Planeterra Foundation

Voluntourism Partner: Planeterra Foundation

Planeterra is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development and support of small communities around the world. With its international partnerships, projects, and voluntours, Planeterra strives to be a global voice for voluntourism in the rising movement toward sustainability in travel.

Planeterra partners with graduate sustainable tourism programs of leading academic institutions as well as international organizations to work on policy development and capacity building of on-the-ground community development and conservation projects.

Strong links with the travel trade and expertise in marketing enables Planeterra to connect local organizations with industry to develop successful consumer products and sustainable micro-enterprises. This extensive set of partnerships strengthens Planeterra's commitment and ability to take powerful steps in sustainable community development through travel and voluntourism.

About Planeterra Projects

Planeterra Projects Through local organizations, international charities, and travel industry partners, Planeterra has developed a network of approximately 30 community projects around the world that focus on health, education, community development, micro-enterprise, environmental conservation and employment skills training with new projects and partnerships coming online every year.

Whatever and wherever the project, Planeterra has the insight, agility and technical and financial wherewithal to successfully see it through.

Planeterra was founded in 2003 by Gap Adventures to provide a way for travelers to give back to the people and places they visit. Gap Adventures continues to provide support to Planeterra by matching all individual donation dollars and paying all administration costs so that 200% of each donation goes directly to Planeterra programs.

Projects range from street children's programs in India, Peru and Bolivia, a micro-loan program in Honduras for women, access to clean water in Guatemala, preschools in South Africa and Tanzania, an "eye-camp" in Tibet to treat preventable blindness, and many more.

Community Forestry, Brazil

Community Forestry Brazil New in 2009, Planeterra is supporting the work of Trees for The Future (TFTF), a program with rural communities to reforest lands in Southern Brazil where some of the greatest losses of the world's tropical forest have taken place.

This initiative includes the planting of 450,000 trees and will provide five communities and local farmers of São Paulo State with access to training workshops and seedlings, so that they can increase food production, create natural barriers on their lands, provide shade and fodder for livestock and other animals.

Sustainable forestry and reforestation are methods that can help combat forest loss, and can be employed by local people to produce ecological and socio-economical benefits.

Ccaccaccollo Community, Peru

Ccaccaccollo Community Planeterra has developed a women's weaving project with the wives of cooks and porters working on the Inca Trail in Peru as a result of several years of travelers interacting with the people of this community. Passengers can meet the women to learn about the weaving process and purchase high quality textiles directly from them.

Past donations to the project through Planeterra have included construction materials for a community meeting center and indoor weaving area, a three-day dental clinic and purchasing eight Alpacas so the women have a continuous supply of wool.

By working with the Ccaccaccollo community, the men and women are being encouraged to be proud of their cultural heritage, enabling them to benefit from tourism in a way that avoids negative social and cultural impacts.

Planeterra's Voluntours

Voluntours Voluntourism is important in making tourism more sustainable, by providing travelers and communities a way to connect, to learn, to appreciate each other’s cultures and work towards a better future.

Planeterra's voluntours offer travelers a hands-on opportunity to make a direct and lasting contribution while experiencing true cultural immersion.

Travelers also give back through fundraising events and making donations to their projects of choice.

As Planeterra develops new partnerships and projects around the world, new voluntours are added each year. Currently there are 11 voluntours offered ranging from day care assistance for children in Rio's favelas to helping out at schools in South Africa and Kenya to working on sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica.

The People Behind Planeterra

The People Behind Planeterra Founder and CEO of Gap Adventures, Bruce Poon Tip, calls Planeterra a dream that came together after years of planning. As a company that strives to give back to local communities, continuing to support the Planeterra Foundation is a primary goal of Gap Adventures.

Director of Planeterra, Richard Edwards, says, "Our aim is to create lasting memories and meaningful relationships between travelers and local communities by providing all generations of travelers with ways to connect and give back to our valuable projects around the world." Sustainability Manager Liz Manning and Project Manager Danielle Weiss keep Planeterra's operations under control and help develop new projects, maintaining existing partnerships with local organizations and communities.

Visit www.planeterra.org for more information about Planeterra's worldwide projects and voluntours, and learn how you can get involved!

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