Posted on May 7th, 2013 by pauline
Breanne Quesnel, the owner of Spirit of the West Adventures, explains why they became members of 1% for the Planet….
From a selfish perspective, we all need healthy and functioning ecosystems for our own survival, to have clean water, air and food. As an eco-tourism business, our livelihood is also directly connected to beautiful wild places, open spaces and plentiful wildlife. We try our best to be a sustainable business and to consider the environment and the ramifications of our choices and actions in all that we do, but we also need to give back. We are able to generate revenue by sharing sea kayaking trips on the beautiful British Columbia coast with people from all over the world. We feel it is only right to direct some of that revenue back to organizations and groups that help to protect these wild spaces and wildlife.
We became 1% for the Planet members in order to help raise the profile of the need for all businesses to give back to the environment. While quietly donating to environmental charities gets money where it is needed, 1% for the Planet helps to encourage all businesses to share their success with environmental charities and highlights the fact that together we can make a greater impact. The brand recognition helps customers to make informed decisions, supporting companies who support the environment. I know when I see the 1% for the Planet logo at other shops or businesses, I feel better about purchasing their product or service. My dollar spend has the capacity for a greater positive environmental impact.
The mainstay of our business is providing tours which allow people to sea kayak with whales and a variety of other wildlife in wild and untouched spaces. It is for this reason that over the years as 1% for the Planet members we have chosen to donate to groups which help in protecting the marine environment, the food sources of the whales as well as our local community in which we operate our business. Past donation recipients have included (plus others who still need to apply to become 1% FTP approved nonprofit partners);
- Cetus Research and Conservation
- Save our Salmon
- The Wilderness Tourism Association of British Columbia
- West Coast Environmental Law
- The Sierra Club of BC
- Raincoast Conservation Foundation
- Quadra Island Salmon Enhancement
Donating 1% of all sales is a small contribution to a very worthy cause. I heard a great quote once which helps to sum it all up nicely, “The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of nature”.
Tags: British Columbia, Canada, Great Bear Rainforest, kayaking, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Spirit of the West Adventures, Whales
Posted in Members, Non-Profit Recipients
Posted on April 9th, 2012 by pauline
Imagine a place where there are no roads, and instead people travel by water. A place where bears and wolves roam the land, while killer and humpback whales swim around the sea. This place, the Great Bear Rainforest, is home to communities whose cultures stretch back many millennia on this coast. This intact temperate rainforest is punctuated by mountains and fjords, and strewn with hundreds of islands along the western coast of British Columbia. Today, ecotourism is one of the leading elements of the emerging conservation economy in the Great Bear Rainforest and 1% member Maple Leaf Adventures has been leading the way since the early 1990s.
Tour companies in the region, like Maple Leaf Adventures, take small groups of guests for multi-day trips by boat among the fjords and islands. Bear viewing and whale watching with expert guides are key features, as is walking the rainforest and learning about the area’s natural and cultural history. This area is so rich with wildlife because of all the work conservation organizations do. Conservation focused businesses and scientists have a symbiotic relationship, because conserved areas allow ecotourism to bloom. At the same time, conservation groups benefit when coastal businesses can generate incomes without clear-cut logging, mining or otherwise destroying the Great Bear Rainforest.
One of the most instrumental organizations in this effort is 1% recipient Raincoast Conservation Foundation, which has made some substantial scientific discoveries regarding the Great Bear Rainforest. They have done research on the salmon-eating, ocean-swimming wolves of the area, the abundance of marine mammals in its waters, the discovery of hundreds of salmon spawning streams, and much more. Raincoast scientists are willing to meet Maple Leaf guests in the field and take time to discuss their research. Maple Leaf (and many of their guests) donate money to support the scientific, education, and policy work Raincoast does, along with its advocacy work.
Connections, like the one between Maple Leaf and Raincoast, are very important to this region because they help protect the land from potentially detrimental projects. There is a proposal to run massive oil tankers through the treacherous waters of the Great Bear Rainforest to “more easily” transport tar sands oil from northern Alberta to Asia. It is essential to the region that this does not happen because of the high likelihood of an oil spill that could be much worse than even the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.
By signing up for a trip with Maple Leaf Adventures, you are helping Raincoast document what is at stake on this beautiful coast, educate the public, and evaluate and intervene in the process for this proposal! For every person who books selected* adventures from now until April 30th through 1% for the Planet, Maple Leaf will donate an additional $400 to Raincoast**! How can you say no to the possibility of seeing a bear in the Great Bear Rainforest or spectacular whales in Haida Gwaii?
*Trips are:
Tags: Great Bear Rainforest, humpback whales, Maple Leaf Adventures, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, spirit bears
Posted in Members, Non-Profit Recipients
