Our Impact: Conservation and Community
Since inception, Todos Santos Eco Adventures’ goal has been to inspire travelers, maximize social and economic benefits for the local community, and encourage others to do the same. Equally as important to us is conservation of the great natural beauty of our part of the planet. Like all travel companies, our contribution to climate change is obvious and indisputable, and an issue we struggle with as the last thing we want to do is harm the ecosystems and wildlife at the heart of the immersive nature experiences we provide for our guests.
On balance, however, we believe that nature and conservation travel done right provides a net positive to our corner of the globe. When guests are surrounded by manta rays and sea turtles as they paddle board in the ocean, when a sea lion puppy engages them in a game of tag, when a gray whale mother brings her baby up to them and looks them straight in the eye – these are the moments in which our guests connect with and understand what truly needs protecting, the moments that inspire them to return home and fight to help conserve these places and beings that are now a deeply personal part of their life experience.
We are dedicated to reducing and mitigating our environmental impact and to making our business ever more sustainable and regenerative. Our efforts include:
- We are the first and currently only Mexican tour operator to be a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
- We have eliminated single-use plastics in all our properties and supply chain, and all of our properties compost and recycle.
- We are members of the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund and our nominated project, Desplastifícate Todos Santos y Pescadero, won a grant in 2018 to help eliminate single-use plastics and styrofoam in our community. Lonely Planet wrote an article about our efforts that can be found here.
- We are founding members of the Zero Waste Alliance of Todos Santos and Pescadero, a community initiative whose goal is a united community that produces less waste, takes responsibility for the waste it does produce, and supports a circular economy in which waste is repurposed by vibrant local businesses.
- We offset our carbon emissions through Neutral Together
- We are a carbon capture Education Partner with Tomorrow’s Air and the Climateworks Foundation. We have supported the removal of one ton of carbon dioxide from the air which is now stored deep underground, fusing to rock, and can ultimately be made into durable materials. All of our travelers are invited to support carbon capture when traveling with us, and can learn how to do that here.
- We spearheaded a study by ProNatura Noroeste and UABCS to have the Todos Santos lagoon declared an area critica, a protected area that will help save our critically endangered endemic bird species, the Belding’s Yellowthroat and the entire palm oasis
- We are signatories to the Future of Tourism, which embodies our vision of tourism that can benefit destination communities, incentivize protection of nature and history, and enrich the traveling public.
- Our tented camps are run solely on solar power and 75% of our hotel’s electricity needs are covered by solar power; we expect to be at 100% by 2022. Playboy wrote an article featuring our sustainability practices that can be found here.
- Our tented camps and hotel purchase food directly from local fishermen and ranchers in their respective locations
- Every member of our adventure team is Leave No Trace certified by NOLS
- We are “conservation heroes” with Parelelo 28, a group of businesses and nonprofits working together to protect the waters surrounding Isla Espiritu Santo
- We are the founders of the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count Circle for Todos Santos
We are deeply committed to our community and ensuring that they benefit from tourism economy while preserving their local culture. A sample of our efforts include:
- During the summer of 2020 we raised USD 27,000 for families in Todos Santos and Pescadero thrown out of work due to the global pandemic. We did this by auctioning off full buy-outs to our luxury tent camps, Camp Cecil de la Isla and Camp Cecil de la Sierra
- In April 2019 we hosted the Sight is a Right team of 30 optometrists, opticians and nurses at our hotel, Los Colibris. They saw 3,113 people in Todos Santos, including 1,231 school children and 1,882 people in the clinic, giving them all free sunglasses and/or free reading/prescription glasses
- We are proud sponsors and supporters of The Palapa Society and the Padrino Children’s Foundation, leaders in educational and health initiatives for children in Todos Santos and Pescadero
- Through the years we have been key sponsors of the Todos Santos GastroVino Festival, the Todos Santos Music Festival, the Todos Santos Film Festival and the Todos Santos Day of the Dead Festival. We also regularly donate stays at our tented camps to help raise funds for the charities associated with these festivals.
- We support local boxing, soccer, baseball, and cycling clubs for the youth of Todos Santos.
We invite you to reach out to discuss any of our programs in more depth. We also offer myriad volunteer, citizen science and philanthropic opportunities and would love to brainstorm ideas for you!