WHITEHAWK & WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Ethical Birding

For us at Whitehawk, the protection of birds and their habitat is a top priority. We are dedicated to organizing unique, rewarding, memorable tours centered on bird and wildlife observation, while keeping any disturbance to a minimum. In particular, we do not visit Harpy or Crested Eagle nests when they are in the courtship, nest-building, and incubation stages, and well as within the first few weeks after hatching. With the popularity of these birds, high human traffic to nest sites during these sensitive stages can easily cause undue stress on the birds and cause them to abandon the nest site. We avoid this at all costs. Our aim is to ensure the well-being of these (and all) the birds, to the best of our ability. In addition to this, our guides use discretion with the use of playbacks. We aim to minimize our impact on these wild birds, while still being able to enjoy and photograph the wildlife we encounter.

Reducing Single-use Plastics

We work very hard to avoid the use of single-use plastics in our daily lives. On our tours, we do not supply disposable plastic water bottles, rather we bring a large, reusable jug full of water and drinking cups. We encourage our tour participants to bring refillable water bottles. Lunches and snacks are provided in reusable containers, and metal utensils are provided. Reducing waste from our tours, especially single-use plastics, is part of our commitment.

Supporting Conservation

We donate a percentage of the profits from our tours to local wildlife conservation projects. This means that everyone who takes a trip with us contributes to the direct conservation of the birds they have traveled to see.

Our involvement in these efforts means that, at times, our clients may get to meet and converse with researchers, biologists, and educators directly involved in local projects. Where possible, we arrange presentations with local researchers or a visit to an active field site. We believe it is important for our clients to learn first hand about conservation activities and to be involved in them. We hope everyone who travels with Whitehawk returns home with a feeling that their journey had a meaning beyond the simple enjoyment of a holiday, and that they are contributing positively to wildlife conservation.

Whitehawk supports organizations through direct monetary support. We also provide support by visiting project sites and assisting in the field, and sharing updates on their accomplishments. We encourage all of our tour participants to explore ways that they can further assist these and other organizations for the preservation of birds and wildlife. Whitehawk is currently supporting the Snow Leopard Trust, one of the leading organizations conserving endangered Snow Leopards in the wild. In Panama we support, CREA, an organization working to promote ecological literacy and conservation of tropical biodiversity through sound research and education, and Fundacion Rapaces y Bosques de Panama, a non-profit conservation organization conserving forests in Darien, Panama. It focuses on the protection of raptors, particularly Harpy Eagles, through local capacity development, reforestation programs, scientific research, supporting student training and many other initiatives.