|
|
|
home | go cruising | our boats | islands | st kilda | wildlife | photo galleries | responsible tourism |
|
. |
|
|
|
home | go cruising | our boats | islands | st kilda | wildlife | photo galleries | responsible tourism |
|
. |
|
..OTHER USEFUL LINKS |
|
. |
|||
|
Since then our own awareness has increased and we have worked hard, and continue to work hard, to practice responsible tourism. We were particularly pleased that our efforts, and those of our hardworking crews, were recognised by the "Green Highlands" Tourism Award given to a "business which can demonstrate a commitment to Scotland's natural heritage," in November 2005.
Our biggest, and newest, investment is the purchase of Zuza. We are really proud to be offering cruises aboard this motor yacht which are just about as "clean and green" as you can get on a vessel of this size. Powering through the water, sails aloft, engine off, in harmony with the force of nature, your vessel creates no noise disturbance or carbon emissions. By offering Zuza cruises alongside Hjalmar Bjørge we have massively reduced our average "cruise carbon footprint" and we really hope that these sailing cruises, new for 2008, will appeal to our discerning guests.
Involvement in the NBT project led to our decision to give money to local charities. We figured we wouldn't miss a fiver out of the cruise fees paid by each guest who signed up to join us. We also ask on our Booking Form if our guests would like to double the donation by adding £5 of their own. We chose two charities close to our hearts working on the basis that if we were less busy we would be giving our time to them – Argyll Animal Aid and the local Mountain Rescue Teams (MRT). So far we have donated just over £5000. Of this £1870 went to Animal Aid, £2085 to Oban MRT and £1050 to Glencoe MRT. Of the total our very kind-hearted guests gave £870. Read more about our donations in 2005, 2006 and 2007. We appreciate that green tourism, sustainable tourism, responsible tourism and ecotourism are band-wagons upon which everyone is trying to hitch a lift these days. We're not perfect but we do try and work to the principles of ecotourism to the best of our abilities. |
|||||
|
|
. : . .. : . . : . : . . : |
. . . . .. form (pdf format) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|||
|
"It was a true adventure that will stand memory's test a lifetime." Michael S, South Wirral . |
|||||
|
Northern Light Charters, Achnacraig, Achindarroch, Duror of Appin, Argyll PA38 4BS | Tel: +44 (0)1631 740595 |
|||||
|
.. |
|||||
|
| about us | brochures | crew | links | credits | contact us | email | go diving | FAQs | terms | |
|||||
|
. |
|||||
Okay
we admit it, when we started this company in 1995, we were a bit "green"
ourselves. At that time although we were aware of the positive aspects of
running our cruises – buying local produce, supporting fragile
communities, informing our guests about wildlife – we didn’t fully
appreciate the potential impact we could be having upon the environment
from which we earned our living. In addition, external factors, such as
lots of other operators being in the same area, just weren’t an issue at
that time.
There's
no denying a vessel like Hjalmar Bjørge can be a gas guzzler. We have
made many changes to the boat to increase her fuel efficiency and she now
compares extremely favourably to other boats of a similar size. We have
added five-bladed propellers which can decrease fuel consumption by 20%
with the additional bonus of making less noise in the water that might
disturb wildlife. Last winter we refurbished the main engines and they are
now able to run on biofuel. We have a desalination plant (water-maker)
onboard and have implemented many other measures, such as recycling
onboard refuse, to reduce our environmental impact as much as possible.
Read about them 
We
have long since followed a Code of Conduct with respect to our interaction
with wildlife. Many exist; click