Intrepid’s Responsible Business Assistant, Taz Liffman, is renowned for his laid-back temperament, but when it comes to sustainable travel he’s a man on a mission. We put Taz under the spotlight to find out a little more about his travel passions…
Q: How do you describe your occupation?
A: I’m primarily responsible for reporting and calculating the carbon offsets required for purchase to ensure that Intrepid’s trips are all operating as carbon neutral.
One of the greatest joys of travel is discovering the local food specialties and eating out in different styles. This can be doubly terrific when you know your dining is helping to support and benefit formerly disadvantaged people. Intrepid makes a point of seeking out truly fair trade restaurants and cafes, and in all the following wonderful examples the food and friendly service will not disappoint!
Where’s the best food in Asia? You’d be hard pressed to top the great choices in Cambodia:
“One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.” Wise words from Gilbert K. Chesterton and the sentiment is echoed by Sean Kennaway after his visit to a very special part of Peru…
“I travelled with Intrepid to a small community called Chawaytire in the Sacred Valley, about 2 hours outside of Cuzco. Chawaytire sits at about 3300m (10,830 feet) and has a population of around 600, whose primary source of income comes from selling textiles.
When you travel with Intrepid in Thailand, you will be given a very special cloth bag that is having multiple wonderful impacts, like helping grow forests and benefitting women’s livelihoods! You may well ask “How so?”
Since 2006, Intrepid Thailand travellers each receive a special shoulder bag, emblazoned with the call to action “Say No to Plastic” in Thai and English. The bags are produced by a women’s cooperative, Tae Moh Hai, meaning ‘Our Friends Hands’ in local dialect. The group live in a small village, Baan Sawaii, located in Sri Saket province, in north-eastern Thailand.
We’re delighted that the Shackleton Epic has chosen Fauna & Flora International (FFI) as a conservation partner. FFI protects threatened species and ecosystems worldwide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science that take account of human needs. Older than the original Shackleton expedition, FFI was founded in 1903 and is the world’s longest established international conservation body and is a registered charity.
Operating in more than 40 countries worldwide – mainly in the developing world – FFI saves species from extinction and habitats from destruction, while improving livelihoods of local people.
Travelling with Intrepid and want to know how to help the communities you visit? Geoff Manchester, Intrepid’s co-founder & Managing Director helps you work out whether to pack stuff or money…
“When Darrell Wade and I set up Intrepid Travel more than two decades ago, the term ‘responsible travel’ had not yet been coined. The vast majority of holidays on offer involved little – if any – interaction with local communities and people were much less aware of the environmental and social impact their holiday had on their destination.
Bringing home souvenirs is a wonderful way to keep your travel memories alive, but when shopping for precious mementos it’s important to make responsible purchases. For example, be certain that products are not made from endangered species and try to buy locally produced items. Intrepid’s Carl Needham shares his tips on responsible shopping in Laos…
“When we go on holiday we all love to shop for souvenirs and handcrafted products. A really good way to support local communities and to put money back into the countries we visit is to buy handicrafts from local villages or cooperatives.
Intrepid provides travellers with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The Reef is one of the most inspiring places on earth, which makes it even harder to believe that a place as beautiful and precious as the Great Barrier Reef is currently under threat due to the ever-expanding coal export industry.
Current plans to build a series of coal mega mines running the length of the Great Barrier Reef not only spell disaster for this fragile ecosystem, but also for the global climate as a whole.
Did you know there’s more regulation on the global trade of bananas and bottled water than guns and bullets? You might think this sounds like a B-grade movie plot, but sadly, it’s not! EVERY minute, one person is killed by armed violence fuelled by an unregulated arms trade. This deadly trade puts WEAPONS in the hands of tens of thousands of child soldiers, and forces millions to flee their homes.
This violence can happen because countries including the US, Russia, UK and France have been exporting guns, bombs and other weapons for years, with very little regulation about who they can sell to or how. Right now however, we’ve got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change this, and keep the world’s weapons out of the wrong hands.
