ECOCLUB Blogs™

  Now a days an Evil game going with our waters Fresh& Sea,  so many youngsters lost their life in fresh and sea waters of Kerala at bathing to a LAST BATH . Our Fresh water rivers became  very dangerous due to exploitation of river sand for construction purposes ..as cement mortar ., river bed become dangerously deep and uneven and  water flow  get slow ,most of the Rivers are in last breath of  their existence , Our River Nila is inits last stage  of its existence due to this mad exploitation of river sand. As science says " For every action there is an equal and  opposit  reaction ", is true with Nature also, as the environmental  exploitation and polluting  is more the consequences  will be more in different forms as Global Warming,diseases etc.. A stability to  be maintained with environment and developing for a ever lasting Healthy World.  Jojo Paul, West Wind Homez  Kumbalangi, Cochin, Kerala, India.

A ghost is again floating over Europe, the ghost of racism! From the recent electoral far-right breakthrough (6%) in the former poster child of social democracy, Sweden to blackshirt vigilantism in the Italian South, to Vienna municipal elections, to the endless tragedy of drowned and imprisoned immigrants in the Aegean and other Mediterranean islands right next to blissfully oblivious package tourists. Based on the Greek experience since the early 1990s, when a local community suddenly receives a far greater number of economic immigrants, refugees fleeing imperialist or local wars (and soon climate refugees) that it can immediately absorb in menial jobs, agriculture, construction and industry, its fringe racist & fascist elements, seconded by arch-conservative religious elements and the tabloid press & TV, become vocal and mainstream. Once this happens, right wing parties but also social-democrats try to follow, so as not to lose votes and the whole political discourse moves to the right. Ordinary people, already exploited by capitalism, and with their own prejudices and fears can not easily resist. Imagine levels of solidarity on a crowded bus full of tired workers returning home, when 10 immigrants (or even 10 tourists) also want to get in. That said, unfortunately, racism and...

Now that Belize's Southern Highway has been completed the site at Nim Li Punit is more accessible than ever. It is located just north of the village of Indian Creek with its entrance off to the right when approaching from the north. It is one of the more modest archaeological sites in terms of the size of the standing structures but the site is most well known for the abundance of carved stelae discovered there. The visitors’ centre houses a number of these including one 9 metres in length. It is the largest carved stela in Belize and the second largest in the Mayan world. This stela depicts some of the history of the region and one of its rulers whose elaborate head-dress gives the site its modern name which translates as “Big Hat”. Within the excavated areas of the site further stelae have been left in their original locations and are protected by palm thatched roofs. The Mat stela is part of the south group and is depicted on the face of the Belize two dollar note although its location is not identified there. The archaeological reserve covers 121 acres in total of which just a few have been cleared...

  UNWTO has issued a press release release today assuming on the one hand - on behalf of Tourism - a 5% responsibility of global carbon emissions and on the other "cautioning" against 'mitigation' measures for air passenger transport 'taken in isolation' so as 'not to harm' developing countries and 'small island developing states' dependent on tourism. Hostage to its powerful membership, as the only UN body with multinationals as voting members, UNWTO fails to evaluate what sort of 'development' path the current capitalist tourism model offers to these states,  any "development" will do...(similar to "tourism creates jobs" or the "we employ locals"). But it seems small island states are also being used as hostages by the powerful airline lobby, so that the oligopoly of airlines and aircraft manufacturers can avoid green taxes in perpetuity. The rest of us can happily pay VAT and subsidise new airports, fuel etc.

  May 2-8, 2011, Crete Greece A 6-day interactive educational program for enthusiasts of archaeology, nature, traditional organic agriculture and cuisine. Explore Crete's cultural and natural treasures with resident specialists. A great opportunity to support grassroots heritage preservation projects while learning. A small group program for 12 attendees. For more information: http://www.cookingincrete.com/CCS-Biodiversity-Seminar-May-2011.html

  The Guardian.co.uk, 17 September 2010 Interview with actor Edward Norton, UN goodwill ambassador for biodiversity. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/sep/17/edward-norton-biodiversity "...biodiversity and the health of ecosystems is neither an abstract scientific concept nor the pet project of a green elite. Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems are the vital underpinnings of human society Food and energy production on land and from the sea; medicine; tourism, and real estate: these industries...have been shown to be starkly vulnerable to the destruction of marine and terrestrial ecosystems...."

  Highlights of our 12 years of work in sustainable community-based tourism in Crete, Greece. CCS is an award-winning program for best practices in responsible travel. See our website details. Note: This video is not a film or documentary. It is highlights from our seminars to give you and idea of what we do and why. We hope you find it to be a delicious adventure! http://www.14dd5266c70789bdc806364df4586335-gdprlock/watch?v=mv55HJxLYk8 Nikki Rose

  "Find the best organizations working to preserve island environments, plus see articles from the Green Guide section of the magazine, with expert advice from the editors of ISLANDS." http://www.islands.com/articles/green-guide-crete

  The Fringe Travel community, lead by Sally Broom will host  a webinar about ‘Ecotourism in Europe’ on Thursday 23rd September, 1pm – 2pm UK time. People who will join webinar are: * Aivar Ruukel, founder of Soomaa.com, Lead speaker * Zoltan Kun, Executive Director of Pan Parks, Guest Speaker * Ben Colclough, co-founder Tourdust.com, Guest Speaker * Laura Greenman, MD of Magnetic North Travel, Guest Speaker The webinar celebrates several offline conferences taking place at the moment for ecotourism professionals, in particular the European Ecotourism Conference in Estonia, 26-30 September. The aim of the webinar is to increase our collective awareness of Ecotourism activity in Europe. We will do this through: Discussion and debate; sharing ideas and best practice; and, as ever, inspiration! We want to share great ideas for wonderful holidays/trips that embrace the best of Ecotourism in Europe. I warmly welcome all members of Ecoclub to join our webinar too!

‘Broghil’—the documentary by GEO tv during Jashan-e-Broghil 2010—will be telecast on Friday, September 17 at 11:05PM. You can watch the movie and enjoy the unique culture of the Wakhi community in the Eastern Pamir [Broghil].  It must be noted that a number of national and international TV crew visited Broghil to cover the event. You can also visit the following website link to read more: http://batutaschool.org/en/node/276#comment-66 Can be in contact with us to assure your participation in Broghil Festival 2011. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Cell: +93 302 5975059 Thanks!