TOSCO celebrates 10 year anniversary
In 2012, tour guide FĂ©lix Vallat had a dream. He wanted to strengthen the relationship between the tourism industry, in which he worked, and conservationists and communities who needed more…
Read MoreTOSCO (Tourism Supporting Conservation Trust) is the leading organisation in promoting responsible travel in Namibia, by bringing tourism into harmony with nature.
Tourism is one of the fastest-growing industries worldwide and in Namibia. With its wide-open landscapes, free-roaming wildlife and authentic traditional cultures, Namibia will continue to be an inspiration for travellers from all around the world. For tourism to be sustainable, it needs to support the conservation efforts that secure the natural resources that the industry depends on.
TOSCO is an NGO that offers tourism businesses a platform to link travel to positive conservation outcomes, by supporting the communities that look after it. Rural communities have been central to Namibia’s conservation success story, and so the relationship between tourism and nature can only be strengthened and deepened when travel contributes to poverty alleviation and rural economic development. This way, communities can benefit from maintaining a healthy environment.
This is how TOSCO assists tourism businesses in being the responsible agents that travellers are looking for.
Travel responsibly, the Namibian way!
Our vision is for tourism and nature to flourish in harmony. Tourism members go up as natural ecosystems grow more diverse and spectacular, whilst benefiting local communities for the natural resources that they conserve, in a self-sustainable and infinite way.
We promote responsible travel by linking tourism and conservation within three key themes:
By becoming a TOSCO member you join a growing movement of responsible tourism businesses that together want to ensure a sustainable future for travel in Namibia.
In 2012, tour guide FĂ©lix Vallat had a dream. He wanted to strengthen the relationship between the tourism industry, in which he worked, and conservationists and communities who needed more…
Read MoreThe Namibian Dolphin Project (NDP), A non-profit, research and conservation organization run by several independent scientists and educators, has been working in Walvis Bay and LĂĽderitz since 2008. Their primary…
Read MoreTOSCO and PAKO teamed up to make learning fun while explaining the importance of conservation and looking after Namibia's natural resources and wildlife through cartoons.
Read More“TOSCO is a committed organization that uses tourism as a vehicle to support community-based wildlife conservation initiatives in northwestern Namibia. TOSCO played an instrumental role in assisting the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism with human-wildlife conflict, particularly the conflict between the arid-adapted lions and the local farmers in Kunene Region. TOSCO's support and involvement have led to reduced human-lion conflict incidences and have further improved the capacity of the local communities to respond to human-lion conflict incidences”
“In my capacity as the Director of the Namibia Association for CBNRM Support Organizations (NACSO) and having a long working relation with TOSCO, I can gladly attest to their significant contribution in promoting responsible tourism and being a link between community conservation and the tourism industry, especially in north western Namibia. By acquiring broader support in terms of funding, it will enable their activities, as an institution, to further contribute to the broader CBNRM goals”
“TOSCO identifies conservation priority needs on the ground and provides timely and well-directed assistance. In this way, the tourism sector is able to achieve high-impact conservation linked to community development. (...) Their potential to continue to grow and expand their work once the impacts of COVID have passed is significant. Your assistance in helping them get through the next year is important and would be greatly appreciated by both the tourism and conservation sectors"
“I came to learn about TOSCO by watching what they do, they speak less and do more. They have been critical in providing exceptional support to a variety of projects in the northwest. As a new upcoming support agency, their footprint in terms of support and the impact of their assistance is visible in the northwest. My feeling is that they will get their hands dirty with the massive task that they have recently embarked on in close collaboration with IRDNC and MEFT that of minimizing elephant related damages to community properties such as gardens and water points”
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My immense love for the natural world made me want to devote my life to conservation from an early age. My MSc in Tourism, Society, and Environment in the Netherlands grew my passion for the role sustainable tourism can take in conservation. As an avid traveler, I understand why exploring the unknown can be so enriching for many of us and I hope future generations can still enjoy traveling. I am originally from the Netherlands, and arrived in Namibia in 2016. It appeared the ultimate country to learn what successful conservation is about.
I could not have found a better organisation than TOSCO to involve tourism in the conservation equation. I joined TOSCO in 2019, initially coordinating the Desert Lion Program, and then became manager in 2020. Apart from that, I am involved in the Wildlife Credits program on behalf of TOSCO, partnering with WWF Namibia and CCFN. Through TOSCO and working with rural communities and other conservation partners, I really got to understand what successful conservation is about. I am very excited to grow TOSCO further with the team, broadening the connection between tourism and conservation by getting more of the tourism industry to join our movement, and deepening this connection by making conservation an integral part of tourism and the travel experience. I believe TOSCO with its team and programs can make a real difference!
My immense love for the natural world made me want to devote my life to conservation from an early age. My MSc in Tourism, Society, and Environment in the Netherlands grew my passion for the role sustainable tourism can take in conservation. As an avid traveler, I understand why exploring the unknown can be so enriching for many of us and I hope future generations can still enjoy traveling. I am originally from the Netherlands, and arrived in Namibia in 2016. It appeared the ultimate country to learn what successful conservation is about.
I could not have found a better organisation than TOSCO to involve tourism in the conservation equation. I joined TOSCO in 2019, initially coordinating the Desert Lion Program, and then became manager in 2020. Apart from that, I am involved in the Wildlife Credits program on behalf of TOSCO, partnering with WWF Namibia and CCFN. Through TOSCO and working with rural communities and other conservation partners, I really got to understand what successful conservation is about.
I am very excited to grow TOSCO further with the team, broadening the connection between tourism and conservation by getting more of the tourism industry to join our movement, and deepening this connection by making conservation an integral part of tourism and the travel experience. I believe TOSCO with its team and programs can make a real difference!