Conservation & Sustainability

Maintaining
a balance

Ever since we first began planning our camps, Bushtops has put progressive conservation and environmental policies front and centre of our thinking. Here is how it works in practice.

Our Environment

At Mara Bushtops we operate a unique leasehold partnership with local Maasai tribes governing the surrounding 6,500 hectare (25 square mile) Isaaten Conservancy. In discussion with village elders, we have established protected areas, management plans and codes of conduct to ensure that land is maintained in a way which balances cattle grazing needs with wildlife preservation. These efforts have enabled tribes to maintain their traditions but expand beyond livestock herding, generating new and sustainable income. Wildlife has benefited from more secure grazing and breeding areas, through greater numbers of predators and prey alike. Rent paid to the community helps maintain livelihoods, as does local employment. Extra revenue is used to fund community healthcare and education projects.

As a founder member of the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association, we are profoundly invested in this form of sustainable development. Since 2013 the MMWCA has brought together landowners, communities, tourism partners and conservationists to ensure governance of the highest standards, protecting wildlife and habitats whilst ensuring the Maasai benefit directly from conservation. This amplifies our long-held commitment to preserving the landscape in which we work, whilst supporting the communities who were here long before us.

We were the first Conservancy to adopt EarthRanger software to monitor wildlife, cattle and human movements, driving informed decision-making about how to manage the ecosystem (we demonstrate this during visits to our Conservation Office which is also part of the ‘Bushcraft Challenge’ enjoyed by young visitors).

We actively support a range of local conservation and monitoring projects dedicated to respectively elephant, lion, cheetah and giraffe populations.

Staying Sustainable in the Mara

Across all our camps, we manage water, energy and waste with the greatest of care. At Mara Bushtops, for example, 32 photovoltaic solar panels and a large bank of special batteries generate enough power and hot water to run the camp for 20 hours on an average day. On cloudy days, a wood-burning heater supplements the panels, with a specially-planted woodland area of fast-growing indigenous trees providing a sustainable source of firewood (which we augment with eco-briquettes).

We grow our own food, from parsley to coriander, lettuce to beans and tomatoes to carrots, alongside traditional Kenyan vegetables. We avoid plastic wherever possible and conserve water through wetland filtration and recycling, turning wastewater into drinking water. To fight packaging waste, Bushtops buys supplies in bulk and transports fresh vegetables from the market in reusable boxes. Sugar, butter, jam and honey are served in small bowls and dishes rather than wasteful individual packs. All biodegradable waste is composted, whilst non-biodegradable recyclable waste is sent to Nairobi to be processed.

Minimising our footprint in Tanzania

We have extended innovations initially introduced at Mara Bushtops, our largest and longest-established camp, to Serengeti Bushtops and Roving Bushtops in Tanzania which operate around the same principles of protecting wildlife, conserving natural resources and ensuring that tourism benefits the local people. As in Kenya, we reduce, reuse, recycle and minimise single-use plastic. Our guests and staff use reusable water bottles. Waste materials are sorted on site and disposed of responsibly.

At Serengeti Bushtops, 48 photovoltaic solar panels and a large bank of special batteries generate about 80% of the power and hot water needed to run the camp. Our commitment to Wildlife & Habitat Protection means that all park rules are strictly followed by our staff, who report any sighting of illegal activity, injured animals or poaching to the park authorities.

Our bespoke camp accommodation at Roving Bushtops travels between locations in fold out boxes, designed to combine luxury with self-sufficient environmental best practices. Each features premium oak veneers and natural stone, plus yacht-inspired water, wastewater and toilet waste systems. Solar power provides hot water and electricity, with stored energy and a backup generator ensuring reliable 24-hour service. This means that modern comforts such as refrigeration, wi-fi, internet and communications are constantly available, while the camp remains mobile and low-impact.

Our Tanzanian camps employ as many staff members from the local Kuria community as possible, including former poachers as guides and spotters: alternative employment and education have turned them into ardent conservationists. Guides often visit Kenya to learn about our wider Conservation work.

Across our three camps we employ approximately 220 staff at any one time, creating career paths for the people who make our camps outstanding.

We make a particular effort to support and invest in the next generation. All three of our camps actively engage with local schools, developing infrastructure and facilities. Over the years this has led us to drill bore holes and connect pipelines, build classrooms, create libraries, construct computer rooms and add washrooms. We help with supplies of everything from beds to food: a recently introduced feeding programme ensures more than a thousand children across three schools get a good breakfast and hot lunch every school day. Across the camps, direct involvement has helped local schools with teaching assignments such as food hygiene and preparation; supporting an environmental club (enabling local children to participate in game drives); planting trees; initiating a mentoring programme; and promoting awareness about gender equality and balance.

For almost two decades we have run a program where guests can sponsor pupils through primary school. Initially this was part of an initiative to create an educational path for girls: now hundreds of girls and boys have benefited from paid-for boarding. Many guests take up the offer of a school visit, whilst some provide valuable gifts such as stationery and sports kit.

Bushtops founder Claudia Stuart coordinates all infrastructure, resource and sponsorship activities to ensure that every initiative and contribution delivers robust, sustainable improvements.

Our Duty

These initiatives are not designed to burnish Bushtops’ reputation. They reflect a core belief that everyone is morally obliged to contribute to society. Creating luxurious safari experiences which respect people and the land is an expensive business, but also a welcome duty for a family enterprise whose Kenyan roots go back four generations – to a time when animals were shot with guns not cameras. Today we are doing all we can to help build a kinder, more sustainable future.

Reconnecting with nature

Creating luxurious safari experiences which respect people and the land is an expensive business, but also a welcome duty. Our Kenyan roots go back four generations, to a time when animals were shot with guns not cameras. Today, we seek a more harmonious future, never forgetting that this combination of luxury standards and good stewardship has to deliver stunningly memorable holidays for individuals, couples and families.

So in everything we do, our aim is to help our guests reconnect with what really matters: nature, time and our shared human spirit.

See our progress