Travelling with Children

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Kids recently voted on the issue of preserving the planet through the 2009 Environmental Report Card, and they’re pretty united on the subject. Not only do they agree that the planet’s resources are important but they also think they have a responsibility to help preserve them.

Eco-friendly tours for children is an area that has only begun to be explored.

One good resource is Trip Hub’s Responsible Tourism Awards, where you may be able to find an eco-lodge in Kenya, a zero garbage hotel in Mumbai, or a Canadian Mountain Resort that is also preserving animal habitats.

The website  Journeys for Families is where you can see how your family can learn about wildlife, habitats and rainforests on your travels, with specialist trips for families travelling with kids, teens or grandparents, plus ideas for school and other group trips.

Take a look at ResponsibleTravel.com to research thousands of environmentally family trips to world wide destinations. They’re also running Responsible Tourism Awards right now, with winners to be announced mid-November.

Iran proposes to promote Silk Road tourism

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TEHRAN (ISNA)-The second meeting of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) tourism ministers was held in Antalya, Turkey with Iran’s proposal for reviving Silk Road tourism cooperation.

The proposal was approved by member states.

Iran also proposed establishment of ECO tourism news agency and holding global annual Norouz ceremony in which people celebrate the beginning of spring.

Exchange of tourists among ECO members, forming ECO tourism convention, holding Norouz ceremony and organizing ECO sports competition in Iran in 2020 were also approved.

Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization Deputy Director Reza Mousavi led the Iranian delegation.

Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are ECO member states.

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Is eco-tourism bad?

Image by nancydowd via Flickr

A note from the blog author, Robert Miller:

If you are at all interested in the environment, or even nature (if you hesitate when hearing the “e” word),  then you probably are like me – you are refreshed by spending any time in the wild or visiting the natural wonders of the world, from the Grand Canyon to the glaciers of Alaska and beyond.

You and I are certainly not alone in this, because, ironically, as people spend more time indoors, and our cities grow, more and more people like the idea of spending time in an environment free from cars, traffic, and tall buildings. Ecotourism is dedicated to help keep the environment clean.

However, ecotourism is not without its critics.

One Reason Ecotourism is Bad:  Animals might Eat You.

In the rural locations where animals can be observed in the wild, that is, in their natural habitat (my favorite type of eco-tourism, bar none), the territory, almost by definition, is dominated by the animals, not humans.

Most animals are territorial, and don’t appreciate surprise, or encrouchment on their turf.  Any type of animals that are in the wild are, of course, not tame. This becomes a greater and greater problem as civilization stresses the natural environments that are a native species’ home, and bringing tourists (who in turn are not necessarily savvy to the behavior of wild animals, and sometimes have food), is going to become an increasing problem for the animals and the tourists.

Another reason Ecotourism can be bad:  Trash.

Anyone that has even been to a tourist spot – of any kind, sees trash. It makes no difference how smart the park rangers are, the forest is a very large place and can sometimes be too large an area to locate and dispose of every piece of trash. Trash in the forest, aesthetically, makes the environment look degraded, but more importantly, it’s harmful to any living thing that takes up residence in that environment.  As just one example, most plastic water bottles are very hard to destroy and take decades to degrade and decompose.

Reason #3 Why Ecotourism is Bad

The most controversial reason why ecotourism might be seen as wrong is due to the structures that are made for different ecotourism tours.  Parks build nature paths, which mean areas cleared out of the trees so that there are more room for paths. In some parks, there are lookout towers that are built in among the tress. These items help manage crowds, but have some unintentional damage to the precious environment.

Opinions differ on this subject. I can appreciate that it’s very frustrating to try to make travel plans in a location where the amount of total tourists that visit are strictly limited.  However, in general, it’s all for the better, and just requires more and better planning on the tourism side.

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From Treehugger: Cancun and Eco-Tourism

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There are a select few blogs that I always enjoy from other eco-bloggers (did I make that term up?  Probably not.).  One is treehugger.com, from which the following was taken.  Read the rest at http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/beyond_cancun_d.php

When my boyfriend had surprised me with two round-trip tickets to Cancun for my birthday, let’s just say I was surprised. He’s in school for a Masters of Science in Environmental Management. I like to wax poetic about the benefits of ecotourism. Cancun, the infamous Spring break destination (thanks, MTV!) known for over-developed hotel strips, excessive water usage and lackadaisical waste management hardly makes it to any greenie’s get-away list.

Little did I know that Cancun, home to the Yucatan Peninsula‘s main airport, would merely serve as our portal to the peninsula’s off-the-beaten track beauty and tropical paradise like that discovered within Centro Ecologico Sian Ka’an (CESiaK).

The gem of a mid-sized beach resort is located south of Maya Tulum’s hotel zone, just beyond the bumpy, dirt road entrance of the Sian Kaan Biosphere–the largest protected area (around 1.3 million acres) in the Mexican Caribbean. This also happens to be a declared World Heritage Site by the United Nation’s UNESCO program.

Off-the-Grid Paradise

Within CESiaK we found a completely off of the grid paradise, powered up by wind and solar, equipped with composting toilets and a rainwater harvesting system providing the water used for bathing and brushing teeth.

The charming, private cabanas (bedroom-sized tents covered by palm-thatched roofs) dispersed through the property’s snaking, jungle paths are elevated on stilts, providing roomy travel paths for iguanas, hermit crabs and blue crabs making their homes in the area adjacent to the Caribbean Sea‘s coastline.

No air conditioning, room fans or light switches here. (And trust me, I’d be lying if I said this discovery didn’t daunt me–Mexico in August is hardly the most comfortable time of the year.) But the ocean breezes that pour through our cabana deliver a surprisingly delicious respite from the Mayan sun and our nightly walk back to our cabana with battery operated lanterns provided at the reception’s front desk is romantic and fun. It’s complete, unadulterated wilderness and we are in love.

Local Food, Mexican-Caribbean Style

Our love affair doesn’t end, however, with the accommodations that only Emerson or Thoreau could’ve thoroughly appreciated. It deepens and grows with the local foodprepared with love from CESiaK’s local chef Fausto. We sample almost everything off of the restaurant’s menu devouring dishes like ceviche made with responsibly caught fish from local fisherman, ensalada de nopales (cactus salad), Sopa Azteca, guacamole, enchiladas and Maya Tulum’s best Margharitas. Dining to the rooftop view of the neighboring lagoon is also equally delicious.

Low-Impact Excursions

We develop admiration for the on-staff guides who lead educational programs and low-impact excursions like lagoon kayaking and bird watching tours. Each guide has an expertise in some form or another. Like Rene who’s currently writing a guidebook about the local bird population or Jorge the charismatic ornithologist who has worked on restoring the local marine turtle population for over a decade–and who often sacrifices his sleep during nesting season.

Turtle Conservation

One night Jorge gives us an educational talk about CESiaK’s turtle conservationefforts and allows us to accompany him on a nighttime marine turtle watch. Hours after retiring to our cabana he comes to wake us up. He’s spotted a mama Green Turtle making a nest and a separate nest of baby Loggerheads–no mom to be found.

In the pitchest of black (no lights or lanterns allowed), we trek out to CESiaK’s strip of private beach and help him record the giant Green Turtle’s shell before she barrels out to sea. We also set free the batch of baby loggerheads–who only have a 1 in 1,000 chance of surviving to adult age.

Watching the creatures leave land for their underwater destiny is like watching a piece of pre-historic history. It is beautiful–but overwhelmingly sad. We know that the fate of these baby turtles is grim but better then most. As we are reminded in our educational talk prior to the volunteer expedition, other less fortunate turtles born on more developed strips of hotel and resort beaches easily confuse the artificial lights dotting the developed strips for the moon. They end up walking away from the natural home they’re evolutionarily designed for, the ocean, thus making them more likely to be caught and killed by either a poacher or predator. Or killed even wandering onto nearby roads…

I had never known how much forming a personal relationship with a green-shelled reptile could re-ignite, inspire and motivate my take-action-ness. Not only for the turtles–for this entire environmental movement.

Eco-Tourism’s Real Purpose

CESiaK’s solar and wind power, composting toilets and rainwater harvesting wasn’t there solely for the sake of “being green”–like so many other eco-resorts I had been to touting little more than a vanity stocked with organic mini-soaps and where I left forgetting ecotourism’s real purpose.

Refreshingly, CESiaK’s educational programs, talks, and expert, eco-minded staff, remember to intelligently tie together the bigger picture. CESiaK exists for the turtles, the Yucatan Peninsula’s fragile, local, eco-systems and for us, the human race. As their website states, “Sian Ka’an faces the greatest challenge of conservation: to find a way to integrate human activities without compromising other forms of life contained within its boundaries.”

 

 

 

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Pandas and Bio-Diversity

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I am a member of the San Diego Zoological Society, and love their Panda Exhibit, which was part of a cooperative effort with the Republic of China.  I was pleased to learn that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Friday said it is helping China set up botanical gardens, wild-life parks and a giant panda center in the northwestern Qinling Mountains to protect the region’s biological diversity.

The Manila-based development lender said in a press release that it will provide a 40 million-U.S.-dollar loan to fund the Shaanxi Qinling Biodiversity Conservation and Demonstration Project which aims to use ecotourism to generate a sustainable source of funds to protect and restore the environment.

About 300 giant pandas, along with other threatened species, can be found in the mountains, the ADB said, but destructive land use practices driven by poverty threaten the habitats of many rare plants and animals and previous conservation efforts were hampered by a lack of financial sustainability.

The project will also support the restoration of forest land, provide forest-based livelihood opportunities, develop endangered species management programs, repair and modernize an animal rescue shelter and develop a comprehensive biodiversity data collection system, the ADB said, adding that the project can also provide conservation-linked jobs and business opportunities.

ADB’s loan has a 25-year term, including a grace period of 5 years, with interest determined in accordance with ADB’S LIBOR-based lending facility. The Shaanxi provincial government is the executing agency for the project which is due for completion by April 2015.

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Death and Scuba Diving in Cenotes

As a scuba diver, Cenotes fascinate me.  I’ve always been intrigued by these freshwater deep caves, which seem somewhat mysterious.  And it didn’t fascinate just me – the ancient Maya believed that cenotes were pathways to the afterlife and would sacrifice humans and items of value to the cenotes.

The cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico still have the skulls and bones from ancient sacrifices, as you can see in the amazing video below.

Image by Mark Busse via Flickr

Several years ago, I read the fascinating story of diver David Shaw, who made a cenote deep dive (almost 900 feet) to retrieve the body of Deon Dreyer, who had died there 10 years before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shaw_%28diver%29

Amazingly, David Shaw videotaped his descent and the attempted retrieval of the remarkably preserved body, and ended up videotaping his own death.

WHAT IS A CENOTE AND HOW WERE THEY FORMED?

Millions of years ago, the Yucatan Peninsula was a giant reef set under several feet of ocean water. During the last ice age, the ocean level dropped, exposing the reef to the surface. The coral died, and jungle grew over the mile thick limestone platform created by the coral reef. Fossils found far inland are proof of this and are commonly seen during a “cenote dive.” In time, the rain filtered through the organic jungle soil, carving tunnels through the softer limestone creating a giant network of caves and tunnels. This filtering of rain water continues today, forming stalactites, hanging from the vaults, and stalagmites, projecting from the floor, which often join to create columns. These stalactites and stalagmites number in the millions and range in size from that of a pencil to the size of a big tree.

When the ice age was over, the ocean rose back to today’s current level, partially submerging the cave network with crystal clear fresh water and sometimes collapsing the limestone creating sinkholes. A “Cenote” is a natural sinkhole created where a cave ceiling has collapsed, a window to this spectacular world. Cenotes were the only source of water in the jungle for the Mayan civilization and are considered sacred by the Mayan people. The Mayan consider cenotes to be an entrance to their “underworld” where their gods live and their spirits reside after death. The Mayans first called these sinkholes “Dznot” or sacred well. A word which had been perverted into “cenote” by the Spanish “conquistadors.”

EXPLORING CENOTES:

There is a very strict protocol of conservation for Cenotes, and visitors should take it seriously: Nothing is to be touched or removed. Take only memories, kill only time, and leave nothing behind, but bubbles. One can enjoy the beautiful cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula through a relaxing swim or snorkel or for the more adventurous by diving.

Cavern Diving. If you are a certified diver, you can visit the natural light area of the cavern safely, under the guidance of a local cavern diving instructor.

Cave Diving is different from cavern diving and means further penetration into the area beyond the natural sunlight. Extensive training and special equipment is required to enter these areas. A Full Cave Diver Course and Certification is required.

The amazing story in Outside Magazine you can still find here.  It’s really a good read – highly recommended:

http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200508/dave-shaw-1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shaw_%28diver%29

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One of the challenges of making the world more eco-friendly, and in taking steps to protect the environment, and even help slow global warming, is the great expense involved in many of the proposals around the globe for dealing with the Earth‘s conservation issues.

One country that may be getting rewards in the form of funds from international environment organizations for protecting its forests and water is Bhutan.

The Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked nation in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains and is bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by People’s Republic of China. Bhutan is separated from the nearby state of Nepal to the west by the Indian state of Sikkim, and from Bangladesh to the south by West Bengal. The Bhutanese call their country Druk Yul (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་ཡུལ་) which means “Land of the Thunder Dragon“.

Bhutan used to be one of the most isolated nations in the world. Developments including direct international flights, the Internet, mobile phone networks, and cable television have increasingly modernized the urban areas of the country. Bhutan has balanced modernization with its ancient culture and traditions under the guiding philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH). Rampant destruction of the environment has been avoided. The government takes great measures to preserve the nation’s traditional culture, identity and the environment. In 2006, Business Week magazine rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world, citing a global survey conducted by the University of Leicester in 2006 called the “World Map of Happiness”.

Inside Bhutan, officials are already warming up to the practicality of collecting funds from end users of environment resources like hydropower projects. The ultimate plan is to plough back the funds into the source of these resources, like watershed and bio-diversity, so that they become sustainable in the long run.

Under past policies, it was only through the clean development mechanism, which was essentially employment of clean technology to restrict emissions, under which countries could earn carbon points and thus the funding for its conservation efforts.  Carbon points were not given for preservation of environment or forests under the Kyoto protocol, said a food and agricultural organization (FAO) official, who is in Bhutan to study ‘payment for environment services’ (PES) with the ministry of agriculture’s watershed division. But that could very well change in the coming months.

“Bhutan’s strongest potential in getting carbon points is its existing forests because, in the upcoming climate change talks in Copenhagen, there will definitely be an international agreement to reward countries for protecting existing forests,” said FAO consultant and environmental scientist, Bernardete Vitorino Das Neves. This, she added, will be possible under REDD or reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation framework supported by UNDP and UNEP.

The Copenhagen climate change meeting from December 6-18 will decide on the next set of targets for countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Kyoto protocol, which set the first emission reduction targets, will end shortly.

“The storage of carbon by the forests is a service in itself since, by not cutting down the trees, the country or the local farmers are losing out on timber and food crops,” said Bernardete Vitorino Das Neves.

Under the PES system, Bhutan could get funds from carbon trading for watershed management, conserving Bhutan’s forest and biodiversity and improving food security. PES views environment as provider of services like clean water, air, food, fuel, recreation, natural disaster protection, and hydropower. It is also of the opinion that there has to be some kind of voluntary payment made for environmental protection so that these services remain sustainable.

For instance, under PES, Tala and Chukha hydro projects can pay to protect their watershed areas so that there is less sedimentation, or people of Thimphu can pay to conserve their drinking water sources so that taps don’t run dry. However, the plan is that the entire PES plan be voluntary.

“Environmental services like fresh water are not free and also depend on watershed conservation of water sources by farmers living upstream and so, if the end users like hydro-projects and people can pay, then the farmers will get benefits and have an incentive to protect the source,” said chief forest officer, Karma Tshering. He added that donors funded most of Bhutan’s environmental programs, which was not sustainable in the long run.

Eco-tourism is another area whereby tourists can pay more for new trekking routes and improved services and infrastructure, and the money would go to preserving the environment under PES.

“An important component of eco tourism will be where local communities will be able to benefit for the eco services in ensuring better protection of the environment and also equitable distribution of the benefits of eco-tourism,” said FAO’s Bernardete Vitorino Das Neves.

Another area is biodiversity conservation, she said: “An example here is human-wildlife conflict whereby payments could be sued to compensate farmers or help them to come up with defenses so that wildlife remain protected and farmers can have a good income.”

–Robert L. Miller

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How to Travel in shades of Green

Image by Anirudh Koul via Flickr

Travel Responsibly – How To Green Your Travel Choices

I loved this article from Carol Patterson.  You can see how to subscribe to her website at the bottom of this post. — Robert Miller

Louise is concerned about the changes she has noticed in her travels over the last few decades. Shes been a traveller since she completed college and joined the backpacking circuit around Europe. As she built her career, her trips become shorter but she still found time to circle the globe, catching sunrises in Goa and sampling samosas in Zanzibar. Louise’s interests have changed somewhat since she first laced up her hiking boots. She’s more inclined to listen for the sounds of birds than rock groups, but shes noticed it is harder to find a place that seems different from the one she left behind. Local people are not as eager to meet tourists and in some places, seem conspicuous by their absence. The wildlife she used to take for granted does not seem to be as common or appears in someone’s flowerbed instead of in the forest. And some destinations seem a little frayed at the edges, showing obvious signs of wear and tear with erosion, litter and noise pollution being common problems.(

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If you are like Louise you may have wondered about the impact of your travels on the places you visit, and wonder if you are leaving communities worse off by your presence. With Al Gore winning an Oscar for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, more and more of us are discussing climate change and our contribution to the situation. Perhaps it is time for all of us to stop and evaluate our travel habits. If you are like Louise, you are probably a dedicated traveller and the thought of staying home makes you twitch. As an alternative, we can make the effort to be sure we are travelling responsibly, and choosing ecotourism tours or facilities may be one way to do that. (for a definition of ecotourism visit The International Ecotourism Society’s website)

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If you are wondering whether your travel habits are adding to environmental problems, take the Travelers Self- Test below. There are no right or wrong answers, but the questions point to some of the potential problems. Travellers are becoming more demanding, wanting a busy range of activities in their travel time that often matches the frantic schedules they left behind. This requires a greater financial investment by ecotourism providers to provide support equipment and personnel, and to create new itineraries more frequently. Bill Cacciolfi of New World Expeditions says that for tourism providers like himself, their biggest challenge is Looking for new ways, and new twists to old ways to make travel interesting. While he feels that liability and risk management were the main concerns in past years, now it is financial stability. Companies are stretching themselves thin. And the environment suffers as well as more people want to explore more wilderness areas.

Travelers Self-Test

• Do you want to do a dozen different activities when you get to your holiday destination? Do you think about the cost of providing equipment, staff or facilities for these activities?
• Do you have reasonable expectations about approaching wildlife? If you want to get close enough to fill the viewfinder with a picture of that cute deer you have seen, you are probably too close.
• Do you base your travel decision mainly on price?
• Are you happy being part of a large group or are you willing to pay a bit more for an experience that promises some individual attention?
• Do you consider the size of your hotel or tour operator company when selecting a vacation?
• Do you ask how you can support conservation at the places you have visited?
• Are you informed about proper behavior and precautions in the wilderness? If you are counting on your guide to take care of everything, you may get more than you bargained for.
• Do you look for evidence of ecotourism accreditation when selecting a tour company?

While offering a trip for a small number of tourists creates an intimate experience that can have a smaller environmental impact and a level of customer service that most people enjoy, it often translates to a higher cost per person. Contributing to conservation efforts is also an important part of an ecotourism product, but again, will mean a slightly higher cost. If you are like many consumers you sometimes overlook these features when selecting a tourism product, basing your decision to purchase on price or glitzy marketing images. Many ecotourism operators state that travellers say that they want a environmentally-friendly travel experience, but balk at paying even a few dollars more to that get that type of trip. Bill Cacciolifi sums it up, Customers are much more sophisticated and they demand more creature comforts for less money.

When you travel you probably pride yourself on coming prepared and expecting to learn new skills or knowledge on your trip. Many tour operators see this in their customers. Garth Thompson, the founder of Natureways and a leader in African ecotourism, says about his customers, Most are well informed from the brilliant and educational documentaries that are available to us on our screens daily. They read up on their destination, more novels than fact though, i.e. Wilbur Smith or Doris Lessing. But interestingly although many people take time to read up on their destination, they seem to know less about the safe and proper way to act in the great outdoors. Warren Clinton of Castle Mountain Lodge in Estes Park, Colorado, has been active in wildlife-based tourism for many years, and sees some distressing trends in his customers. He states that, We have found that people are even less knowledgeable now than 20 years ago on watchable wildlife etiquette. It is a constant challenge to teach people what is appropriate behaviour, they chase wildlife. People are not used to operating in a wild environment.

With all this interest in nature and cultural experiences, there are many tourism companies that are targeting prospective ecotourists by adding an Eco-label or theme to their marketing. This added competition and the growing interest in ecotourism from all walks of life has meant that ecotourism companies must market on a scale not seen before. The added cost of mounting large-scale marketing programs is making it difficult for medium size companies to survive. Some companies have chosen to work to with other like-minded organizations in marketing partnerships like The Adventure Collection, a group of several adventure companies who operate independently, but share a website and marketing activities. As Bill Bryan of Off the Beaten Path, a member of The Adventure Collection, observes Its harder to do business now. How do we get our business a little bit bigger in a way that still works with a cross-section of people?

If ecotourism is to survive, it will be up to us as responsible travellers to look beyond the marketing jargon and the cheapest price, to find the real ecotourism trip. Some organizations are making this easier for consumers by adopting accreditation processes where ecotourism companies must meet certain standards before they can be labelled a quality ecotourism provider. As Trent Schumann of Mountain Quest, a long-time tourism professional notes, As governments become aware of the increasing demand for nature-based tourism and the varying levels of sustainable tourism practises by operators, there is a greater push for industry regulation. Many tourism operators seek some form of accreditation attesting to their environmental practices, but where there is not an accreditation program to identify quality ecotourism products, develop your own evaluation by asking the following questions before you book with a tour operator:

• What is your environmental policy? Can I read it on your website?
• How do you support conservation or environmental organizations in the area where you operate?
• Do you buy your food products locally?
• Do you stay at locally owned and operated lodging facilities?
• What steps have you taken to minimize energy and water usage?
• What type of interpretation do you provide customers about local nature and culture?
• Do you hire local people and guides?
• Do you provide training for these guides?
• What is your group size for tours? How do you determine this number?
• How do you monitor your impact on the local environment and local community?

In the end it is up to you to decide what type of trip you want and whether you are willing to pay more for a smaller, greener tour. If you plan to visit a destination more than once or hope that your children will enjoy the same chance you have to dive among coral reefs or hear the night cry of a timber wolf, pick a tour company that shares your values and vision for the earths future. Choose ecotourism.

Carol Patterson is well known as a nature and ecotourism industry consultant, speaker, and author. Her company, Kalahari Management Inc., has been providing strategic planning, tourism assessments, and training for businesses and communities in the nature based tourism industry since 1991.

Carol is the author of The Business of Ecotourism, a guidebook for people wanting a career or business in the nature tourism industy. She also publishes a quarterly online newsletter EcoTourism Management which shares valuable business lessons and best practices from the tourism industry. To receive a subscripton at no cost or to learn more about wildlife and nature tourism, visit http://kalahari-online.com/

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Doing Eco-Tourism right

Image via Wikipedia

Ecotourism tries to give you the best of both worlds – you can pass through and save the globe at the same time! Ideally, operators of ecotours do the smallest amount of damage to nature while profits are ploughed back into the local economy moderately than siphoned off to line the pockets of multinational corporations. And ecotourism has had some perceptible successes –  gorilla-watching tours to Rwanda have been instrumental in preventing the disappearance of the great apes.

However, ecotourism also has its drawbacks. Most normally, tour operators have purely slapped the word “ecotours” onto their help, using it as a promotion ploy to bring about in uneasy punters while doing little or nothing to support the concrete ethics of ecotourism. But even authentic ecotours can pose troubles, in particular when they suit victims of their own triumph. Too many travelers have an certain influence on the local milieu, while habitually the scent of currency lures in developers who value a quick profit over sustainability.

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Eco-tourism in Cambodia

Image by permanently scatterbrained via Flickr

Cambodia is one of those locations that seems meant for Eco-Tourism.   From the temples of Angor Wat to the natural bio-diversity of its rainforests, it begs to be visited and explored.

There is not a lot of good information on Educational, Environmentally responsible travel through Cambodia, but I did find the following on a website promoting travel to Cambodia (which means that they have an agenda to push travel and spending in Cambodia — just reminding ya).  I also had to heavily edit this article from the original to make grammatical sense in the English language:

With a wide variety of natural recreational activities, you can enjoy cycling, trekking, boating, viewing landscapes, and involving yourself with local livelihood activities like agricultural activities which will immerse you a real combination of communities’ life experiences and natural tourism in Cambodia, a Kingdom of yet explored treasures.

Ecotourism development is an emerging trend being developed for responsible tourists. Ecotourism is a diversified form of tourism contributed to national economic growth.  Ecotourism development drives local community to a next stage to local livelihood improvement through alternative incomes, diversified jobs, increased capacity and community empowerment.

Ecotourism development in Cambodian has been progressively developed in the northeastern area, where fabulous  biological species, life style and charming regions of the Mekong River, have not yet been completely explored. With ecotourism development, the community no longer predominantly depends on their previous occupations, especially agricultural productivity, but has new opportunities to gain operational skills for ecotourism demands. Tourist involvement in ecotourism activities operated by local community is an act of stepping forwards to poverty alleviation, responding to one of the main millennium development goals.

Through ecotourism activities, negative impact will be minimized, environmental and cultural experiences and respect will be built, experiences for both hosts and visitor will be provided, financial benefit will contribute to conservation, community empowerment will be enhanced , and sensitivity of host environmental, political, social climate issues will be raised.

Cambodian communities are warm-hearted, friendly, and helpful. Tasting ecotourism and other types of tourism Cambodia is looking to serve, you will feel like you make your self at home as we greet you as resident and evoke you to revisit as family. Will you enjoy tasting ecotourism in The Kingdom of Wonder?

Wait no more to see a charming and yet still un-explored region of Southeast Asia.

For more information about Cambodia: www.tourismindochina.com/

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