ECOCLUB Blogs™

Pål K Medhus from Høve Støtt, an outdoor experience company in Geilo, Norway will talk on European Ecotourism Conference 2010 about Experience Economy.   

Booni is a village 80 kilometers to the north of Chitral town. Just like the rest of the villages in the Hindu Kush region, Booni is also a fan-shaped landmass formed by glacial deposit at the mouth of what is called ‘Booni Gol’ or the stream of Booni, which cultivates the tracts of crops, vegetable, fruit bearing trees of apples, pear and grape and so on.     On July 26, 2010 in the afternoon, a huge flash flood that originated from Booni zom glacier, smashed road networks, telephone and water supply lines depriving the local communities of the basic life amenities. The jeep-able road that once connected Central Booni to Molgram in the south vanished in a flash and the blacktopped road cleanly swept. The proportion of the flood was so immense that the wide span of the stream could hardly accommodate it. Consequently, the overflow entered the settlements destroying houses, orchards, and washing everything on its way including a Jamat Khana. The irrigation channels branching off the main stream have been badly disrupted. This has left standing crops of rice, maize, and fruit bearing trees, orchards, and kitchen garden without water for more than a week, the cost of...

This year in some European countries with large Muslim populations, such as Belgium, France and Spain (where the proposal was narrowly defeated on Tuesday), there were proposals for a total ban on face veils (niqab / burqa) in public places. The Left, progressive and open minded people seem split on the issue, trying to defend both multiculturalism and personal freedoms. There is evidence that the niqab tradition long preceded Islam. On the other hand, moslem countries like Tunisia also ban the niqab. Also consider that "the extremist imams ... are the products of the Islamic fundamentalism that proliferated under the patronage of the grand anti-communist alliance of the past century, comprising western powers and Saudi fundamentalism, generously funded by petrodollars. "  Source: http://www.bmsd.org.uk/articles.asp?id=12 Is it the state's (i.e. the majority's) job to tell people ( i.e. the minority) how to dress, or is it a case of protecting the individual rights of the second (and third) generation of immigrants? The funny way of looking at it:http://www.dailysquib.co.uk/?c=117&a=2377 and http://www.dailysquib.co.uk/?c=117&a=2370

In today's Avgi newspaper, the president of the Greek Federation of Catering & Tourist Industry Employees (POEE-YTE) Leonidas Karathanassis, blasts the growing exploitation of tourism student trainees by large hotels and the displacement of hotel workers. According to Mr Karathanassis, the phenomenon first started in 2000 when some large hotels in northern Greece struck direct agreements with foreign tourism schools. He alleges that today mainly through the intermediation of specialist 'trainee agents', many of the trainees are not really tourism (or any other sort of) students, they have to work long hours, live in below-ground dormitories or even store-rooms 'like animals', without insurance, with a meagre Euros 500 half of which goes back to the agency! The union representative called on the government to investigate this illegal and abusive practice and to set maximum limits of 10% for trainees, compared to the current 50% which is the case in hundreds of greek hotels. 

   Two 'Na’vi' from 'planet Pandora' landed in London today to participate in multinational mining company Vedanta Resources’ Annual General Meeting.  The happening was part of a colourful demonstration against the miners, over their controversial plan to extract bauxite (Ed. surely unobtainium?) from Niyam Penu (Niyamgiri Hill) the sacred mountain of India’s Dongria Kondh tribe, that they worship as creator and sustainer, in the Indian state of Orissa. Monty Python star and travel writer Michael Palin  expressed his support to the 3 year campaign, supported by Survival International and Amnesty Int. saying he had  "seen the forces of money and power ... arrayed against a people who have occupied their land for thousands of years, who husband the forest sustainably and make no great demands on the state or the government." India’s Environment and Forests Ministry is currently investigating the Dongria’s claim to the forest while Odisha state is conducting a separate probe. Yesterday Vedanta dismissed as "incorrect" an Amnesty International report citing human rights abuses and environmental damages by the company. In May 2009 Amnesty had written to the Indian authorities requesting that the clearance for the mine be withdrawn "until all necessary measures are taken to ensure that the...

Consumerism, a modern disease: Stuffed animal beer bottles sell out in hours, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-10737787

A new report by the 'World Development Movement' describes "how the current situation came to pass, the risks of another speculation induced food crisis, and what specifically can be done by policymakers here in the UK as well as in the US and EU to tackle the problem. " Concludes that "reregulating commodity markets is a vital step in tackling hunger and reshaping the global economy to work for the benefit of people rather than profit for the small elite of bankers." Capitalism is not even mentioned once, let alone blamed, still the report makes interesting reading. The question is how can crises, which are systemic and regularly occuring, be overcome through system 'regulation', rather than system change? Download the report at:http://www.wdm.org.uk/sites/default/files/hunger lottery report_6.10.pdf

  The three-day Broghil festival 2010 is set to be organized from July 28 to 30, 2010 at Teri Dast, the scenic venue near the Chiantar glacier in the Eastern Pamir region. The objective of the event is to create income earning opportunities for the Wakhi communities by attracting tourists in addition to protect the indigenous culture of the unique community along Wakhan Corridor. The festival will be categorized in to two broader segments i.e. indigenous sporting events and traditional Wakhi music. The sporting events will be: 1.      Wakhi free style  polo 2.      Central Asian buzkashi on sturdy Badakhshi ponies 3.      Horse race 4.      Yak polo 5.      Yak  race 6.      Tug of war 7.      Mountain marathon   The cultural events including: 1.      Traditional Wakhi folksongs such as ‘bilbilik’ etc 2.      Wakhi folkdances 3.      Central Asian violin [ghirzhak] 4.      Playing ‘gharba’ with religious songs 5.      Food festival 6.      Exhibition of Wakhi handicrafts   Broghil is recognized for the colorful culture of the Wakhi community in addition to enormous trekking/ photographic opportunities and horseback/ yak riding.   Contact: Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Cell: +92 302 5975059 Office: +92 943 413540

PESHAWAR: Different non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have demanded immediate halt to the construction of community halls in the Kalash valleys in Chitral as they felt it would harm the local culture.Kalash Environmental Protection Society (KEPS), Frontier Heritage Trust (FHT), Institute of Architects of Pakistan (IAP), Civic Awareness Promotion Society (CAPS), Zareef Khan Foundation (ZKF) and Sarhad Conservation Network (SCN) in a joint statement urged the government to immediately stop the construction of new community centres in the three valleys inhabited by the minority Kalash community as the Kalash people resented the decision and considered it harmful for their culture.According to the SCN press release, the new secretary for minorities, Khyber Pakhtun-khwa, had sanctioned three community halls for women, one for each of the three Kalash valleys. But the local community in Rumbur, Birir and Bamburet opposed the centres. In Balanguru, they already have two Jestakhans (community centres) damaged by certain elements four or five years ago.“In Birir, the one built by Chitral Area Development Programme is, like all others, a concrete monstrosity which has iron bars and no glass at the windows and is used by animals,” the statement argued.The KEPS statement said, “It is a pointless venture as the people do...

I just returned from a sailing trip to Gwaii Hannas National Park in Haida Gwaii off British Columbia's northern coast. It is interesting to see how the Haida people are co-managing the National Park with Parks Canada. I had the chance to talk to some of the Haida Watchmen at the heritage sites; those times were some of the best parts of the visit. Hearing about the Haida culture from someone who is living it makes it much more powerful than getting it second-hand.I found quite a contrast between how we (non-Haida) and the Haida described the sites. We would call them abandoned but the Haida don't. They regard them as part of their living culture. If you look at this video you will see what remains. They give equal weight to the spirits and history as built architecture.http://www.14dd5266c70789bdc806364df4586335-gdprlock/watch?v=IaYLyYoNTzYAre you aware of similar comanagement agreements for parks or protected areas? Carol