Tips for finding eco-holidays and volunteer vacation opportunities

Increasingly popular, eco-holidays allow you to explore the beauty of the natural environment or gain a greater understanding of local cultures without contributing to their decline.

Here are some tips for finding a holiday that you will be comfortable taking.

• Check the credentials of the tour organization by contacting the company itself, talking to travel agents and surfing the Internet.
• Ask whether the organization hires local people and uses local services in the communities it visits.
• Find out if the accommodation is appropriate to local conditions. Will you be staying in mid-range, locally owned hotels or guesthouses or in an international-brand hotel?
• Feedback from other travellers can be invaluable, so log onto Internet chat rooms – travel guides list some of the best ones.

A holiday spent volunteering is a great way to get to know local people and the environment, as well as to make a real difference. Here are some ways you can volunteer while on your vacation.

• Assist scientists in their work with the Earthwatch Institute. This international non-profit organization puts people in the field to help scientists working on rainforest conservation and similar projects. You can choose from more than 130 expeditions in 47 countries.
• Support charitable work by undertaking an overseas challenge – such as cycling through Vietnam, Cambodia or Sri Lanka – as part of the Oxfam Challenge. Participants must qualify by meeting a fundraising target first, whereby the proceeds are split between the costs of the trip and supporting overseas charitable work.
• Help educate children in the Peruvian Andes, raising their living standard and general health, by volunteering with Peru's Challenge. Volunteers book their own trips and devote some of their travel time to the project.
• Clean up some of the world's beauty spots by booking a tour that allows you to devote a day to tidying Mount Sinai in Egypt or Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, just to name a few. These tours sometimes coincide with the Clean Up the World initiative every September.