Lindblad believes that showing their guests the wonders of nature and authentic cultures will lead to a genuine appreciation and caring for the preservation of the places they visit.

The places they go are remarkable, but many are also fragile and threatened. They're committed to close involvement with host governments, and with those who dedicate themselves to conservation and working with indigenous peoples. Their goal is to build long-term relationships that will help sustain the places they visit. That way, we can help ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy and benefit from these areas, too.

Lindblad Expeditions is involved in dozens of projects around the world. Here are just a few:

The Galapagos Conservation Fund
The Galapagos Islands are unique, but the habitat is also uniquely endangered. Lindblad Expeditions has established the Galapagos Conservation Fund (GCF) in order to help channel donations by visitors to organizations and projects where the money will make a vital difference.

The GCF advisory board is composed of three experts with vast experience in the Galapagos -- Craig MacFarland, Miguel Cifuentes and Tui De Roy -- and meets regularly to decide on projects to be funded. Since 1997, guests traveling aboard Lindblad Expeditions' ship Polaris have donated over $950,000 -- a very significant sum of money, considering that the entire annual operating budget of the Galapagos National Park after salaries is just $600,000.

Projects supported by the GCF include the Galapagos National Park's only patrol boat that combats illegal commercial fishing; the eradication of wild pigs that compete with native wildlife; conservation education and several others.

Donations to the Galapagos Conservation Fund are tax-deductible under U.S. law, and may be sent to Galapagos Conservation Fund, 720 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10019.

Baja California Guide Training Program, Mexico

Lindblad Expeditions first helped organize a community-oriented guide training program in Baja California in 1995. Since then, this project has been providing local fishermen with intensive training in English and ecological principles, so that they can serve as environmental leaders and guides to the whale lagoons of the area. Graduates of the guide training program are hired as interns on Lindblad Expeditions' ships, Sea Lion and Sea Bird, to help give interpretation on our whale-watching programs.

In order to make this program possible, Lindblad Expeditions worked in close conjunction with a non-profit organization called the RARE Center to donate office space, instructional staff and extensive support in developing the curriculum.

Helping the RARE Center's Efforts in the Caribbean
Since 1991, Lindblad Expeditions has contributed extensively to RARE's efforts toward conservation education and preserving tropical environments. With our help, RARE has mobilized popular opinion to help preserve unique indigenous forests and parrot species, and taught tens of thousands of schoolchildren about conservation. Furthermore, local residents have been able to enjoy their natural heritage by using forest trails built with funds we helped raise.

Lindblad Expeditions and the RARE Center also worked together on a program to train naturalist guides in Costa Rica.

Kids at Sea
In 1993, Lindblad Expeditions began working with the New York City High School for Environmental Studies. Each year since then, about a dozen carefully selected students have joined our voyages aboard the Sea Lion and Sea Bird in Baja California and Alaska, in the company of Lindblad Expeditions naturalists. These students do extensive preparation for their journey, and afterwards produce detailed reports, journals, illustrations and photographs of their experiences. The program culminates with a grand presentation and open house back home.

Lindblad Expeditions Environmental Management System
In the 21st century, every company in every industry has a responsibility to be aware of their impacts on the environment, and to do their best to minimize those impacts as much as possible. We believe that a commitment to environmental responsibility and efficiency must be the accepted minimum standard for the travel industry, and real opportunities lie in proactive involvement with a company's geographic interests. As a company grows, it becomes more important to define policies, systems, and practices, to ensure that the company environmental ethic is maintained and embraced by new employees.

In order to implement our environmental policy, we have developed a detailed environmental management system (EMS) for the entire company, which has been approved by an external certification body.

We have developed our EMS from the ground up, taking advantage of the strong inherent environmental commitment of so many of our employees. Each ship and office have environmental site teams who are responsible for monitoring environmental impacts, setting targets and plans to meet those targets, and gathering ideas for continual improvement.

Our EMS solidifies our consideration of environmental impacts of all company activities, and ensures that we are always working to improve our environmental efficiency. The system is also designed to cultivate an important sense of environmental leadership, ownership, participation, and communication among our employees.

Environmental Policy Statement
Lindblad Expeditions is deeply committed to the protection and conservation of the environments in which we live and visit, and equally committed to communicating awareness of environmental responsibility to others. The continual improvement of our environmental performance in all of our operations is a high priority for everyone in the company, and will be demonstrated by the implementation and maintenance of our corporate Environmental Management System (EMS) and adhering to this environmental policy.

Our intention is to minimize the environmental impacts of the significant aspects of our activities as identified in our initial environmental review, and to continually seek creative ways to engage our guests, suppliers, and industry colleagues in furthering their role in conservation support.

· On our ships, we endeavor to reduce emissions, solid waste, and effluent by the most economically viable application of the best available technology, and by adopting the principles of pollution prevention. In our office and field activities, we endeavor to minimize our waste, reduce our consumption, and minimize our impacts on the places we visit. To do this, we have set environmental objectives and targets with the goal of continually improving our environmental performance.

· Every employee is expected to perform their work in a manner compatible with our EMS and the company's policies and objectives. We ensure that all employees are aware of these policies and objectives, and participate in the EMS.

· Lindblad Expeditions is committed to compliance with all international, federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations applicable to the areas in which we operate. In places without existing legislation, we will set our own corporate standards to meet our overall objective of continual improvement of our environmental performance.

· We will ensure that environmental issues and the views of interested parties, employees, and local communities are considered in strategic decisions.

· We will continually relate the environmental effects of our operations to our business objectives, and all new and proposed operations and activities will be evaluated prior to approval to assess their likely environmental impacts.

· Finally, we will conduct regular environmental reviews and audits to ensure compliance with our policies and procedures. As an environmentally responsible organization, we will actively improve our environmental performance and promote our conservation efforts.

Sven-Olof Lindblad
Chairman & CEO
Lindblad Expeditions

To check availability or receive additional information on travelling with Lindblad Expeditions drop us a note, or call.... 800-777-7739