Our Ethics & Sustainability
Are we a responsible tour operator?
The emissions that naturally follow any flight are by far the least responsible part of any of our guests’ visits to Peru. While we encourage the use of a Carbon offset program when booking flights we understand it is not always possible.
On arrival to Peru, we ensure that each traveler’s trip is carbon positive, beneficial for the environment, and socially ethical. Here are our credentials to prove it:
Certified B Corps
2017 was a great year for Amazonas Explorer. We became the first-ever registered B Corp company in Peru. In fact, even as far as 2021, we are still the only registered b-corp in Cusco.
In fact, worldwide, only around 3500 companies are b-corp certified- out of a staggering 90,000+ applications. Once certified, businesses need to continue to improve or risk losing their certification.
But What is a B-Corp?
Being a B Corps (or Benefit Corporation) is a promise to use business for the good of the planet and its people. You can find out more here.
1% for the Planet member
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- Joined in 2007 as the first Peruvian member.
- Still the only Peruvian tour operator who is a member, and one of the only three companies in the entire country to hold a membership.
- We proudly donate 1% of our turnover each year to help reforest the Lares area with native trees.
- Work with Ecoan, Green Our Planet, and the communities of Lares and Ollantaytambo to replant essential native trees.
- Since 2007 we have planted over 1 million native trees alongside other participating companies
- Fencing the trees to prevent grazing and promote growth also part of the plan to ensure their survival
We Offset our Carbon Emissions
We don’t consider offsetting carbon to be a magical, guilt-free clause that allows you to carry on producing emissions as before. We as a company are well aware that everyone still needs to drastically reduce their emissions.
However, we work hard to offset the emissions that we do produce. To do this we consider both the operation of your trip and throughout the year as a result of existing as a company. This is something we not only feel has to be done, but we are proud to do so.
We work with a Peruvian-based company called Regenera, and the carbon is offset locally, to help preserve local ecosystems. Currently, our carbon is offset in the Manu National Park, the most biodiverse place on earth.
Manu is an area that drastically needs more protection from illegal logging and gold mining. Regenera works with the local communities to encourage them to act as stewards of the forest and our contribution goes to help preserve this part of the forest which acts as a carbon sink.
Travelers Against Plastic member
Spend half an hour in Peru and you will see the huge amount of waste produced by disposable bottles of water. Recycling is not the answer. What is needed is to reduce the amount of plastic produced in the first place.
We have pledged to work to reduce the number of plastic water bottles being used by travelers. We always provide large containers of purified water from which you can refill your non-disposable water bottle. We also promote the use of UV filters, water bottles with inbuilt filters.
On top of this, we always aim to work with hotels that make drinking water available, rather than selling plastic disposable bottles. This is quite a hard task as hotels and restaurants make a lot of money from selling throw-away bottles of water. You can find out more about Travelers Against Plastic here.
Recommended Water Purifier:
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Porter Protection
All porters are freelance. The fact many have chosen to work with us for over ten years speaks for itself.
We provide career progression opportunities – porter to waiter to assistant cook to cook.
Wilo our guide, Ernesto our storeman, David our driver, and Alex our office cook, were all once porters who worked their way up.
- We pay porters more than the wage stipulated by the authorities. We pay them at the end of the trek. They do not have to come to Cusco or wait to collect their money.
- Porters are contracted by a designated Head porter and payment is made directly by the Head guide, thus avoiding any intermediaries or other possible conflicts.
- We pay the porter’s Inca Trail fee and do not take it out of their wages.
- Inca trail rules set a maximum load for porters – 20kg of company equipment and 5kg of personal equipment. We abide by this and it is enforced by the Inca trail governing body at several weigh stations on the trail.
- We provide a large communal tent with a carrying mat floor for porters to sleep in. It is not the clients’ dining tent.
- We provide our porters with plenty of good food. This is not the same menu given to the passengers, but it is nutritious, abundant, and what they are used to eating. They have their own cooking facilities so do not have to wait for the clients to finish eating before they get their food.
- We provide the porter’s transport from Ollantaytambo to the trailhead. We also provide them with return train tickets (with designated seat allocation) from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo. We do not deduct this from their wages.
- We only use registered Inca trail porters (as Inca trail rules stipulate) – these have to pass several forms of ID, character reference, and a letter of good health and to have attended an Inca Trail Porter Awareness course.
- We provide accident insurance and work contracts for each period of work porters do for us. They are all freelance.
- We provide each porter with a uniform, back support, a carrying frame, and footwear. (Please note the porters often prefer their sandals.)
- As good quality camping equipment is unavailable in Peru, we encourage clients to donate any excess outdoor clothes, sleeping bags, etc directly to the porters.
- Tipping porters are also encouraged and guidelines are provided at the pre-departure meeting. The tip is administered by the clients with assistance from the head guide whose tip is completely separate.
- Amazonas Explorer holds an annual, end-of-season, porters’ party and football tournament.
- Our tree planting is done above our porters’ villages. The porters are proud to participate in caring for their future.
Other Commitments we have to Sustainability
- We run small groups tours and explore new routes away from the busiest areas
- We purchase locally produced food
- We bring 20 liter bottles of water for you to refill from, to avoid you buying plastic bottles
- We use reusable snack bags
- We minimize paper use and where we do print, we then use the other side.
- We carefully dispose of all waste. All non-biological waste is carried out and disposed of correctly. On the Apurimac rafting, all human excrement is also carried out. On other trips, we carefully bury all biodegradable waste below the high-water mark, at the official deposits on the Inca Trail or as deep as possible elsewhere.
- We employ only qualified local guides
- We cook on gas not firewood
- We pay all staff a realistic wage and offer correct working conditions.
- We discourage handing out gifts along the trail to locals to avoid creating a handout culture.
- Check out our climate emergency plan for more information.
