Explore are members of the Travel Operators for Tigers campaign (TOFT). This is a travel industry body which works together with suppliers in India's wildlife reserves to ensure the environmental and business practice of all proactively supports conservation and motivates the local community to protect the tiger. TOFT directs a significant proportion of its funding to Global Tiger Patrol to support specific conservation and anti-poaching measures. For more information on TOFT visit http://www.toftigers.org

Morocco Education Project

Very few girls from the rural communities in the High Atlas get the opportunity to continue their education after primary school due to the distance and lack of suitable accommodation. To address this problem, the Moroccan NGO,
Education For All, supported heavily by the Imlil Village Association, is building a girls' boarding house at Asni which will accommodate 24 girls when complete in September 2008. Already, 8 girls are being looked after in rented accommodation under this scheme and we are delighted to be sponsoring 3 of them for a year.

Click here for the latest update on Asni boarding house for girls.

To lend your support go to http://www.justgiving.com/morocco

Our Sri Lankan Elephant!

In September 2007, Explore became proud adoptive parents to a beautiful baby elephant who was rescued and transferred to the Elephant Transit Home at Udawalawe National Park when she was only 3 or 4 days old. We have 'adopted' her and our sponsorship will keep her fed and in vet's bills until she is old enough to be released into the wild at around 4 years old.
To read more about the Elephant Transit Home click here

India

We are sponsoring a school in the fishing village of Pudupattinam near Mamallapuram, South India, through Hope Worldwide. Our donation has supplied a teacher for the year.

You can read more about Hope Worldwide's work in Pudupattinam and Explore's support of Hope's work in the region which also includes the Asharan Orphange in Dehli.

Take a look at the Pudu School Report.

Tsunami Support

Explore, its staff, customers and friends raised over £28,000 following the 2004 tsunami and sent over 8,000kgs to the affected areas. To read more, click on the links below:

• Tsunami Update
• Tsunami 6 Month Update
• Tsunami 1 Year Update
  
  

The Sunshine Project in Luxor cares for abandoned children. In a country where the family is so important, unwanted children carry a great stigma that can affect them for the rest of their lives. State resources are stretched so Sunshine is working to give these children a decent start in life by providing a caring home and schooling. This is a small but very dedicated organisation and travellers to Luxor will be able to visit the children if they wish. Gifts and donations are always welcome - see the Sunshine Website to see what kind of gifts are most appropriate.

Galapagos Conservation Trust

Whilst we're keen to take you to the Galapagos, we're doubly keen on conserving the islands for the future. So, as part of our continuing support, Explore has joined the Galapagos Conservation Trust (GCT), a non-profit organisation that protects this unique environment. The GCT website has details on visiting and conservation, plus a fund-raising forum for projects such as training local people and monitoring white-tipped reef sharks.
www.savegalapagos.org

Explore supports the Gorilla Organisation (formerly the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Europe) which is working to conserve all of Africa's gorillas - mountain and lowland. In Uganda the organisation has a variety of pioneering projects which enable local people and gorillas to live alongside each other, including providing alternative incomes to the use of forest resources, education and inclusion of local people in conservation initiatives. www.gorillas.org

A quirky name but a simple concept! Send A Cow provides breeding livestock - not just cows but poultry, sheep and goats...even fruit trees - to the poorest members of the community. They also train beneficiaries in better farming techniques to enable them to grow sufficient food for their families and to generate income. Offspring are passed on to another member of the community so that the benefit is spread and shared. A grassroots initiative that makes a real difference to the most needy. To read more about the Wuchale-Jidda Project.

To find out more go to www.sendacow.org.uk/

Mufindi Orphanage Tanzania

Conservative estimates suggest that over 8% of the population of Tanzania (over 1.5m people) are affected by HIV/AIDS. Children are the biggest casualties of this 'epidemic', either being infected from birth or losing their parents to the disease. In a country where the average income is around $30 a month, the extended family struggles to take these children in. Our suppliers in the Mufindi Highlands have started a project to build a village for these children that, once completed, will care for around 70 local children in a family environment. Travellers to Mufindi will be able to witness the work in progress.

Read about the latest updates from Mufindi

The late Travers Cox, co-founder of Explore, was a vociferous supporter of Friends of Conservation.

Founded in 1982 to prevent degradation of the Masai Mara, FOC now runs conservation projects worldwide and is committed to working with local people to promote a balance between their needs and those of the wildlife with which they share their natural habitat.

Current projects extend from cheetah conservation in Namibia, preservation of the wetlands of Costa Rica to children's educational projects in the Seychelles.

To find out more go to Friends of Conservation

Cycling Nomads - Argentina to Alaska

Explore are sponsoring two of our tour leaders as they set off in November 2008 on a two year 15,000 mile cycling expedition from Argentina to Alaska. Their goal is to raise £20,000 for Julia's House Hospice and SOS Children's Villages.

http://www.cyclingnomads.com

Gift aid and giving

We hope that you will consider continuing the support of these worthwhile causes once you return home. Most donations in the UK can be made with Gift Aid which enables the charity to claim an extra 28p for every £1 given. For this reason, in most cases we do not accept donations directly whilst on tour.

Note that we are unable to pass on gifts to individuals or organisations on your behalf due to airline security and luggage restrictions. However we will gladly assist you with information on where to send such articles.