Putting Ecotourism Principles into Practice
Ecotourism in Mongolia – Putting Principles into Practice
Ecotourism is a concept that describes a variety of ways to sensibly travel and visit places of interest. The International Ecotourism Society defines Ecotourism as: “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people.”
Nature Travel in Mongolia – Treading Lightly
At Stone Horse Mongolia, we strive to make our horseback trekking tours as light as possible on the environment that we travel through and we take the ethic of eco-tourism seriously. Following eco-friendly practices with everything we do will ensure all of our trips leave as little impact on the land as possible so all of our guests can enjoy wilderness in its finest form.
Our tours educate. As a business and as professionals with many years of work experience in conservation, we are committed to the protection of the environment, and especially the Khan Khentii, its ecosystem, ecological functions, and its wild beauty.
“Natural,” is perhaps the best way to describe the way we work and move with our horses, and associate with the local community of semi-nomadic herders who have lived in the areas we travel through for generations. We believe every travel company should be “eco-friendly” in their approach to business as part of their normal business ethic. And that should be natural.
Horseback Trekking Tours with a High Conservation Ethic
Our horseback riding tours are all non-vehicle supported. We use pack horses to carry all our equipment and food both in and out on each tour. On the trail, we adhere to high standards of environmental practices – carrying out all garbage, managing human waste responsibly, managing grazing of our horses, protecting water sources, and respecting local community resources.
Our travel distance from Mongolia’s capital city Ulaanbaatar to the staging area of our expeditions is quite short, only 45 kilometers. This keeps our carbon footprint in the country to a minimum. It is from here, on the edge of the largest roadless area in Mongolia that we begin our adventure. All on horseback.
Supporting Wilderness Preservation
We have worked with park authorities in Mongolia for many years, and continue to do so. One of our horseback expeditions into the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area is dedicated to Wilderness Preservation. Our Wilderness Conservation Adventure takes place every year in early August. Learn more..
Our Wilderness Conservation Adventure was awarded the National ENERGY GLOBE Award Mongolia 2017.
In the Gobi, where we previously were involved in a long term conservation project in Gobi Gurvan Saikhan National Park, we are working with local families and government to help protect wildlife and scenic landscapes as a Local Protected Area, and to give guests opportunity to join in these efforts.
Stone Horse Guests experience Responsible Tourism Practices
With all our backcountry travel, we work to live by a code of protecting the natural environment. A Stone Horse guest wrote on Trip Advisor: “Being Kiwi’s, it was a huge bonus to us knowing that Keith (co-owner/operator) had extensive conservation experience here in NZ. With that in mind, we knew that the adventure would be one built around respect for the locals and their environment.” See Review
Protection of the environment and improving livelihoods of local communities is something we have long taken very seriously and keep in mind on all our expeditions.
Travelers Against Plastic – TAP
We are a member of the initiative “Travelers Against Plastic” TAP, and strive to reduce plastic and eliminate single use plastics in all our operations. Learn more..