ecoclub.com/blogs - news & views from ecoclub.com members

Dugout boat culture of Estonia’s Soomaa region inscribed on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage

On 14 December 2021, UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage decided to inscribe "Building and use of expanded dugout boats in the Soomaa region" on UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. Soomaa's dugout boat culture thus became Estonia's fifth inscription ...

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Crete, Greece: Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Educational Network, 5-Day Seminars on Biodiversity and Gastronomy

Crete, Greece: Crete's Culinary Sanctuaries Educational Network, 5-Day Seminars on Biodiversity and Gastronomy. Dates: May 2-7, 2022 or September 12-17, 2022 An experiential learning program with expert presentations at historic sites, nature reserves, and visits with award-winning organic farmers, olive oil producers and vintners. Discover the com...

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Autumn Colors of Northern Pakistan | by Batuta Travels | Nov, 2021 | Medium

Autumn Colors of Northern Pakistan | by Batuta Travels | Nov, 2021 | Medium

The autumn or fall is the season of the year when the landscape in the Chitral valley presents breathtaking scenes with motley colors of foliage on the trees in Booni, the administrative headquarter of district Upper Chitral. Many of the traditional cultural festivals such as benisik, lashti korik, etc., are also associated with the autumn in the Chitral valley, northern Pakistan. It is the seasons of the year when changing foliage on the tree makes their preparation for winter. During this season in Booni, the autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the green leaves of many trees and shrubs by which they take on shades of yellow, orange, red, and brown. This phenomenon is commonly called fall colors, fall foliage, or autumn colors. Fall colors engage our senses and stimulate our aesthetic vision via the warm tones, from the darkest brown and dark green to the most intense orange and yellow, passing through almost all shades of red. The main colors of this season are red, yellow, brown, and orange, warm colors often used in color therapy for their energizing effect.Looking at these colors provokes physical reactions related to the sphere of energy, let's see below what the main...

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The latest IPCC report and first steps to make a sustainable travel change

The current news about the latest reports of the IPCC state that climate change is man-made and the rise of temperature with an average of 1.5C° will be reached 10 years earlier than estimated. The latest news were quite frustrating and taking responsibilty with every little step we take during our exploration of the globe this article should give some hope and inspiration to have a positive impact. Read more: https://mygreenplanet.travel.blog/2021/10/27/the-latest-ipcc-report-and-first-steps-to-make-a-sustainable-travel-change/

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Bonifacio (South Corsica) in autumn: a worth living ecotourism destination

  I couldn't resist not to share with you my latest travel experience under the DestiMED Plus programme.  For those of you who are not aware of this, DestiMED Plus is an Interreg Med Programme for sustainable tourism, aiming to improve integration between regional tourism and conservation policies in Mediterranean protected areas. A susta...

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Protecting Trichonida, Greece's largest natural lake

Last weekend I visited Lake Trichonida, in Western Greece along with other Board Members of the Greek Ecotourism Society. The lake is relatively unknown as a destination, even for domestic tourism, although it is Greece's largest natural lake and a natural treasure. The purpose of our visit was to support the local National Park Authorities in...

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Georgian Mountaineers Honored in Chitral, KPK, Pakistan

A simple celebratory event was organized in Chitral town to honor the successful climbing of the rocky massif of the Saraghrar Peak (4349m) for the first time by a Georgian Expedition led by Archi Badriashili with Mr. Baqar Gelashvili and Mr. Giorgi Tepnadze in his team. They also climbed Languta-e-Barfe (6,827m) in the Terich valley in three days times. They are prominent Georgian climbers, who have climbed many peaks in the Caucuses, the Swiss Alp, Tien Shen in Kyrgyzstan, Nanga Parbat in the Himalayan Range, besides Nepal and Eastern Europe. They reached the peak by 15:30hrs on September 10, 2021, and safely returned to the basecamp to celebrate the achievement and relax before continue traveling back to Chitral town. The team also made an ascent of Languta-e-Barfi (6,827m). The successful climb of the Georgian Expedition was possible because of their fitness, regular practice, and relevant experience in climbing difficult mountains. During an interview, the team leader informed: “the NW phase of the Saraghrar peak is a steep wall involving technical difficulties for climbers. It rises at 90 degrees from the ground, we are so glad that we made it to this unclimbed peak”. The team further informed that they had reached...

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A Dream Worth Fighting For - Pousada Serra Verde, Brazil

Plotting a path through 2020 and 2021 has been more than a little challenging for most involved in the travel sector. As per my previous post, in 2020 we saw a six month total lockdown, a 90 year drought, a cyclone and open warfare between the state governors and the president on how to navigate the storm. The politica...

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Tourism and intentional communities

christiania Christiania Visitors Map

The title "Utopia Inc" may be unfair, but it belongs to a well documented, critical article by Alexa Clay on Aeon. The author convincingly argues that intentional communities, including eco villages, are microcosms of our society, with the same problems of the society that they aim to replace or get away from. But they are ...

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Transforming Revenge Tourism to Responsible Tourism

Often the discourse of sustainable development revolves around role of different stakeholders and their responsibilities in sustainable growth of tourism destinations. Although operations of each and every tourism practitioner and behavior of travellers hold significant importance, we at Mountain Homestays strongly believe that Tour Operators are t...

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