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Things are happening at ECOCLUB, as we try to
build on our strengths and work on our short-comings. We broke the 100 country
mark, ECOCLUB now has members in 101 countries, however we need to increase participation of
Members in this Newspaper as well
as on-line. We have "opened" the ECOCLUB Community
so that now you do not need a password to enter. You do have to register of course,
if you wish to publish your profile at the Community and to get your own inbox
for other members to communicate with you (without displaying your email). A new
free forum for Job-Seekers has been created at the Community and already an
interesting CV is hosted. The ECOCLUB Shop entrance has been
re-designed and shipping is now included in the price. And for those of you who wish
and can afford to actively support the club, we have launched a new Premium
Membership. Meanwhile, two new quality Ecolodges have joined ECOCLUB in Thailand,
and two more are in the process of joining, one in Nepal and one in Costa Rica.
Four new Ecotourism Experts are also gracing the club. es. In a separate exciting development, the International Ecotourism Society
is featuring the undersigned as the August "Face of Ecotourism"
in their website. ECOTOURS
SPECIAL BY
ECOTOURISM SOCIETY PAKISTAN VOLUNTEER FOR ECOLODGE SOUGHT HARVEST
CELEBRATION IN TURKEY AUGUST, 15 - SEPTEMBER 30, 2001 NEW MEMBER ECOLODGES IN
THAILAND ECOTOURISM EXPERTISE
GROWING AT ECOCLUB.com The views that appear in this section do not
necessarily represent those of ECOCLUB S.A. We reserve the right to edit for
brevity and clarity. Send your ecotourism news report or article for the next
issue to news@ecoclub.com EUROPARC PLANS FLOATING
ECOTOURISM IN THE DANUBE: More than 142 people were killed and over 150 injured as flash
floods swept the country's northern belt on Monday, washing away a village in
Mansehra and causing havoc in the twin-cities of Islamabad-Rawalpindi and Swat
and Mansahra district including Kaghan Valley. Islamabad received an
unprecedented rainfall of 650 mm within 10 hours, the highest in 100 years of
recorded meteorological history in Pakistan. One of the worst hit was the city
of Dadar on Karakuram Highway in the district of Mansahra, which literally
vanished. Dadar was a victim of heavy deforestation over the last decade and
there was nothing that could support the soil. The majority of swept away houses
was built on an old water course, re-activated by the rainfall. Heavy
deforestation and unplanned construction contributed to this tragedy. INDIA: EX-POACHERS HELP TIGER TRAIL
SUCCEED. Thekkady, Kerala: Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary at Thekkady in Kerala, covering an area of 777 sq. km, is one of India's major sanctuary areas. It offers convenient ways to see the animals such as through boat-rides on a manmade lake, which the wildlife areas encircle. There are water and land birds galore here and dedicated bird watchers set in for one or two weeks of serious observation. It is a natural habitat for elephants, tigers, bisons, spotted deer, sambar and bear. Colourful variety of birds like the Malabar Grey Hornbill, Grey jungle fowl and the Jungle Myna can be observed here. Periyar Tiger Trail is a successful Ecotourism project of the State Forest Department. This conservation project is successful because of the role played by the people involved. The present conservators were former poachers, who used to plunder the forests to cut the bark of the cinnamon trees. They were slowly converted to forest-conservation work under the India Eco Development programme. The former poachers are now involved in a decent livelihood without destroying the forests but on the contrary by conserving them. The guides' knowledge about the plants and animals and their survival instincts, are being used to the best for participating in ecotourism activities. The visitors to the selected trekking routes in the forest get a unique experience, as the guides know the area inside out. Their services are being used for trekking, pitching tents, procuring water, cooking ethnic food, in addition to their contribution as vigilant observers. The majority of the money generated out of the tour package goes as wages to the members of the society, known as Ex-Vayana bark collectors. Thus in all means this eco-tourism project is contributing to conservation, as majority of the money generated stays local. The visitor who participates in the Tiger Trail in Periyar can thus be certain that every dollar spent is genuinely contributed to the conservation efforts of the local area and to benefit the local population. THE SECOND MARATHON BATTLE ALL BUT
LOST? GREEK RAMSAR WETLAND USED AS RUBBISH
DUMP ECOTOURISM TV SERIES CONGO: The International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP) reported that one more endangered mountain gorilla, "Rugendo", a male silverback, has been killed in the crossfire between rebel forces in the eastern Dem.Rep of Congo, in the forested Virunga Volcanoes, home of Gorilla beringei beringei. Only 350 gorillas remain in the Virunga Volcanoes. On the positive side, a rain forest described as the most pristine rain forest left in Africa, may be protected from logging under a deal between the Congo government and timber company Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB), which agreed to give up its harvesting rights to the 100-square-mile Goualogo Triangle forest in the Congo's remote north. ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Prime Minister Zenawi announced that Italy would return the 1,000-year-old Obelisk of Axum, taken in 1937 at the behest of Benito Mussolini and placed in the Piazza di Porta Capena in Rome. KENYA: The Nation reports that loggers are indiscriminately felling trees in Mt Kenya Forest despite a government ban on logging. Loggers are reportedly cutting down trees by day and ferrying them out of the forest at night. Timber was found in a heap a few metres away from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)offices. / Kenya acquires a team of six search dogs, former strays from inner London, to find poachers of ivory and rhino horn, from the British army. / Yoliswa Ndlovu, has become the first black female conservation manager at a game reserve in Africa. / Veterinary pathologists identify heavy metals as the leading cause of massive deaths of flamingos in two Rift Valley Lakes of Kenya. MALI: Villagers on the Sahara's edge are battling a dam they say threatens the city of Djenne a millennia-old stop on the ancient gold and salt routes that is home to a grand adobe mosque considered an architectural masterpiece. U.S. researchers and preservationists are backing the warnings on Djenne, a U.N. World Heritage site: By hoarding precious water upstream, Mali may be risking the future of the 2,250-year-old city and others downstream, opponents say. S.AFRICA: SANParks announced today that admissions to the Kruger National Park rose by 16,7% percent in the first quarter of this year, despite accusations of poor service. The number of foreign tourists rose by 23,9% for the same period, between April and June. Meanwhile statistics for the hotel industry released by Statistics SA for April 2001 revealed that room occupancy was down from 52% in April 2000 to 51.9%./ S. Africa's best-known Internet tycoon is hoping to follow Dennis Tito and become the second paying guest aboard a Russian spacecraft. Mark Shuttleworth, 27, who earned U$500 million from selling his Internet security company, Thawte Technologies, last year, is undergoing a month of tests in Star City, outside Moscow, that will indicate whether he is physically up to the challenge. ZAMBIA: The African Wildlife Foundation has launched a transboundary conservation project, known as the "four corners natural resource management project." and referring to the Caprivi Strip of the Zambezi River, where Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe - meet. ZIMBABWE: Matobo Conservation Society submitted a formal proposal to the World Heritage Committee applying for World Heritage Site status for the world-famous Matobo Hills, which has the largest number of tree species in Zimbabwe. The Matobo Hills area is also home to the largest concentration of leopard in the world and the world's oldest rocks are found there. / Zimbabwe's 275-room top tourist and casino hotel, famed for its gigantic Z$ 55 million thatched roof, built as an ethnic showcase for the 1991 Commonwealth summit, and within sight of the Victoria Falls was extensively damaged by fire. Asia & Pacific AUSTRALIA: When a southern right whale died 100 Km south of Adelaide, about a dozen sharks immediately began devouring the carcass. Almost as immediately Boat operators cashed in, ferrying dozens of customers to the site for "a closer look", as marine restrictions do not apply for dead whales. This was not enough for some "tourists" and they were caught on camera clambering on the floating dead whale and patting the great white sharks eating the carcass. But it was enough for State Environment Minister Evans, who angrily pledged to change the law, to "protect people too stupid to protect themselves". CAMBODIA: The government approved legislation designed to curb illegal logging by imposing stiff prison sentences and hefty fines on offenders. Prime Minister Hun Sen has vowed more than once to resign from office if his government failed in this policy. Serious offenders could be jailed for up to 10 years. CHINA: Northeast China's Jilin Province, which is famous for its vast forests and wild Siberian tigers, has decided to build another 38 nature reserve zones for rare wild animals and rare wild plants in the next 10 years. The acreage of the province's nature reserve area is expected to reach 2.25 million hectares, accounting for 12 percent of the province's total land space. Both China and Russia have set aside wild Siberian tiger protection areas on each country 's side of the border. IRAN: The wild Persian donkey is struggling to avoid extinction in Iran. Theanimals were once common across central Asia and the Middle East, but no more than 400 of them remain today. In the last twenty years, uncontrolled hunting and habitat destruction have wiped out 90 percent of the population. IRAQ: Archeologists discover an Assyrian temple and two winged lions that date back nearly 3,000 years. At Nimrud, an ancient city 280 miles north of Baghdad. The lions are about 3 metres high and 5 metres long and stand at the entrance to the temple. JAPAN: The Japanese Fisheries Minister, Maseyuku Komatsu, publicly admitted on Australian television, that his country's cash may help persuade countries to vote to lift an international ban on whaling. Six Caribbean nations voted with Japan last year on almost every motion. Adding insult to injury, Mr. Komatsu went on to describe the minke whale, whose meat Japan is the biggest consumer of, as the "cockroach of the oceans". Asked why he called the whales cockroaches, he said: "Because there are too many. The speed of swimming is so quick". Whatever that meant, Mr. Komatsu is still in office. Japan kills about 500 whales a year, nearly all of them minkes, as part of a scientific whaling program allowed by the International Whaling Commission. Tokyo is pushing for a resumption of commercial whaling, banned by the commission in 1986. PNG, TAKU'U ISLANDS: A tiny South Pacific group of atolls, north of Papua New Guinea is appealing for help on the Internet because of rising sea levels. Taku'u's "white sandy beaches" have gone and its drinking water has been ruined by salt. The highest point on the 13 islets is 4.2 metres (not quite 14 feet) above sea level. The islanders have launched a website at http://members.tripod.com/akoa-Fitina/takuu.htm to appeal for international help. THAILAND: Greenpeace urged the Thai government to act swiftly against incineration of waste, which medical studies show can have a severe impact on the sexual development of children living in adjacent areas / Lisu Lodge in northern Thailand receives Conde Nast Traveler magazine's (USA) 2001 Ecotourism Award. NEW ZEALAND: is trying to rid the whole of Campbell Island, south of New Zealand of 200,000 rats with 120 tons of poisoned bait, thrown by boats and helicopters. This is the biggest rat eradication program in History aimed to clear the way for the return of the flightless teal duck and the restoration of a species of wading bird found only on the island. ANTIGUA: Police fired tear gas to break up a crowd of demonstrators protesting yesterday against construction at a hotel and resort complex. About 100 local residents of the southern village of Old Road blocked the entrance of the Carlisle Bay Resort to stop three trucks going in with building material, the Caribbean News Agency (CANA) reported. Protest leaders said they opposed the $48 million development of new structures on environmental grounds. ST.LUCIA: CANA reported that St Lucia is beginning to feel the backlash from its support for Japanese efforts to overturn a ban on international commercial whaling, with a group of tourists cancelling a visit to the island. St Lucia Hotel Association (SLHTA) president Berthia Parle said the whaling issue came up at a meeting of her organization during the week, and many hoteliers were unhappy with the St Lucia government's stance. She said that the group numbered about 300 tourists, and added that both the SLHTA and the St Lucia Tourist Board were in receipt of hundreds of e-mails warning of the possible repercussions since St Lucia continued to vote along with Japan on the whaling issue. She said: " What we have to realize is that ecotourism is a growing niche market globally and persons are becoming more aware and more sensitive to environmental issues." Meanwile, the "Ocean Warrior", the ship of the Sea Sheperd Conservation Society has left Miami to patrol for whaling and turtle poaching around St.Lucia and St. Vincent. With a skull flag flying from its mast and the names of ships it has sunk painted on its black steel side, the Ocean Warrior headed for the Caribbean in search of whaling vessels and turtle poachers. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a Malibu, Calif.-based anti-whaling group known for ramming whaling ships and sabotaging poachers' nets. EU: A proposed new EU Commission Directive would simplify rules for visitors from non-EU countries by allowing visitors to travel inside most EU countries for three months, so long as they hold a valid travel document and, where appropriate, a visa or residence permit. GREECE: Two Americans have mailed fragments of ancient Greek objects to the Greek Embassy in Washington years after their parents removed them from archaeological sites while on vacation. The two, who were not identified, sent two small fragments of clay containers and three marble fragments. Apparently, in a noble act, the Americans decided to return the artifacts after the death of their parents. ITALY: Excessive use of force and excessive protests leave one demonstrator dead and many injured, at the G-8 summit in Genoa. The summit itself fails to make headway on environmental issues. Many, including Romano Prodi, President of the EU Commission, question the benefits from holding such meetings in the future. NORWAY: 22 airlines organized by Greenpeace have joined to refuse to transport of whale products from Norway. Norway lifted a ban on exports of whale meat and blubber earlier this year. UNITED KINGDOM: Delegates from 37 countries opened the 53rd meeting of the International Whaling Commission in London by turning down a sanctuary for whales in the Pacific Ocean. Twenty countries voted in favour of the South Pacific Whale Sanctuary, thirteen against it, and four abstained, and thus a necessary three-quarters majority was not reached. Against the Sanctuary proposal were: Japan, Norway, Korea, China, Denmark, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Panama and the Republic of Guinea. In favour were: Argentina, Australia, Chile, Finland, Germany, India, Mexico, Monaco, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, Austria, Brazil, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Abstained: Ireland, Oman, Morocco and the Solomon Islands. / The first official British Airways pet passengers to enjoy immediate release to their owners without quarantine have flown in to the UK from Bermuda. / A stinking greasy substance thought to be vegetable oil has smothered a twelve-mile stretch of Welsh coastline and bathing beaches, near Holyhead on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. a coastguard official said on Saturday. It may have come from a ship that illegally flushed its tanks close to shore / The first conviction of a private individual for the destruction of a house martin's nest on his home, was made in Stamford, Lincolnshire. The culprit was fined £250 for destroying the nest. House martins are summer migrants to Britain from Africa and are protected species. HONDURAS: A New Zealand woman was shot four times in the stomach and her Israeli boyfriend was killed during an armed robbery in the Central American nation of Honduras. The couple were trekking in the Pico Bonito National Park, near the country's northern Carribbean coast on July 11. They had travelled by bus to the rainforest park, south east of the town of La Ceiba, and had begun walking when they passed by two men on a motorcycle. The two men returned and held-up the pair at gunpoint. GALAPAGOS MARINE RESERVE RECOMMENDED AS WORLD HERITAGE SITE EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA AND HONDURAS: will receive a tri-national $21 million loan from the IDB to support sustainable development in the shared geography of the Upper Lempa Basin. The project represents the IDB's first tri-national project in a frontier region, and is seen as "an important advance in the overall integration of the three countries and the Central American Isthmus." Support for the project comes from a variety of funds within the IDB and donor countries, including the Nordic Development Fund, the German GTZ, the Norwegian Fund, the Japan Special Fund and the Spanish Trust Fund. The Upper Lempa Basin is considered "a strategic location for intraregional trade and ecotourism." CANADA: Canada's insistence that forest and farmland "carbon sinks" play a major role in efforts to reduce greenhouse gases comes under fire in a new report that challenges Ottawa to shift gears before critical international climate negotiations resume next week. "Taking Credit: Canada and the Role of Sinks in International Climate Negotiations" was released today by the David Suzuki Foundation and the West Coast Environmental Law Association. For further information and to download a copy of the position paper, technical summary and full report, go to http://www.davidsuzuki.org/sinks.asp Alberta: Parks Canada officials are struggling to contain an outbreak of anthrax among the bison in Alberta's Wood Buffalo National Park. British Columbia: Environmentalists are angry over a decision by the province's new Liberal Party government decision to lift a three-year Grizzly Bear hunting moratorium. Grizzly bears once ranged across western North America but are now found only in western Canada, a few northern US states and Alaska. British Columbia is home of a quarter of the bears. Environmentalists estimate that there are between 4,000 and 6,000 grizzly bears in the province, while provincial biologists and hunters put the number up to 13,000. Pro-hunting groups estimate that hunting trips, sold mostly to foreign tourists, contribute C$200 million ($133 million) annually to the province's economy. At least 230 bears were killed "legally" last year. UNITED STATES: An estimated 58.2 million Americans are expected to visit national parks this year on vacation, taking traffic jams and long commutes with them. Oregon: Farmers rigged an irrigation line into a canal in defiance of a federal order that has blocked water for crops to save endangered fish. In April, the government shut down an irrigation canal serving land in the Klamath Project to protect endangered sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake and threatened coho salmon in the Klamath River. Florida: The Bush administration revealed a dramatically scaled-back plan to open about 1.5 million acres of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas exploration. The area, known as Lease Sale 181, originally covered 5.9 million acres and came as close as 17 miles to Pensacola in Florida's Panhandle. But three-fourths of the plan were cut - mainly by eliminating drilling east of the Florida-Alabama state line - after opposition from the president's brother and environmentalists nationwide. California: A team of biologists involved in the California Condor Recovery Plan recently switched the first condor egg produced in the wild in fifteen years, just before it was about to hatch, with a fake one. The real egg was taken to Los Angeles and placed with "a very experienced" pair of condors at the Los Angeles Zoo. They were successful in hatching it and are now raising this first chick produced in the wild since 1986. In the 1980's, California condor populations reached a low of just 22 birds. Through captive breeding programs at LA Zoo, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, there are now 59 wild condors in California and Arizona and another 127 birds living in captivity. Academics are complaining that Ecotourism has
not / can not be clearly defined. Have a go! To my understanding ecotourism is there for
the people who love visitng ,learning other peoples culture all over the
world with out destroying ones culture but be there to strenghten it ,by
respecting the local people and their habits and thus the local people
should have a respect as well for the whole thing to carry on. Ecotourism is an event
where people come and people go and nature didn't know the difference. Ecotourism all
too often takes the form of a buzzword for marketing campaigns and business.
Ecotourism should be a facilitator of global communication, not global
business. What we really need to define is "What is Ecopsychology?"
How can humankind look at patterns of how we lived in the past and apply
these long forgotten methods to sustaining our future? Ecotourism is a
positive vehicle for ecopsychological perspectives that can very well foster
and nurture a new world vision for our planet. Ecotourism can address
environmental degradation, global socioeconomical problems, the transcending
of racial barriers, stimulation of life experiences, and empowerment of all
stakeholders in the ecotourism industry to become "allies". An
ally who recognizes the intricate inter-connectedness of humankind, and
through this empowerment gets involved globally with efforts to heal
relationships with our planet... One of the most popular forms of alternative tourism is
Ecotourism which is low cost and protects the
environment, which is tourism's infrastructure. An important question is how can we improve our understanding of resident
perceptions, values and
priorities regarding ecotourism's role in their community? Send YOUR definition / view of ecotourism to news@ecoclub.com
This is a vast topic, but it is interesting to
see that the State and Private Companies received so few votes. A fair answer,
would be that it depends, on which State, which NGO, which Local Council and
which Company one is referring to. Local councils seem to be the preferred
answer because theoretically they incorporate elements from the other three
categories plus the important element of local citizens, without the consent of
which, all grand designs may fail.
If you are organising or are aware of an
ecotourism related Trade Show, Conference, Workshop or other Event
please send us the details to news@ecoclub.com
to promote it for free. August 17-27, Field Ecotourism Course/ CANADA
Details of these and other events at ECOCLUB.com EVENTS: http://ecoclub.com/events !Despite US objections, negotiators from 178 countries reached
agreement on how to tackle climate change. The EU gave ground on the
issue of carbon sinks, allowing Canada, Russia, and Japan to count forests that
absorb carbon dioxide as large credits toward emissions-reduction targets. !Asian tiger mosquitoes that carry tropical diseases are likely
to spread !Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, of Cardiff University, Wales, claims to have isolated a sample of air collected from Earth's stratosphere that contained living cells and considers it as evidence of "extraterrestrial microbial life." !Certain varieties of trees can emit air pollutants, creating ozone and fine particulate matter that make it hard to breathe. !Teflon frying pans's nonstick coating when heated to extremely high temperature can release a chemical known as Trifluoracetate (TFA) which seems to collect in wetlands for centuries, according to a University of Toronto study published in the journal Nature. !Humans are now known to be at least 5.2 million years old, a million years older than scientists previously thought. A team of U.S. and Ethiopian researchers has found remains of the earliest known human ancestor in Ethiopia that predate the previously oldest known fossils by almost a million years. @Aiming to disprove the US public's general opinion
about its employment of international sweatshops, Nike is giving the public a
90-day virtual tour inside its partner factory in Vietnam, on its corporate
website. @George Orwell Event of the Month Get details on these and many
more Vacancies at http://ecoclub.com/jobs
THE
JULY ECO-QUIZ WAS: Former Empire,
lost access to sea, recently. Name the country.
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