National Geographic is committed to sustaining the character and integrity of each place we visit—its environment, culture, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. In providing authentic travel experiences, we strive to support local economies in our choice of services.

As an example, just outside of Rwanda’s Parc National des Volcans, home to the endangered mountain gorilla, we stay at the Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge, an elegant property owned by a Rwandan community trust. The trust represents 6,000 local households and uses proceeds from the lodge to finance local socioeconomic and conservation initiatives.

On our ocean-going small ship cruises, our chefs visit markets in our ports of call to pick up fresh produce for meals on board. We’ve developed a fund in conjunction with Lindblad Expeditions to help support projects in many of the places we visit on these cruises.

And all around the world, from Morocco to Peru, we support local artisans by including visits to their schools and workshops. In Bhutan, for instance, we stop in at a traditional arts school, where students learn to make thangka paintings, carrying an age-old art into future generations.

We recognize that travel contributes to the overall human footprint that affects the Earth's climate. We have identified ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with our travel programs and are offsetting carbon emissions we cannot eliminate. We have established an advisory board to guide our reduction efforts and our investments in high-quality offset programs—such as those that develop new renewable energy sources.

At the same time, we believe that the powerful positive effects of sustainable travel go beyond the long-term economic benefits, inspiring passionate stewards committed to protecting the places we visit.