying to be development sector professionals. 

Planeterra helps the City Walk program by connecting them to the tourism market, allowing them to have a reliable stream of income to support their education and social service work. This is crucial since funds from the City Walk program are used to provide scholarships and job placements for youth, as well as resources for the shelters. 

Our wish is to continue supporting programs like City Walk and Bike with a Purpose. We can’t do it without you! Donate today and help us build a sustainable future for youth through community tourism.

Did you know that lack of awareness can contribute to the loss of invaluable cultural heritage?

The cultural diversity of our world is one of our greatest treasures. However, we have sadly seen how traditions, languages and cultural practices are being lost because indigenous and rural communities are oftentimes forced to change their ways of life.

Losing this heritage would mean losing invaluable knowledge that has shaped our identities and ways of relating to people and the environment for centuries.

Tourism can help preserve traditions, foster cultural awareness and strengthen identities and sense of belonging. Responsible travel experiences broaden our horizons because we interact with people from different backgrounds and learn about their ways of life. At the same time, by travelling, we can help improve the quality of life of many communities worldwide.

Planeterra supports programs that recognize the unique offerings that indigenous and rural communities have for tourism. We help to create meaningful connections between travellers and indigenous people through social enterprise. 

Over the years we have seen that conserving cultures through tourism is possible and it can empower local people to improve their livelihoods by sharing their heritage. 

The Ccaccaccollo Women’s Weaving Co-op, for instance, is a great example of how communities can use tourism as a tool to protect and preserve natural and cultural resources while expressing, sharing, developing, and pursuing traditions.

Ccaccaccollo is an Indigenous community located in the Andean region of Cuzco, Perú. Despite being close to a popular tourist attraction, Machu Picchu, Ccaccaccollo did not benefit from tourism. Also, like many communities around the world, women were frequently excluded from educational and economic opportunities.

Planeterra funded training programs to help bring back the weaving traditions that had been lost over the previous generations as there wasn’t a way to earn a significant income. When we first developed a partnership with the women in the Ccaccaccollo Community, the cooperative was run by only 3 women – today, the cooperative is owned by 46 women. 

Through our partnership and a connection to travellers, the Ccaccaccollo Women’s Weaving Co-op has been able to contribute to their families’ income. The women who have been with the project since the beginning report that all of their children study at university. Those involved in the cooperative are the first generation to be completely literate in Spanish. 

And with the success of the Co-op, they have also grown their enterprise and opened a Community Homestay.

Another inspiring initiative is the San Antonio Women’s Cooperative. This project was born from the desire of the women in San Antonio village (Cayo District, Belize) to preserve the Mayan Yucatec culture and revive aspects like the language that was being forgotten. They also wanted to find a way to earn an income, empower women and inspire the children and youth.

Planeterra provided a grant to the San Antonio Women’s Co-op which allowed them to build an indoor workshop space. The new space has increased the center’s capacity to host many more travellers and has given them added space to safely house their products. This space also resulted in the cooperative being able to add a training program for unemployed youth in the community so that they too can benefit from tourism.

When travellers visit the San Antonio Women’s Cooperative, they learn about corn grinding and tortilla making and get a chance to try their hand at ancient pottery-making techniques.

The women in San Antonio are proud to share their traditional knowledge not only with visitors but with the younger generation. Their great work was recently recognized as the best “Cultural Experience of the Year” by the Belize Tourism Board.

We want to see more projects like the Ccaccaccollo Women’s Weaving Co-op and the San Antonio Women’s Cooperative thrive. Nevertheless, with challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic arising, the barriers are higher (yet with your support, not impossible!).

This is the case of the Lusumpuko Women’s Club in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. They started as a group of chicken-rearers who also occasionally cater to church and local community gatherings. With Planeterra’s help, they’ve shifted into also hosting a cooking class for local travellers. 

This has allowed them to rediscover their cultural history as they create dishes from their memories with their parents and grandparents. Likewise, it has given them the chance to continue learning about tailoring, catering, and animal husbandry, traditional trades that were reserved for men, creating income for their families and communities while empowering other women to build and launch their own businesses.

But they suffered the same fate as many tourism businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having no travellers visiting them meant no income to continue implementing much-needed improvements to the equipment they use to prepare food, the core of their business.

For the Lusumpuko Women’s Club to continue providing delicious meals for travellers and locals, we need your support to help them with renewals and repairs to their stoves and other equipment. 

If you’d like to “get a taste” of what it is like to be hosted by the vibrant women at Lusumpuko, you can see them towards the end of this video, at the 10 minutes mark. Fun fact shared by Evie, Planeterra’s Regional Program Manager AMEE:

“This is Lusumpuko every day, they are so vibrant and happy to receive travellers. It also helps that their food is amazing!! Especially the caterpillars”

Planeterra wants to continue seeing projects like Lusumpuko Women’s Club improving the livelihoods of their communities while celebrating and conserving their culture. If you feel the same way, consider donating to Planeterra today.

Did you know that although women make up over half of the tourism workforce, they are often underpaid and have limited opportunities to move into higher positions in their jobs?

At Planeterra, we work to change that by empowering women to take the lead in the development and growth of tourism experiences. Over the years, we have seen how the work of women has not only had a positive impact on their lives but also on the well-being of their communities. This, as a result, contributes to creating more stable and just societies.

We are proud to have supported inspiring projects that seek to empower women all over the world. One of them is Women With Wheels, in New Delhi, a project that is challenging cultural norms and paving new paths for women across India. Our ground partner, Azad Foundation, works with disadvantaged women from resource-poor urban areas across India to empower them to become professional commercial drivers.

A few weeks ago, we hosted the Women’s Leadership in Tourism webinar. Towards the end, we had the honour to hear Bubblyi, one of the drivers the program has supported, talk about her experience. When she started the training seven years ago, she was scared as she was not aware of the routes in New Delhi. Looking back to her first day, Bubblyi remembers crying when it got dark because she felt she was not going to be able to find the way back home.  

Fast forward to today, Bubblyi now drives with confidence, even at night. Travellers have complimented her skills several times as they can see first-hand how challenging it is to drive on India’s chaotic roads. Bubblyi also became a team leader, with responsibility for ten women under her watch and she even drives to other cities (this is a huge deal!). 

Bubblyi takes pride in what she does and her ability to financially support herself and her family. Moreover, she has inspired other women from her community to join the training and become drivers as well. 

Our wish is to see more projects like this thriving and to have more women taking on leadership roles in their communities. But what do we need? For instance, a change in mindsets and opportunities.

By providing life-changing access to education, job training (both in business acumen and soft skills) and mentorship, Planeterra has been able to provide women with opportunities in the tourism sector. But in addition to that, there are other needs for women-owned businesses to succeed.

Take the example of Princess Sewing Cooperative, a women-run business that focuses on tailoring services in the Victoria Falls township of Mkhosana, Zimbabwe. Planeterra provided extensive business training as well as lobbying for the cooperative to become a laundry supplier for local tour groups visiting the area. 

Providing laundry services made it possible for women in the cooperative to increase their income, meaning they could afford school fees for their children, complete their studies and lead an above-average economic life. However, COVID-19 slowed down their business tremendously as there were no travellers in need of their services. In addition to this, they are in need of new equipment including water tank pumps to store water for laundry due to water shortages in the township, and a dryer.

Help women-led businesses like Princess Sewing Cooperative prosper and benefit from tourism again. Consider donating to Planeterra. Your support will allow us to continue empowering women all over the world.

Together, we are building a more sustainable future for women!