ISSN 1108-8931

INTERNATIONAL ECOTOURISM MONTHLY

Year 6 - Issue 66

Sponsored by: Zante Feast Discovery Holidays, Purple Valley Yoga Centre, Hana Maui Botanical Gardens, Jorth Consult Limited

The Tsunami Disaster

The devastating earthquake in Sumatra tragically claimed a constantly increasing and incomprehensibly high number of lives in over 10 countries. A major worldwide relief effort is under way, and will hopefully succeed.

ECOCLUB Ecolodge Golden Buddha Beach, located on an island in Southern Thailand, was hit by the tsunami, with the tragic loss of thirteen lives. Golden Buddha Beach management, with the able coordination of Bodhi Garrett, launched on December 30th a Relief Fund for the local people in the neighbouring village of BakJoke that was also badly hit. We have contributed to this fund and kindly ask any of our Members and Friends who can afford to, to contribute directly, securely on-line at the Lodge's website. Part of the Lodge was spared, electricity is back and GBB management is calling for volunteers to assist with the reconstruction effort.

Elsewhere, in Sri Lanka, Ranweli Holiday Village fortunately suffered only minor damage and has reopened since 1 January 2005. Our other Members in Sri Lanka, Kerala and Kenya, were fortunately not affected.

On January 3, we also heard from Mrs Rahmawaty Hassan, a Member in North Sumatra, Indonesia, working for the regional government, who was looking for info and possible donations on portable toilets and water purification. Two companies have been already contacted by ECOCLUB and are in communication with Mrs Hassan.

Any Members living in or travelling in the affected areas please contact us or make a posting at the Members Forum, so that we know that you are safe and in case we or other Members can assist you in some way.

Our thoughts are with all those suffering at this difficult time. Apart from donations, what you can do is travel to the non-affected parts of the hit countries, so that natural devastation is not followed by economic devastation. Of course, travelers planning to visit Indian Ocean countries should exercise due caution, always read the latest news about health issues and take all appropriate health and insurance measures.

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New Ecolodge Member in Italy

We warmly welcome Etna Lodge 

Also known as the “Palmento di Gilferraro”  Etna Lodge, is an ancient family wine estate at the foothils of Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, in Sicily. Ideal for romantic tranquility, cultural tourism and trekking in Mount Etna National Park, but also close to Piedimonte Etneo, a classic Sicilian rural village, cosmopolitan Taormina and the Mediterranean Sea. The view from here stretches from the coast of Calabria, to Taormina and the seaport of Riposto, to Mount Etna. This ancient estate has been renovated for your comfort, but kept in style for your eyes. Etnalodge is the creation of Ingrid & Enrico Coffari, a "Viking Ballet Dancer" and a "Sicilian Chemistry Professor now specialized in preserves"! They are also Barons Coffari di Gilferraro, last descendants of one of the oldest Sicilian feudal families. In his spare time, Enrico experiments with solar energy, and sent us an article on how to create a solar hot water collector, that you can read in the Eco-Focus section.

Read More - Enquiries & Rates

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New ECOCLUB Sponsor 

We warmly welcome Jorth Consult Limited as a new Sponsor.

Jorth Consult is an independent consultancy that specialises in the preparation and implementation of tourism development studies and natural resource management plans. Our focus on developing sustainable outputs of benefit to local people through participation planning and by developing practical "real world" solutions by encouraging the development of symbiotic relationships between people with their natural resources. We have developed a portfolio of successful projects ranging from tourism master plans, site planning, EIA and carrying capacity studies, tourism product development and market research, through to protected area management, national park planning, heritage projects, ecotourism and ecolodge and camp design.

Visit Website

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New Expert Member in UK 

Mr Miles Davis has B.A. in Tourism & Marketing and a HND in Tourism Operations Mgmt from the University of Lincolnshire. He is a Consultant and Project worker. His most recent ecotourism assignment was for a UNDP funded project an on an environmentally sensitive island in Yemen. The post was to assist the Socotra Ecotourism Society, an NGO, in a variety of areas including, amongst others: capacity building, implementing a tourism development plan, building links with national operators, project writing input, prepare website information, setting up a walking trail system and village home-stays. Also read Mr Davis' article in the Eco-focus section.

Contact Mr Miles Davis

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Yurts prove popular

Cedar House Inn & Yurts have recently found that their yurts are very popular with guests, and in particular repeat guests, who always prefer staying at a yurt, and stated that they felt refreshed and rejuvenated by the experience. Their guests also find the composting toilets interesting and many have never seen one or use such a toilet before. They are intrigued by how environmentally friendly the yurts and toilets therein are and usually want more information.

In choosing a composting toilet for the Yurts, they applied the following five criteria: 

(1) Waterless: Due to the distance of the yurts from existing sewer and plumbing lines and the concern of water pipes freezing in the winter, they did not want piped water in the yurts.

(2) Environmentally Friendly: they wanted a toilet system that did not contribute to possible ground water contamination.

(3) No septic needed: Again due to the location of our yurts and the need to pump sewage up hill (a costly option) and a possible ongoing maintenance issue, they did not want a septic system to the yurts. They also did not want to create a separate septic tank system for the yurts that would require destruction of trees and vegetation.

(4) No odors: They were concerned about the possibility of odors from a toilet system in the yurts. The composting toilet we installed used a partial vacuum through a fan and vent system that eliminates odors.

(5) Easy to operate: They wanted a toilet that would be simple for guests to use and for us to maintain.

To find out how they did it, Fred W. Tanner, the proprietor of Cedar House Inn & Yurts, is very happy to advise on Yurt or compost-toilet installations.

Read More   Enquire

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