Apricot Tours’ Social Responsibility
Apricot Tours (Private) Limited is one of Pakistan’s few companies in the tourism industry that practices responsible tourism. The purpose of this practice is to maintain the country’s status as an optimal future destination for tourists by supporting sustainability for future generations of the nation. We try our best to:
• Demonstrate exemplary behaviour and respect for nature
• Ensure the safety of guests and treat them courteously
• Respect the rights of employees
• Have a positive impact on the local community
Driven by Nature
Apricot Tours decided some years ago on an environmental policy. Apricot Tours aims to minimize negative environmental impacts unavoidably caused by the company and to use resources as sensibly as possible.
The company systematically promotes corrective actions. Apricot Tours plants five trees for every foreign trekker who visits Pakistan for trekking to selected destinations e.g. Nanga Parbat.
We aim to contribute to “Goal 13: Climate Action” of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by planting trees over years to tackle climate change.
Ongoing Projects
Project 1 – Tree Plantation
| Apricot Tours' Social Responsibility |
| 1 foreign trekker = 5 trees |
| Apricot Tours will plant five trees for every foreign trekker who visits Pakistan for trekking to Nanga Parbat. The trees will be planted in the northern areas of Pakistan starting from 2019 as part of our CSR initiative. We aim to contribute to "Goal 13: Climate Action" of UN's Sustainable Development Goals by taking part in the massive government campaign to plant 10 billion trees during the next five years to tackle climate change. Pakistan's adverse climate impacts are very much visible through changing temperatures, prolonged droughts, increased floods and extreme weather conditions especially in Pakistan's mountain regions. Pakistan stands 7th on the list of countries that are mostly likely to be affected by global warming and has one of the highest deforestation rates in Asia. Decades of tree felling have reduced the country's forests to less than 3 percent of its total land area. How planting trees will make a difference? Planting trees will help save energy and money, cool our cities, reduce carbon emissions, reduce soil erosion, provide habitat for species of many kinds, provide clean water and add to the beauty of Pakistan's mountain region by simply being there. Our participants can also donate separately. Details on this initiative can be requested. |
Project 2 – Sponsorship of girl’s primary education
| Apricot Tours' Social Responsibility |
| 1 foreign trekker = 1 child's education |
| Apricot Tours will sponsor one girl's primary education for every foreign trekker who visits Pakistan for K2 adventures. The sponsorships will be for one year at local schools in the Karakoram on need basis. All our adventures to K2 are special to us because of the tough porters from the Balti community who make trekking and mountaineering in Karakoram possible and in 2019 we decided to give back to our remote mountain communities as part of our CSR initiative. How educating girls will makes a difference? Educating girls will help to reduce infant mortality rate, maternal mortality, child marriages, population explosion and malnutrition. At the same time, it will help to increase numbers of educated children, involvement in political process, support for diversity and co-existence. In conclusion, our initiative will contribute in improving socio economic growth that is much needed in the remote mountains of Karakoram. Our participants can also donate separately. Details on this initiative can be requested. |
Project 3 – The Porter Camps Project
Every year Apricot Tours is setting up dedicated camps for porters who would otherwise sleep in the open sky. Apricot Tours now hosts hundreds of porters because of our inititiative. The aim is to cover all camps and all porters who are the backbone of all trekking and climbing expeditions. This project is not restricted to Apricot Tours’s porters. It is open for all porters irrespective of their employing company.
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Project 4 – Donations of Safety Equipment & Other Gifts
Apricot Tours passionately helps its guests to disseminate basic equipment used on the trek. This includes equipment such as trekking shoes, down jackets, clothes, harness, etc. We also assist our guests in distribution of gifts such as stationery (coloring books, pen, pencils, bags) to children and other community members.
Distribution of Equipment donated by one of our guests to our Logistics Staff at Skardu Office (Karakoram)
