Canopy Tours GM Paul Button - the company is the first company in Rotorua and the first zipline business in the Southern Hemisphere to get a B Corp certification.
Rotorua Canopy Tours has been recognised for its commitment to sustainability and protecting the flora and fauna of the forest it operates in after it received a B Corp certification.
It is the first Rotorua business and the first zipline business in the Southern Hemisphere to achieve the certification.
General manager Paul Button said the company was “stoked” after it applied in April 2022 and received the official certification in January.
A B Corp certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials, the B Corporation website says.
The corporation’s report for Rotorua Canopy Tours said the company offered ziplining and guided walks through the endemic native forest of Okohiriki Ngahere - home to sensitive ecosystems, native flora and fauna, and several endemic at risk species.
Some of the potential risks associated with the company’s activities included littering and “interrupting the vegetation” but the company was committed to “minimising its impact on the ecosystem”.
For example, zipline lines were constructed in a manner that did not harm the trees or interrupt vegetation.
“The company provides guidelines to their clients to ensure a responsible visit, such as staying on designated pathways, refraining from feeding the wildlife, and avoiding the use of certain items that can cause litter and harm to the environment.”
The report said the company had a pest management plan that included educating the community on pests and vulnerable species and conducting bi-annual pest trapping.
‘It’s so exciting’
Rotorua Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button told the Rotorua Daily Post B Corp certifications were “quite well-known” overseas.
“I think over time as a consumer, you will dictate who you go to by if they have a B Corp status or not.
“We’re so stoked - it’s so exciting.”
He said the company applied because it wanted to be recognised for its “well-rounded delivery” of looking after its stakeholders and “how we hold ourselves as a business”.
“We were always really well known for our conservation but we’re actually huge in all other parts of the business - how we interact with the community, our contribution to board activity locally, how we look after our staff.”
Rotorua Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button says the company is "stoked" after receiving a B Corp certification. Photo / Andrew Warner
He said the assessment consisted of “hundreds” of questions about governance, stakeholders, the community, staff, conservation, sustainability and supply chain management. The company was then audited prior to receiving the certification.
Button, who has been the general manager for six-and-a-half years, said the business employed 55 people.
More than 300 businesses in New Zealand have a B Corp certification, according to the B Lab website.
