Custodians of a quarter of the land on Earth, Indigenous peoples play a vital â but underappreciated â role in protecting ecosystems, conserving wildlife and tackling problems such as deforestation. Travellers can support these unsung eco-heroes by visiting the growing range of Indigenous-owned and run hotels, tour operators and nature reserves and, in the process, have richer, more authentic experiences. We selected 15 of the best for you, so all you have to do is choose whether you fancy going piranha fishing, learning tribal drumming or seeing the northern lights as well as doing your bit to save the world.
Glide over the pink dolphins of the Amazon
Spanning a Wales-sized swathe of the Amazon, Madidi National Park (see above) is part of one of the world’s largest and most biodiverse protected areas, home to many rare species including anacondas, pumas and pink dolphins. In its heart lies Chalalán Ecolodge, founded by a Quechua-Tacana community to provide much-needed jobs and funding for education, health and infrastructure projects, and to help stave off illegal loggers, miners and ranchers. Guests are immersed in the rainforest through guided hikes, canoe trips and piranha fishing, while the revenue they bring in for Chalalán trickles throughout the local community. Book here: Chalalán’s four-day Pecarí tour, including full-board accommodation, activities and local transfers, costs from £390 per person.
Explore the ancient forest
The world’s oldest tropical rainforest, dating back some 180 million years, Daintree was returned to its traditional custodians, the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people, in 2021, following a long-running campaign. They now co-manage the mesmerising national park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site bordering the Great Barrier Reef – with the Queensland state government. Exploring this ancient forest with a local guide provides a deeper understanding of its wealth of animal, bird and plant species and rich cultural associations, as well as the traditional conservation techniques of the Eastern Kuku Yalanji, a people who help protect the abundant biodiversity. Book here: Walkabout Cultural Adventures offers full-day tours for around £132 per person.
Take a Conservancy Safari
The 54 African countries are collectively responsible for less than 4 percent of global CO2 emissions but are particularly vulnerable to the impact of global heating. Namibia’s communal conservancies – in which local and often Indigenous people manage, conserve and benefit from their natural resources – provide a way for communities at the sharp end of the climate crisis to boost their resilience. Conservancy Safaris Namibia, which is owned by more than 3,000 Himba and Herero people, offers flexible, custom-designed expeditions in five conservancies spanning 13,500 sq km in the remote, north-west Kunene region. These trips include tracking endangered black rhinos, wild camping in river valleys, driving through the majestic Namib desert and visiting farming and herding communities. Book here: Expeditions with Conservancy Safaris cost from £319 per person per day.
Experience the Land of Giants
Developed by two Rarámuri communities with backing from international NGOs, Experiencias Rarámuri offers authentic experiences for travellers in the spectacular Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre Occidental range of Chihuahua state. These range from cookery and basket-weaving classes to hikes along precipitous, centuries-old trails to sacred tombs, rock art sites and birds-eye viewpoints. Visitors learn about the distinct culture of the Rarámuri, one of the largest Indigenous groups in North America renowned for their long-distance running, while experiencing one of the largest and deepest canyon systems on Earth. Book here: Experiencias Rarámuri’s three-hour guided Bacajipare Trail hike costs around £10 per person.
Live like a local in Equador
A Caranqui community in the Andean highlands, Angochagua was named one of the World Tourism Organisation’s ‘Best Tourism Villages’ in 2022 for its work developing travel projects aligned with the sustainable development goals. Visitors take part in rural activities such as feeding and milking livestock, sampling the local grain- and cereal-based cuisine and learning about the use of medicinal plants, textile and pottery traditions and cultural practices. This provides vital support for conservation, reforestation and heritage-preservation schemes. Book here: Homestays in Angochagua start from £20-25 per person per night.
Hit the Garifuna Trail
This trail is a recently launched, community-based tourism initiative on the south-east coast of Belize, a region of rainforests and reefs, which aims to provide an economic and cultural boost for the 11,000-strong Garinagu community with African and Carib-Arawak heritage. It links 500-plus businesses in a series of fishing villages and towns, including ‘agriturismo’ homestays, drumming and cookery schools, and locally owned galleries, museums and tour companies that showcase the community’s oral traditions, satirical art and dances, and seafood-focused food. Book here: Journey Latin America’s 11-day Active Belize tour, which visits areas covered by the Garifuna Trail, costs from £3,000 per person excluding flights.
Immerse yourself in Canadian culture
A vast and award-winning cultural centre in Alberta, Métis Crossing represents and shares the story of the Métis Nation through immersive and educational experiences. These include art workshops, Voyageur canoe trips, and tours that examine the nation’s historical relationship with species such as bison, which were reintroduced to the area in 2021 after a 160-year absence. Accommodation possibilities include geodesic domes with transparent ceilings designed for stargazing, with a strong focus on sustainability throughout, most notably a major solar energy generation project. Book here: Métis Crossing’s two-hour Through the Eyes of the Hunter tour costs around £36 per person.
Canoe native California
Hordes of tourists flock to California each year from around the globe, but relatively little of the income this brings reaches the Golden State’s Native American population. Launched in March by the state’s tourism board, Visit Native California aims to help correct this by providing travellers (and California residents) with an online database of around 500 Indigenous businesses, sites, experiences and attractions including tour operators, galleries, museums, hotels, restaurants and wineries, many of which have strong environmental and conservation credentials. Book here: Two- to four-hour Redwood Yurok Canoe Tours, which explore the Indigenous culture as well as river and forest ecosystems of Yurok County, cost from £118 per person.
Enjoy the lifestyle of the Sámi people
From its camp in the far north of Norway, Tromsø Arctic Reindeer’s tours give tourists a fascinating insight into the culture of the Sámi people, who have lived in the Arctic regions of Europe for millennia. During winter (November-April), the Sámi-owned-and-run outfit offers reindeer sledding and feeding plus snowshoeing excursions, as well as the chance to spot the aurora borealis (aka the northern lights) and experience traditional dishes, storytelling sessions and joiking (songs) around the campfire. Book here: The Long Reindeer Sledding, Feeding and Sámi Culture tour costs around £133 per person.
Take a sustainable safari and give back
Extreme weather linked to global heating is fragmenting rural communities across East Africa, plunging many people – disproportionately women and girls – into extreme poverty in areas where sustainable, well-paid employment is often in short supply. But there are flickers of hope. With a prime hilltop location overlooking a salt lick near the Mara River, Tangulia Mara tented camp was the first locally owned and run lodge in the Maasai Mara, co-founded by the experienced safari guide and BBC Big Cat Live presenter Jackson Looseyia. As well as an array of game drives and guided walks across the neighbouring escarpment in search of the area’s renowned wildlife, it offers responsible, sensitive visits to local Maasai villages. Book here: Full-board accommodation at Tangulia Mara, including local transfers and game drives, costs from £485 per person per night.
Trek the paddy in northern Vietnam
Based in a hilltop town surrounded by rice terraces in northern Vietnam, Sapa O’Chau is a pioneering social enterprise founded by Shu Tan, a young single mother from the Black Hmong tribe. It runs a hotel, cafe, Hmong crafts shop and full-service tour operator, which offers adventures that take in trekking, homestays plus bus and train bookings. This work generates funds for local development projects, including a boarding school where young people can learn English and study for their official guiding licenses, a vital service in a region with low literacy rates, limited education provision and a lack of sustainable employment options. Book here: Sapa O’Chau’s two-day Bac Ha Trekking & Homestay tour costs from £80 per person.
Avoid overtourism in Nepal
Tracing a route through an under-visited area east of the Kathmandu Valley, the Indigenous Peoples Trail highlights Nepal’s remarkable ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity. A world away from overtouristed routes such as the Everest Base Camp Trek, it snakes through the emerald hills of Ramechhap District, home to Tamang, Sherpa, Newar, Yolmo, Majhi and Thami communities, among others. The few tourists who trek this route provide vital funds by employing local guides and porters and spending money in the simple guesthouses, homestays and teahouses dotted along the way. Book here: Nepal Wilderness Trekking offer guided treks along the Indigenous People’s Trail from £390 per person.
See ancient Australian treasures
Owned and operated by the Djabulukgu Association, which represents the traditional owners of northern Kakadu National Park and parts of western Arnhem Land, Kakadu Cultural Tours reveals the rich Aboriginal heritage and rugged landscapes of the Northern Territory. Its Guluyambi Cultural Cruise voyages along the East Alligator River, illuminating the area’s cultural significance and offering the chance to spot giant saltwater crocodiles. Meanwhile, the Arnhemlander 4WD tour features extraordinary ancient rock art, eye-catching sandstone escarpments and billabongs with a profusion of birdlife. Book here: The one-day Arnhemlander Cultural and Heritage 4WD tour costs around £145 per person.
Sign up for monkey business in Cambodia
A community-owned ecotourism organisation in eastern Cambodia, Jahoo guides take visitors into the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, home of the world’s largest populations of two endangered species of primates: the southern yellow-cheeked gibbon and the black-shanked douc langur. This provides wildlife-friendly jobs and project funding for local Bunong communities, helping them to preserve their heritage and protect the reserve from threats such as deforestation and poaching. Alongside wildlife-watching, travellers can hike through rainforests and sample traditional Bunong cuisine. Book here: Jahoo’s three-day Discover Jahoo tour costs from around £423 per person.
Support ancient woodlands
One of the last surviving tracts of kauri forest in New Zealand, Waipoua in Northland is a realm of ancient, towering trees, including Te Matua Ngahere (Father of the Forest), estimated to be 2,500-3,000 years old. This old-growth woodland is biologically rich – home to endangered birds such as the North Island kÅkako – and important in sequestering carbon. Footprints Waipoua provides evocative walking tours through Waipoua during the day and at night that explore the local MÄori communities’ deep connection with the majestic kauri trees through a tapestry of songs and storytelling. Book here: The four-hour Waipoua Forest, Twilight Encounter Maori Cultural Eco Night Tour costs £51 per person.
'For me, it's about ensuring I have a positive impact'
For our new campaign, award-winning journalist Shafik Mehji told us what sustainable travel means to him
'Socially, economically and environmentally — I want to make sure I have a positive impact on the places and peoples I visit, as well as the planet as a whole. I try to support community-based and nature-enhancing travel organisations and businesses, while minimising carbon-intensive activities such as flying.'
