Top Family Holidays that Protect Forests, Family Traveller

At primary school, I was tasked with writing a rap about the destruction of the rainforest. Three of us dressed up as ‘evil’ loggers in Brazil and rhymed along the lines of “cutting down trees is our game, we love killing animals and feel no shame”. It was a memorable day, not only because it was the first and last time I got to rap on stage, but because I experienced that kind of frustration with the world that you think you’re going to explode.

Twenty-five years on and, tragically, little has changed. My kids are in the same state of exasperation — how can people possibly cut down a rainforest that has stood for thousands of years and provides a home for hundreds of animals, birds and critters?

No one knows this feeling better than Matthew Hansen, a conservation scientist, introduced to viewers on David Attenborough’s more hard-hitting documentary, Our Planet. Hansen’s job is to track live satellite images of deforestation all over the world. He’s almost in tears on screen as he reveals the shocking statistics — every minute we lose 20 football fields of forests, and it’s estimated that within 100-years there will be no rainforest left.

Besides from supporting vital habitats, there’s now another compelling reason to protect our forests. Forests absorb approximately 30% of the world’s carbon emissions, and although this fraction is shrinking as emissions rise and the volume of forest cover falls, trees still play a crucial role in our fight against climate change.

So what’s all this got to do with going on holiday? Well, while we might not have spare thousand-odd acres of land to fill with trees, nor may we feel like fighting a chainsaw Greenpeace-style, choosing where to go on holiday can help protect the world’s forests. The income made from tourism provides an economic incentive to keep a forest standing.

Trees also ignite little imaginations like no other landscape. There are dens to be built, bugs to hunt for, wildlife to watch, hidden tracks to run and bike through, and a sense of adventure at every turn.

Read the full article here. First published in print September 2019.