Sustainability at &Beyond
Written by Nina van Zyl
“30 years ago, we began an adventure into the unknown. We wanted to be pioneers of a new way of travel...”
For the last 30 years, &Beyond has continued to forge an incomparable hospitality vision by seamlessly blending luxury with sustainability. Their 29 iconic properties are located in some of the world's most spectacular and unspoiled locales — ranging from the savannahs of Africa to the rainforests of South America.
What truly sets &Beyond apart is its unwavering commitment to ethical and sustainable tourism. Their ethos is centred around empowering local communities, preserving the environment, and providing guests with an unforgettable experience that leaves a positive impact.
In a world where travel has become synonymous with carbon emissions and environmental degradation, &Beyond stands out as a beacon of hope, offering a model for sustainable tourism that is both inspiring and sophisticated. Read on to uncover some of their inspiring and pioneering work.
&Beyond’s Impact Model
&Beyond is big on impact and has taken a proactive approach towards sustainable tourism. &Beyond’s impact model — and every decision — is centred around their core ethic of: Care of the Land, Care of the Wildlife, and Care of the People.
Care of the Land
Care of the Land emphasises minimising the physical footprint that lodges and camps leave on a destination's land and oceans. Their 3 goals under Care of the Land are:
To reduce their carbon footprint by 8%
Use water sustainably
Use no plastic water bottles
As of 2020, 54% of & Beyond's operations were powered by renewable energy. 100% of their properties are audited using a sustainability checklist to ensure their lodges and camps are built efficiently with little environmental impact. This includes a range of sustainable and energy-efficient elements, such as using compacted earth walls that re-use material from the site, which simultaneously reduces the carbon footprint and acts as a natural temperature regulator.
&Beyond places significant emphasis on water saving and water re-use through effective water management schemes. &Beyond has an active system of measuring water usage at all their properties. This data is then used to implement specific water-saving strategies on-site. In 2020, 68% of lodges and camps had installed Hydraloop above-ground wastewater treatment plants. This recycled greywater is used to irrigate gardens and clean solar panels.
&Beyond has installed water bottling plants at all their lodges and camps, reducing their overall plastic bottle usage by 90%. This reduction is equivalent to 740,000 plastic bottles annually.
At their Botswana camps, &Beyond has saved over 16 tons of cardboard packaging through a collaboration with MackAir, using a 'cool freight' solution to deliver perishables to the camps. These specially designed reusable containers reduce single-use cardboard and other packaging, decreasing the need for waste removal trucks in remote regions of Botswana.
Care of the Wildlife
Care of the Wildlife is their robust conservation strategy, which prioritises the conservation of endangered marine and land wildlife. Their 3 goals under this pillar are to:
Protect at least 3 endangered land or marine species
Actively manage wildlife population for biodiversity
Support wildlife conservation education
As pioneers of responsible tourism, &Beyond’s model of reforming and conserving biodiversity has included animal relocations and reintroductions. In addition, a strong foundation of research and monitoring has allowed &Beyond to positively impact several threatened or endangered species. Their inspiring conservation efforts have been developed in collaboration with several pioneering conservation groups, such as Oceans Without Borders, Rhinos Without Borders, Lionscape Coalition, WWF, and the African Pangolin Working Group.
Between 2004 and 2020, 269 rhinos were individually tagged by the Phinda Conservation Team at Phinda Private Game Reserve in South Africa. This task force has also dehorned several rhinos as a deterrent to poachers, while those in vulnerable areas have been translocated to game reserves and national parks elsewhere for their protection. Due to their high genetic diversity, the cheetah population on &Beyond Phinda is considered the most important on fenced reserves in Southern Africa — excluding the Kruger National Park. As of 2020, 41 cheetah cubs had reached independence, 58 had been translocated elsewhere, and 25 adults were still in Phinda.
&Beyond has also proactively monitored vulnerable and iconic sea turtle species for the last 20 years. This includes counting the number of nests and hatchlings per season.
Under goal 2, Phinda had contributed 36.52 million South African Rands to protecting the Mun-Ya-Wana Conservancy — a collaboration between private and community land owners in the KwaZulu-Natal region surrounding &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve. &Beyond manages the wider conservancy, and investments are used to protect the 7 distinct habitats found in the area, including the inhabitants, such as rhino, cheetah, leopard, lion, and pangolin.
The 3rd goal is to imbue an appreciation, respect and understanding of the natural resources surrounding children and adults living in the communities surrounding &Beyond's camps and lodges. Between 2018 and 2020, 16,000 conservation lessons were conducted across &Beyond's destinations.
Care of the People
The 3rd tenet is Care of the People, which constitutes their community development strategy wherein &Beyond aims to maximise localised shared value opportunities through:
Economic benefit
Capacity building
Social service infrastructure
&Beyond is ensuring local economic benefit by sourcing more than 50% of lodges' and camps' needs from local communities. Additionally, more than 65% of all lodge and camp employees are locals. To build capacity among local people, &Beyond ensures that local community members can develop skills and further their education. With the Community Leaders Education Fund (CLEF) — an Africa Foundation programme — &Beyond has invested more than 3.5 million South African Rands into bursaries for local students and young adults. The last goal sees &Beyond collaborating with local community members to identify needed social infrastructure projects. Some of &Beyond's projects include building and maintaining creches, schools, and clinics. With the Africa Foundation, &Beyond also invests in providing communities with essential services, such as access to ablutions, electricity, and safe water access sites, among many others.
A round-up of &Beyond’s recent impact statistics:
2 000 staff employed
9 million acres of protected land
3 000 km of impacted coastline
76 communities impacted globally
Awards for sustainability and impact
&Beyond is globally recognised as a sustainable tourism giant. This is reflected in the prestigious awards they have received in recent years, including:
World Travel Market (WTM) World Responsible Tourism silver award for Transparent Reporting
World Travel & Tourism Council Finalist in the Communities Category
Responsible Tourism Tanzania winners for best in UN Sustainable Development Goals
Gold Key awarded Sossusvlei Desert Lodge the best Eco or Socially Conscious Hotel
Some of our favourite &Beyond stays:
&Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge
&Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge offers a unique and luxurious experience in the heart of the Namib Desert. The lodge offers stunning, panoramic views of the surrounding desert, as well as luxury amenities such as infinity pools, spa treatments, and private dining areas.
The &Beyond Tengile River Lodge is a luxurious safari lodge situated in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve in South Africa. The beautifully-designed lodge has 11 spacious suites all with private lap pools, outdoor showers, and views of the river.
Perched high against a cliff, Phinda Rock Lodge offers stunning views of the Zululand valley. The lodge boasts an impressive infinity pool, an elevated viewing deck, and a boma area, perfect for an outdoor dinner under the African night sky.
Set on the banks of the Xakanaxa Lagoon in Botswana’s Okavango, Nxabega is a rustic yet elegant tented lodge surrounded by lush vegetation. On offer are unique activities to experience the Delta, like night drives and mokoro excursions.
In Botswana's remote and rugged Savute region, Savute Under Canvas is a mobile camp offering an immersive African experience. Nestled in a shady grove of trees, the camp provides excellent game-viewing opportunities, including the famous Savute elephant herd.
“Travel has evolved from the adage of taking only photos and leaving only footprints. The world’s wild places need us to do better than that. Now it’s about taking memories and leaving a legacy.” - Joss Kent
As a leader in sustainable tourism, &Beyond has demonstrated that environmental protection, conservation and economic growth can go hand in hand. With their innovative and far-reaching impact model, &Beyond has created a positive ripple effect beyond wildlife conservation and into the heart of local communities. Through this approach, &Beyond has created a legacy of sustainability and hope for a better tomorrow. We could not be prouder to partner with &Beyond and offer conscious travellers the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy.
Head to our trips page to start planning your next adventure with &Beyond, or check out our Instagram page to follow along on our journey.