King Pacific Lodge Eco Tourism, BC
Floating Lodge Anchored at Barnard Harbour, British Columbia
Princess Royal Island in the Great Bear Rainforest is home to King Pacific Lodge, a top eco tourism destination in BC.
The eco tourism movement has taken the travel industry by storm. Visitors are demanding more from the hotels they stay at and are more conscious of their ecological footprints every time they travel. But the term “Eco Tourism” has many different variations, some offering little in making green travel a reality.
King Pacific Lodge (1-888-987-5452), an eco resort anchored at Barnard Harbour on the Princess Royal Island, BC, has taken some dramatic steps in reducing their carbon footprint and living up to the term “Eco Tourism.” Unlike some hotel chains, who encourage guests to use less towels and count themselves as part of the green travel movement, King Pacific Lodge is taking some legitimate steps towards making a real difference.
Travel to the Great Bear Rainforest This Year
The latest eco tourism initiative the King Pacific Lodge has launched is the “Playing for Good’ enviro-challenge. The premise begins with guests’ desire for adventure. Travelling to the Great Bear Rainforest makes seeing the rare Kermode “Spriti Bear” or listening to the passing Orcas' conversations on hydrophones, everyday options.
The lodge goes one step further this year, however. It challenges guests to kayak farther, hike longer, and discover the valuable history of the indigenous people. In exchange, it’ll donate money to local conservation organizations that it works with on maintaining this extraordinary area of the British Columbia. Are you up for the challenge?
Eco Adventure in BC’s Vast Wilderness
In order to qualify for donations to be given, guests must complete one of the following activities, each one awarding $100 CDN to partners Hartley Bay School. Either kayak five miles in an open water circumnavigation of Ashdown Island, master the Sm’algyax language guide on a cultural tour of the territory, or release three salmon caught on self-tied flies.
Other activities garner the same donation to the North Coast Cetacean Society or the Gitga’at Cultural Centre. Try your hand at capturing four marine or land animals on your camera, catching two of three bears of the Great Bear Rainforest by photograph, or getting to the summit of X Mountain and snapping three edible plant species. If you can manage to complete seven activities, a whopping $1,000 CDN will be donated to the Hartley Bay School on your behalf.
“We have long viewed King Pacific Lodge as our partners in business, conservation and social equity” said Ernie Hill, principal of the Hartley Bay School and the Eagle Chief of the Gitga’at. “They are part of the community. They have stood beside the Gitga’at in so many ways. This new program allows their guests to be part of that- to belong in our territory.”
Real Eco Tourism
This new initiative isn’t the first thing King Pacific Lodge has done to help preserve the environment. It was the first private operator to sign a working protocol with the Gitga’at Nation in order to work together to protect this unique area. The groups now have a student mentoring program, an elders’ breakfast program, joint educational initiatives and hospitality training programs on the go.
"We are the first hotel in Canada, and perhaps anywhere, to offset the carbon emissions of guests' round-trip air travel," said Michael Uehara, president of King Pacific Lodge. "We believe this is a very important step, but it is only the first step in a multi-faceted plan to reduce the lodge's carbon footprint by 50 percent over the next five years."
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