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Canopy tours originated in the lush rainforests of Costa Rica where adventurous biologists, desperate to study the diversity of animal life that habituates the upper canopy level of forests, devised a system of cables and platforms that would allow them to explore this previously inaccessible ecosystem.
It wasn’t long before this developed into a breathtaking eco-tourism activity that not only allowed people to enter and experience the upper realm of a rainforest, but raised awareness of the plight and beauty of the world’s endangered indigenous forests.
Construction of Canopy Tours® South Africa has been done in accordance with strict civil engineering standards. Each system has been designed and built by a Canopy Tours® engineer, starting with the canopy tour in the cloud forests of Costa Rica.
This led to the search for South Africa’s largest trees and the opening in 2001 of the internationally acclaimed Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour® on the Garden Route near Storms River. This was followed by the Karkloof, Magaliesberg, Magoebaskloof and then Drakensberg Canopy Tours over the next eight years. The latest addition is the exciting new Malolotja Canopy Tour which opened in Swaziland in May 2010.
Environmental impact studies are undertaken prior to construction to ensure that the canopy tours do not harm the surrounding forest ecology in any way. Strict environmental management plans have been adhered to and the construction of South Africa’s Canopy Tours® has been carried out with the approval of the Department of Water Affairs & Forestry as well as the Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism.
At Canopy Tours® South Africa we are proud to work closely with the communities within which we operate. Each Canopy Tour® site is located in rural areas where we have helped to uplift local communities by training locals to become guides; thereby providing a vital source of income and employment.
