OUR MANDATE - RESPONSIBLE RIDING
 What is Responsible Riding?
It's a belief that bicycles matter.
It's a belief that:
* mountain bike tourism should be based on creating and sustaining strong, vibrant communities
* mountain biking and responsible travel can go hand in hand
* mountain biking and environmentalism aren't mutually exclusive
* mountain bike travel can make a positive difference in the communities that we visit
Our Responsible Riding Mandate is a first in the industry and reflects our belief that mountain biking can make a positive difference in the communities where we ride. Responsible Riding encompasses several key points and specific, measurable targets:
HOW TO SELECT A TOUR OPERATOR |
| Want to pick a reputable, responsible tour operator but not sure what criteria to use? Here's a checklist of some questions you should ask, based on advice from the Sierra Club, Conservation International, the International EcoTourism Society, and other groups:
IMPACT: How do you limit the environmental and cultural impact of your facilities and activities? How are you taking care to protect freshwater and other limited natural resources?
COMMUNITY RELATIONS: How do your operations directly benefit local inhabitants? Do you support local guides, goods, and services? Do you respect native traditions and taboos?
THE THREE R's: Do you reduce, reuse, and recycle waste?
KUDOS: Have you been recommended or honored by organizations that are concerned with conservation and cultural protection?
INNOVATION: Do you have an environmentally distinctive building, an unlikely partnership, or a pioneering approach to including the local community? It's often the unquantifiable, creative solutions that say the most about an operation's views on sustainable tourism. |
1) A portion of tour revenues goes to local development and sustainability projects in the communities where we ride. We visit these communities as we ride and see how these projects are making a difference. Note that these donations come directly from your tour costs, not our profits.
2008 MANDATE:
British Columbia: 2% of tour revenues to Wildsight, environmental protection organization
Peru: 2% of tour revenues to a school development project in the remote town of Quillabamba.
Chile: 2% of tour revenues to development projects in Mapuche communities in San Pedro area.
2) All of our staff is local. They come from the communities where we ride and their wages go back into local communities. In British Columbia, all of our guides live full-time in the Fernie area, and their wages go directly back into the community. In Peru and Chile, we are working with local guides who are paid the same wages that our Canadian guides earn. This contrasts sharply with many other companies who pay their guides subistence wages (most porters on the Inca trail are paid less than $3/day).
2008 MANDATE: 100% local guides and staff on all tours.
3) We use local suppliers and partners wherever possible. That means never using big box stores, purchasing local food and supplies, working with local sponsors and staying at locally owned campgrounds and hotels. In Peru, we are using local suppliers such as Joselo, who owns and runs a small van transport service. Using local suppliers rather than big box stores keeps dollars in the communities where we ride and helps them stay strong and vibrant.
2008 MANDATE: minimum 50% locally-sourced food on all tours.
4) We contribute funds and time (e.g. trail-building) to the mountain biking communities in the areas where we ride. Every spring we visit communities such as Fernie, Rossland, Revelstoke, Nelson and Golden and donate our time to local trail maintenance. We also donate money to their local mountain bike clubs.
2008 MANDATE: $100 donation to each mountain bike club in each community where we ride, plus minimum 1 trail-building day.
5) We have our own non-profit organization, Bikes Without Borders, that distributes bicycles to needy families in developing countries. These bikes are distributed to children and adults in local communities where we ride.
2008 MANDATE: ship 500 bikes to communities in need in Peru and Chile.
6) We support local cultural projects and events. In Fernie and other BC communities, we help organize local mountain bike events and festivals. In Peru, we visit 4 Inca archaelogical sites, 3 of which are in remote areas that do not receive much tourism. Paying for entrance admissions and guides to these sites ensures their continued protection.
7) We have a stringent environmental code. We follow strict IMBA (International Mountain Biking Association) guidelines for reducing trail impact and these guidelines are passed on to our clients. When camping, we take steps to minimize impact upon the environment, such as proper greywater disposal and packing out all garbage. In 2008, we will be using biodiesel-powered vans in British Columbia to eliminate emissions from the use of our vans. And cycling is in itself a strong environmental statement.
2008 MANDATE: use biodiesel vans for BC operations. Continue to reduce our environmental footprint.
8) We have implemented a carbon offsets program. Carbon offsets are a relatively new concept aimed at offsetting the carbon emissions generated by business activity by investing in projects that reduce global carbon levels, such as treeplanting programs and renewable energy projects (e.g. wind farms).
2008 MANDATE: offset 100% of emissions generated by our operations. Implement an easy-to-use offset program for our clients.
|
