Sustainability at Gorilla Heights Lodge

Conscious Travel, Lasting Impact

We put the same effort into prioritising luxury and the comfort of our guests as we do into sustainability, community engagement and conservation practices.

Our desire is to maintain and care for the environment that makes Bwindi the incredible place that it is. We do so in the following ways:

• Conserving soil and trees — No trees were cut down during the construction of Gorilla Heights Lodge, to conserve the integrity of the area's rich volcanic soils. We also planted bamboo and fruit trees on site.
• Using sustainable energy sources — We use briquettes as an alternative source of energy to heat rooms and bath or shower water. 
• Upholding eco-friendly waste management — We have a "no plastics" policy at the lodge, so we supply our guests with glass containers to drink water from. We have also put a waste management system in place that ensures no waste is dumped in the forest.
• Harvesting rainwater — The architectural design of our structures ties in with our conservation efforts. Our cottages' slanted roofs allow for the collection of rainwater, which is stored on site, treated, filtered and pumped back into the facility for use. We also encourage guests to use water sparingly.
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We are also passionate about helping surrounding communities to enjoy improved livelihoods. We have done so and continue doing so in the following ways:

• Employing and empowering local workers — During the year-long process of constructing the lodge, we employed over 150 people from the community which impacted over 600 family members. We also worked with the community to extract black volcanic stones, known as "Ikoro" from Kisoro and Nkuringo, for use on our structures. These stones are maintenance free, which also helps us conserve water. The rock extraction process also revealed fertile grounds where the community has been able to grow crops.

Experiences