Mission Statement

We are committed to the concept that local communities and indigenous people have inalienable rights to their natural resources. As such, these people must have a considerable and indisputable voice in conservation efforts. However, such people are now largely disenfranchised, often living in poverty, and usually without legal recourse to establish rights and ownership. On the other hand, communities that are organized, have a real stake in terrestrial and marine resources, and that have effective tenure and acknowledged utilization rights can accept management responsibilities. Only empowered communities can make considered decisions to sustainably utilize their resources, and as such, we believe that only by working together with such people can we alleviate the loss of precious natural resources and degradation of irreplaceable habitats.

We are also committed to ensuring the continued presence of genuinely pristine habitats and ecosystems for all to appreciate, value, and above all intelligently conserve. In this regard, we intend to address the seemingly inevitable tourism cycle in which such places are discovered, developed, damaged, and departed.

Planet will develop an organization to productively and positively address these concerns, which currently constitute a shortfall among existing non-governmental organizations and conservation foundations. We intend to bring a fresh and innovative perspective that simultaneously facilitates empowerment and employment of communities and effectively addresses conservation matters. Planet will institute a tourism-funded conservation process in which individuals become an important and contributory part of the organization, as well as seeking funds from organizations dedicated to community empowerment and realistic conservation plans. We intend to do this by dedicating to conservation programs the expertise of individuals in a diversity of disciplines including sociology, economics, fisheries, and terrestrial ecology to name but a few. Put simply, Planet will make a difference by taking a much-needed and novel approach to conservation.