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FTTSA – Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa
On the 14th of July 2005 we became the 13th property in South Africa to become Fair Trade in Tourism accredited. FTTSA encourages and publicises fair and responsible business practices through its independent & highly recognizable trademark symbol of fairness in the tourism industry. There are stringent criteria (in-depth forms, self assessment followed up by independent assessments), specifically looking into fair wages and working conditions, fair operations, purchasing and distribution of benefits, ethical business practice and respect for human rights, culture and the environment.
Wilderness Foundation Green Leaf
On 10 May 2008, we received the Wilderness Foundation Green Leaf accreditation. We were one of the first six properties in South Africa to be accredited by the Foundation whose entry mark is a minimum of 75%. The Wilderness Foundation is a South African conservation and environmental non-profit organization, who, in partnership with Vuselela Management Services (a tourism development company), designed an independent environmental tool whereby accommodation establishments can measure their environmental footprint thereby enabling us to reduce the effects of environmental consumption and to yearly improve our environmental management & awareness skills. When assessing the establishment it looks at five elements: water, energy, waste, product and innovation. Each category is 'measured' or 'weighed' and totaled for the year, then a target for improvement is set for the following year's independent audit & assessment.
Environmental: We have a robust recycling programme and are assisting others in the area to come on board. The recycling units in this area are rather limited, but there is a gaining in interest since we started the project. We give our vegetable waste to a local emerging pig farmer. We have an ongoing de-wattling programme. This area was once used as wattle plantations for the tanin industry and caused enormous damage to the indigenous forest and the fynbos. We have a programme whereby we remove the young wattles from the root in order to impede their growth, as well as cutting down the adult trees and maintaining a watchful eye on their regrowth. But we have a Wattle seedbed which will last for a 100 years, so it's definitely an ongoing project! Indigenous trees are planted throughout the year. Our property is 9 hectares, mainly of indigenous forest, and our main objective is to see that this is preserved from alien vegetation.
To our own staff: We live in a beautiful area, but are surrounded by communities of great poverty. All our staff are sourced from within the area (a radius of 50km). This has a stabilising impact on families within the community as members have secure well paid work. We train our staff both in-house as well as at accredited courses in the various sectors of the hospitality industry. This is an on-going programme - eg cooking courses, first aid courses, management, administrative & front of house skills, basic hygiene, educationals to other establishments to find out how other operations work, etc. We have also sent over four members of staff to the UK, in order to broaden their horizons. Most of our staff have been with us for many years and have worked from the bottom of the ladder up. Their position in their communities cannot be over-emphasised as they are perceived as successful and leaders. People see that they too can progress.
The Kids of Kurland: Our priority is to look to our local community, to mainly focus our resources to one area in order to affect great help. Kurland is a poor community, with high unemployment and with a low emphasis on education. The most important grounding for school are the first years, where the basics are taught and remembered. With classrooms of between 60 & 90 children, they are already at a disadvantage. So we pay the salary for a special needs teacher at the Kurland Primary school. This is an extremely important part of our social responsibility project. By providing permanent employment for a properly skilled teacher and also assisting in kitting out the classroom with the essential for teaching, we feel this goes some way to help towards improving the outlook for some of these children. For more information, have a look at their website: www.kidsofkurland.com
Sinethemba (We Have Trust) Gospel Group: We are sponsoring and assisting one of our local choirs in the cutting of their very first CD. Choirs form a very important social and cultural dynamic within the community and there are huge competitions run throughout the year & throughout the country which are fiercely contested. Three times a week the choir would gather at The Villa at Hog Hollow to choose and rehearse the songs, to record, re-record the songs for their CD. With this they are able to generate their own funds by selling their CD – this enables them to buy uniforms, pay for transportation and accommodation when traveling to tournaments and other small extras. This is very important, as only a few members have permanent employment and it reduces the strain on them trying to raise funds for each competition. We were very lucky to be befriended by Gérard Rudschuck – a musician and sound engineer who played with the likes of Bruce Springsteen – to assist us with the technical aspects of recording. His boundless enthusiasm and endless advice & expertise enabled this project to succeed. The final product will be on sale at the Lodge and other hotels and any other outlet the Sinethemba Gospel Group choose. All proceeds go to the choir.
- We also sponsor the local NSRI and
- the Orca Foundation (Marine conservation) which is instrumental in teaching local communities the importance of looking after our marine heritage.
- we've sponsored a local soccer team;
- we have sponsored equipment for a local band, who have gone on to Johannesburg to seek fame and fortune!
- We also sponsored a young man to study nursing.
Cultural: We have an eclectic staff and have had to work outside our own comfort zones in coming to terms with being the Rainbow Nation. It's a hard process, but it definitely has its rewards. But on an external level, we have put together a guided tour of two of our local communities. Sensitive to the instrusiveness these can be perceived as, members of the staff actually accompany guests to their homes and friends and neighbours. Of course, we also try as far as possible to source our arts and crafts for the lodge from local (and national) artists. As far as possible we also try and source local artisans and craftspeople to work at the lodge.
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