Lemala Camps
P.O.Box 14529, Arusha. Tanzania.
Protect the Environment, Support the Communities
Our ability to support our local communities, wildlife and people drives every decision that we make. We are fully committed to the sustainability of the Lemala brand in the short, mid and long term. Our various philanthropic projects reflect a deep commitment from the entire Lemala team, everyone is involved and everyone is passionate about looking after the communities, wildlife and people that enable us to call this very special corner of the planet ~ home.
Our social responsibility is vitally important to who we are and we are proud to share with you just how Lemala has remained committed to upholding these values and responsibilities. Take a further look into how we’ve supported our local environment and communities through employment, local food sourcing and how we have minimized our carbon footprint. By staying with us you can rest assured that you’re supporting one of the top companies in Africa that practice and adhere to the strictest of guidelines in conservation, education, empowerment and protecting the environment.
Local Matters
We are involved in a wide range of projects that support our local communities these include:
- Creating a hugely successful program to make and donate reusable sanitary pads to young village girls in rural areas who would otherwise be absent from school each month.
- Sponsoring a women’s empowerment group in Mto wa Mbu that employs 32 stay-at-home moms to make our 100% biodegradable lunch boxes, used in all our properties.
- Providing internships to young women and men from disadvantaged backgrounds with a promise of a full-time employment opportunity.
- Donating recycled desks from plastic left behind by other less reputable operators inside our national parks.
- Employing nine young men from a homeless shelter in Arusha, giving them a new and secure start in life.
Bikes for School – Ugandan students often live more than 10 kilometres away from school. They walk this stretch twice a day, six days in a week. A long, time-consuming hike that results in late coming and low concentration. With a bicycle students are faster and able to cover longer distances easily. The bicycles enable students to go to school, return home in time and to complete their household chores and still finish their homework, giving them a fair chance to complete their education and create opportunities for the future. Our donation enables CooP-Uganda to equip students with bicycles. Your support helps students perform better in school.
Supporting Local Talent – Tanzania and Uganda have so many incredibly talented artists that struggle to get recognition for their work, and therefore fail to generate any income from their art. We select an artist for each of our shops and showcase their work, the artists determine their own prices and 100% of the proceeds from the sales go directly to the artist.
Maasai Chief Lebolo is a very much loved and respected member of our extended Lemala Family. Chief trains and places askaris from his village in all our Lemala Camps & Lodges in Tanzania and provides an authentic Maasai boma experience for our Lemala guests. When our guests visit Chief in his village they learn about Maasai culture and about how he is prioritising girl child education and providing sustainable water and food sources for this generation and the next.
Community Walks in Uganda – A walk through the communities adjacent to Kalagala gives guests an authentic insight into how our staff and neighbouring communities live at home & to encourage guests to embrace and learn about their culture. During the tour you will visit our neighbour William who makes beautiful pottery on a peddle driven pottery wheel, taste Kangulumira’s renowned pineapples, see coffee and vanilla crops, watch women make local baskets, learn about brick making and much more. This tour is not only educational and fun – it also helps generate a sustainable revenue stream for our neighbours
Local Produce
Wherever possible, our food and supplies are sourced locally to ensure the surrounding communities reap the benefits of tourism on a commercial level. We purchase our coffee from estates in Karatu, dairy products from farms on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro and fresh fruit and vegetables from Arusha’s central market. We source our fish produce from Joseph, who works with his fellow fishermen on Tanzania’s Indian Ocean beaches. All fish are caught according to individual quota regulations and purchases are shared between the group. Dry goods are purchased from Arusha. Only 22% of our dry goods are imported, these are always items that are not grown or made in Tanzania but are essential to maintain our high standards of hospitality.
Protecting the Environment
We are leaders in using renewable energy with state of the art power and water systems ensuring that we:
We are proud to be supporters of The Serengeti De-snaring Program, a Program that plays a crucial role in safeguarding the Serengeti and its wildlife. Poaching for bushmeat is a huge conservation challenge in Serengeti National Park. Wire snares are set by poachers, which ensnare an animal for easy collection later. This type of illegal utilization of wildlife is indiscriminate – so although snaring mainly targets abundant species such as wildebeest, which are killed for their meat, the snares are also deadly traps for many other animals that are not targeted such as predators, giraffe or elephants. The Serengeti De-snaring program has removed over 100,000 wire snares from the park since 2017 and more than 600 animals have been released alive from snares – saved from a slow and painful death.
- Operate 100% off the grid with zero emissions and fuel usage, using solar energy in all locations.
Lead the way, removing plastic bottles from inside the national parks and conservation areas and upcycling them into school desks and chairs
- Completely eliminate single use plastic water bottles and provide clean drinking water throughout our properties by investing in reverse osmosis water treatment plants.
- We are the first company in Africa to give our guests 100% biodegradable and plastic-free lunch boxes.
- Recycle – what we take into the bush (if not biodegradable) we bring out.
- We have successfully eliminated plastic straws from every Lemala property.
- 30% of the steel used to build our Lemala Lodges is recycled steel from scrap metal.
