Leave a positive footprint with Makune Journeys
Sustainable travel
We know that travelling comes with an environmental footprint. Flying contributes significantly to CO₂ emissions, and while we would love to drive electric safari vehicles, they are still not widely available or practical in many parts of Africa.
So we focus on the areas where we actually can make a real difference, without compromising on comfort, quality or a sense of wellness and luxury.
We choose experiences carefully to avoid activities that exploit children, people, animals and the environment, reduce unnecessary platic waste, and where possible, we choose local and organically grown produce, helping support traditional, smallholder farmers and keeping more of the value within local communities.
Makune's sustainability policy is built around responsible travel, respect for Mother Nature and all living beings, and the idea of a circular economy; keeping as much of your travel spending as possible within Uganda by working with and supporting local guides, accommodation, communities, restaurants and businesses.
We want to make rings in the water; creating ripples that spread further, as the people and businesses supported through tourism spending can, in turn, support their families, employees and wider communities.
For us, responsible travel starts with being aware of the impact tourism can have. Tourism can become exploitative when outside businesses in Africa drive up local prices, change communities, or build hotels and lodges without enough regard for the people, land and environment already there.
We want to be mindful of these realities and make choices that support local communities, respect the people and places we visit, their voices and choices, and keep more of the benefits of tourism within Uganda and Africa.
It all comes down to an idea of care & reciprocity 🌀
Read more below about what this means in practice.
Choose local
By choosing Makune Journeys as your local tour operator, driver and guide, you help support & promote:
🌀local businesses
🌀the preservation of cultural heritage and nature
🌀 respect all living beings and choose activities that protect animals, forests and the wider environment.
🌀 the use of organic and natural produce and food from local, traditional smallholder farmers.
Our advice on choosing accomodation, restaurants & shops:
We follow a local-first approach wherever possible, helping support a more circular economy. Money spent locally is more likely to stay within the community, creating jobs and supporting local restaurants, farmers, artisans, transport providers and small businesses.
Choose locally owned lodges and guesthouses that are built using local, sustainable materials and traditional craftsmanship wherever possible, and that actively manage waste, reduce consumption, and take care in how they treat the surrounding nature and communities.
Locally owned places are also more likely to source food, materials and services from nearby suppliers, helping reduce environmental impact while supporting local livelihoods.
They often employ people from the surrounding communities too, which means more of your travel spending stays local and continues to support families and small businesses.
Take care of all living beings & Mother Nature
“Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own; indeed to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder."
– Wangari Maathai
For us, caring for nature means thinking about the whole picture; the animals, forests, plants, soil, farms and communities that all depend on one another.
We also care about animal welfare; both in farming and in the way we meet wildlife. That means supporting places that treat animals with care and dignity, and choosing wildlife experiences that respect wild animals and their space.
That is why we work closely with Said Musa from the Tooro Botanical Gardens, who specialises in collecting endangered seeds, restoring strong local seed varieties, that farmers can reproduce, and supporting the protection of Uganda’s plant life and biodiversity.
He also advises us on how we, as a tour operator, can better respect wildlife and nature, and helps guide us towards places, projects and initiatives that are genuinely working to protect endangered plants, species, forests and Uganda’s biological diversity.
We believe that real conservation of Uganda’s flora and fauna cannot happen alone. It works best when local communities, traditional farmers, local businesses and conservation initiatives work hand in hand to protect our home, as we know it.
