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One Planet Living and Singita: celebrating an eight-year journey

As Singita makes the switch to using a tourism-specific framework, we look back at eight years of One Planet Living success
Singita Solar Panels
Ben Gill
Ben Gill
11 September 2024 | minute read
Leisure, sport and tourism, One Planet Living Action Plan, One Planet Living

Singita is a leading sustainable tourism company, which boasts two One Planet Living Leaders – Singita Southern and East Africa and Singita Grumeti, and it operates 15 eco-tourism lodges and camps in Southern and East Africa.

Bioregional is immensely proud to have worked with Singita for the last eight years, supporting the development of its One Planet Living action plan back in 2016, and undertaking and publishing a review every year. As Singita switches to using a more Africa-focused and tourism-specific framework, we wish everyone at the organisation all the best on their future journey.

Here are just some of the highlights from the last eight years:

  • the near elimination of single-use plastic across all lodges
  • the implementation of a solar array that has met over 70% of the electricity needs of Singita Krugar National Park for seven years
  • the opening of a new lodge in Rwanda with an average carbon footprint per guest that’s half that of comparable lodges
  • the establishment of a second culinary school, doubling the annual number of local people trained to become high-class chefs from 15 to 30
  • An exemplary response to Covid that saw no job losses across the Southern African properties and the lowest salaries protected for the longest
Rhino at Singita credit: Singita

Singita’s conservation and community model has also grown and developed. Its ‘100 Year Vision’ - to preserve Africa's wilderness areas for future generations through a combination of conservation work and eco-friendly tourism - is now underpinned by a three-fold impact approach.

Using One Planet Living and working with Bioregional over the past eight years has been an incredibly positive partnership. (And it really was a partnership - we didn't want an audit 'tick box'.) One Planet Living really helped train our staff and get everyone buying in - it's so simple to understand.

Andrea Ferry, Sustainability Co-ordinator, Singita
Andrea

Singita’s community development work has always looked to support the communities outside the protected areas, and now the conservation work is following the same approach by supporting the protection of the surrounding area and 'buffer' areas - the 'upstream' ecosystems/landscapes that feed into their conservation areas.

Singita has also run into challenges that we have seen on other non-newbuild One Planet Living projects, such as retrofitting inefficient infrastructure for both energy and water, which has been a story of two steps forward and one step back. Systems have been upgraded and improved, but this has failed to match increased demand, so for some Lodges, carbon emissions have actually increased. Singita also faces more bespoke challenges, such as a lack of off-road electric vehicles.

We understand that plans are in progress to address the carbon emissions from some of the existing projects, and we are confident that Singita will continue to strive to align its sustainability strategies with planetary requirements as opposed to industry benchmarks.

It’s been a joy to see how Singita has used One Planet Living to make it a leader in the world of conservation tourism, and we look forward to following the next steps of its journey.

Singita Serengeti

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