In today's world the importance of protecting our natural habitats is paramount. We at True Luxury Tours promote responsible tourism. Our dream of establishing the first privately owned and operated Wildlife Sanctuary in India became a reality from the efforts of extraordinary people. The team of Shanane Davis, Gajendra Singh Chouhan, Ravi Chowdhary, Baronet Balwant Singh Chouhan and Ravindra Singh Kaniwara implemented a policy in 2005 at our True Luxury Tours Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary that ensures the protection, survival, and growth of this rare eco-system. The policy is simple enough, stop the illegal cutting of trees, stop cattle and goats from entering and eating rare plants and trees in the sanctuary, stop poaching, to re-forest areas that have been cut,  and to raise money for these endeavors by opening the reserve to a limited number of eco-tourists (Sanctuary opened to eco-tourism in September, 2007).

A large privately funded program was given by True Luxury Tours to establish this policy. Meetings are held with nearby villagers to educate them on the destruction they were causing by cutting trees and allowing their cattle and goats to run free in the sanctuary area.  Particular areas of the Sanctuary are now open to cattle and goat herders for the feeding of their animals that does not cause a negative impact on the eco-system of the reserve. When certain  wild grasses become too abundant in certain areas of the reserve it can clog the re-production cycle of important trees and plants. The cattle and goats keep these grasses at a certain growth level that helps promote a healthy eco-system. Because of this control the number of Indian Gazelle has increased by 30 in 2009.

Poaching is now history at the True Luxury Tours Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary. Many meetings were held with local villagers to educate them on the problems associated with the hunting of wild Desert Hare, indigenous birds, and the poisoning of the Indian Desert Zird. Villagers were educated that these particular animals are part of a larger food chain. The endangered Asian Steppe-Wildcat(Asiatic Wildcat), the Rusty-Spotted Cat, the rare Tawny Eagle, and the Imperial Eagle depend on their survival by the abundant supply of these animals. In the last two years the number of sightings of these rare animals in the sanctuary has increased dramatically.  

Certain areas, once filled with trees in Sanctuary, were cut by villagers over decades for fuel. A careful study of which areas needed to be re-forested were conducted by first studying the areas in the sanctuary that were traditional grasslands. These grasslands are essential for the survival of the Indian Gazelle, Blue-Bull (Asia's largest Antelope), Asian Steppe-Wildcat, Rusty-Spotted Cat, Desert Fox, Desert Hare, and snakes. Once the areas that were found that needed to be re-forested a study of which trees and plants should be planted was conducted. As of summer 2007, a total of two-thousand indigenous trees and plants have been planted. True Luxury Tours financed the purchase, planting, and maintenance of these trees and plants. By the end of the summer of 2007 two-thousand indigenous trees and plants were planted in areas that were previous forest cover. Furthermore, each eco-guest to visit the property, starting in September of 2007, will be encouraged to plant their own tree or plant in the sanctuary.  

A clean and oxygen rich water supply is available in the sanctuary only in the months after monsoon. True Luxury Tours has established a watering hole that is rich in nutrients and oxygen that will now make water available for wildlife year round. True Luxury Tours has  observed in other wildlife Sanctuaries that animals often did not frequent man-made watering holes and decided to find out the reason why. After studying this problem it was noted that artificial watering holes often had no sustainable oxygen and smaller animals could not  easily drink from these holes. Hooved animals such as Gazelle, and Blue-Bull would often muddy a hole and afterwards other animals would not drink from this water. The watering hole that was developed in our Sanctuary has different depths so smaller wildlife such as jungle  bees, butterflies, birds, and small wildcats can also easily drink from this water, mid-size depths so Gazelle and Blue-Bull could drink the water without being able to muddy the water, and deeper depths so Leopard can drink this water. The water in this hole is also flushed out after every month to ensure the quality of the water stays healthy for all animals to drink. Indigenous aquatic plants, kept in clay pots, are submerged in the water to keep the nutrients and oxygen levels high so frogs and snails will produce in and around this watering hole. This watering was also developed to look completely natural in its surroundings.

To ensure the funding and growth of our Sanctuary True Luxury Tours decided to open the Sanctuary for Eco-Tourism in September 2007. An eco-friendly campsite has been developed inside the jungle core with tents that offer bathrooms, running water 24 hours per day. Guests will be allowed to go on safaris twice a day, once in the early morning and in the late evening. These safaris will be conducted with the Sanctuaries naturalist and will be on foot. Careful studies of how animals react to people in the  Sanctuary have been conducted as well as a study of where the different animals reside and frequent so guests have the maximum chance available to see and experience rare Indian wildlife in its natural habitat. Forty (40%)percent of all funds received from guests will be put back into the protection and growth of the Sanctuary with a further two (2%) percent going to village support schemes such as the purchase of sustainable firewood.

Every month new projects are started in the reserve to make it a better place for the animals, trees, and plants to live.  

WHAT WE BELIEVE

We believe:

"Sustainable Tourism" is to have minimal impact by travellers, tour operators, or hotel owners on an areas culture, wildlife or eco-system.

"Sustainable Tourism" is to benefit the local culture, its economy, its artists/artisans, and way of life without making locals dependent on tourism.

"Sustainable Tourism" is a cross cultural or ambassadorial exchanges between a traveller and their culture and the local and his/her culture.

"Sustainable Tourism" protects eco-systems and cultures by following eco-friendly practices.

"Sustainable Tourism" is to broaden a traveller’s awareness and perspective on another’s culture, wildlife, and eco-systems and to make that traveller want to protect indigenous cultures and areas.

"Sustainable Tourism" is for only small groups of travellers at a time to enter and experience an area so that it does not get strained by too many travellers at once.

AND WHAT WE DO TO SUPPORT OUR BELIEFS

We at True Luxury Tours truly believe in protecting and conserving eco-systems that previously were unprotected and to follow responsible and sustainable tourism practices. For us it is not a marketing tool, it is a reality. This is why we established the first privately owned and operated Wildlife Sanctuary in India : the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary. We implemented a policy in 2005 that ensures the protection, survival, and growth of this rare eco-system.
 
We set-up a large privately funded program to accomplish our policy and included educating local villagers on the destruction they were causing by cutting trees and allowing their cattle and goats to run free in the sanctuary area.
 
We taught them how the sanctuarys wildlife is part of a larger food chain, essential for the survival of the land. Thereby, we have eliminated the hunting of all local indigenous species. Today, we are proud to say that thanks to our program, the number of sightings and births of these rare animals has increased dramatically since the inception of our policy and programs.
 
We document and study daily the flora and fauna found in the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary to better understand what we can do to help ensure and fight for the survival of the extraordinary species found there.
 
We have built a watering system that is rich in nutrients and oxygen and makes water available for all wildlife species year round. The water is flushed out every month to ensure it stays healthy for all animals to drink. Indigenous aquatic plants are submerged in the water to keep the nutrients and oxygen levels high so frogs, snails, and other aquatic life will produce in and around the watering holes. This watering system was built to look completely natural in its surroundings.
 
We had observed in other wildlife sanctuaries that animals often did not frequent man-made watering holes. So we decided to find out the reason why. We noted that artificial watering holes often had no sustainable oxygen and smaller animals could not easily drink from them. Hoofed animals such as Gazelle, and Blue-Bull would often muddy a hole causing other animals to avoid drinking from these holes. For this reason, our watering holes have different depths, allowing smaller wildlife such as jungle bees, etc., but also larger ones such as Leopards and Gazelle to easily drink from this water, without muddying the water.
 
Finally, we at True Luxury Tours, have financed the purchase, planting, re-forestation and maintenance of two-thousand indigenous trees and plants that have be planted in areas of traditional forest cover inside the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary.