“A step ahead” – The Citizen August 2009
Keeping it green makes good business sense for private reserve
The note, usually placed somewhere near the complimentary shampoo, reminds one that water is precious and washing towels unnecessarily is wasteful. So you pick up your towels, feeling satisfied you have helped in some way. But in a time when more tourists are thinking green, is the towel policy – now virtually standard in all lodges – enough? Or do luxury game lodges have to go beyond service levels and style ad incorporate initiatives that offer social and environmental sustainability to stay in the game?
More often now, game lodges boasting good environmental credibility pip the post to those offering the traditional Big Five. And then there are those that offer both.
Pumba Private Game Reserve is one such destination. Situated in the Malaria free Eastern Cape, Pumba aims to offer its guests a 5-star experience, fine dining, luxury accommodation and exciting game viewing which includes “specials” like cheetah, wild dog and white lion. But it also aims to put in place long-term, sustainable initiatives that will benefit the environment and the community.
Since its creation, owners Dale Howarth and Trevor Lombard have endeavored to return the once famed land into its natural state. In conjunction with the Eastern Cape’s Working for Water project, they have started removing invasive species, this in turn increases the levels of water in the Cariega River, that not only benefits the reserve, but also the Eastern Cape. Clearing the invasive species also allows the natural flora to recover and eco-systems to stabilize. Pumba has also started reintroducing animals that previously inhabited the area as well as monitoring the already existing populations. This means that not only are many of the endemic animals protected from possible extinction, but bloodlines can be diversified (especially in the case of Pumba’s pride of breeding white lions).
Although still a young reserve, Pumba is already seeing the benefits of these measures. The reserve has recently embraced the Green Leaf Standard in the management of both Msenge Bush Lodge and Pumba Water Lodge and in 2008 achieved an enviable rating of above 75%.
Many of their big game species are successfully breeding and raising young and as a guest one feels more than comfortable with the environmental footprints they leave by visiting the lodge.
By: Annette Bayne
