zero carbon travel from your desktop! wonderful pics & sounds from Africa, live Technology gives us so many solutions. We must rethink if it is worth covering thousands of kilometres just to annoy wild animals, or insisting on seeing them when visiting a country. And something surreal: as I was watching this, an ad "Taxidermy Mounts" came up. OOps!
If you are lucky enough to have visited the Faroe Islands you know it is one of the world’s most unique tourism destinations. Located between Iceland and Denmark, the islands can be hard to reach, it is worth the effort. The Faroe Islands were voted the National Geographic’s #1 Island Ecotourism destination in 2007. You can get a sense of the island’s natural and cultural beauty on my video athttp://www.14dd5266c70789bdc806364df4586335-gdprlock/watch?v=a4NuIq6r8D4...re=channel_pageNow the Islands want you. With a small population and an even smaller tourism budget, the Trade and Tourism Council is turning to grassroots marketing strategies. They want people who have been to the Faroe Islands to talk about their experience and encourage others to visit. To support this objective, the Faroe Island Trade and Tourism Council has created a Facebook group called Faroe Enthusiasts and Ambassadors which swelled to 100 members within 48 hours of its launch.If you’ve been to the Islands or would like more information check them out at:http://www.2343ec78a04c6ea9d80806345d31fd78-gdprlock/profile.php?id=780...34330247&ref=tsLet’s help the Faroese keep their tourism destination healthy in these challenging times. Check them out on Facebook.
Athenians riot when a 15 year old student, Alexander Grigoropoulos is killed in the Exarheia district, Athens' "Quartier latin", by a policeman's bullet, a "ricoched one" according to the policeman's lawyer, a direct hit according to eyewitnesses. What is certain is that he is a victim of an uninhabitable city that hosted the pharaonic Olympics, which added more unsustainable buildings and roads and brought security paranoia, cameras and an armed & militarised police with "rambo" mentality patrolling the sea of cement that is the inner city of Athens, once more (as in ancient times) a globalised metropolis complete with ghettoes for all those who fail to partake in the bright side of globalisation, unemployed and radicalised youth, poorly paid "illegal'' immigrants fleeing western wars in the east, trafficked prostitutes from western Africa and eastern Europe, mob gangs and laid off workers and ... and...In Athens, and other large cities worldwide, citizens are in need of peaceful solutions for all to tackle a growing crisis that runs far deeper than the price of oil and stocks, a crisis of the whole model. The same system that finds billions so easily for banks, arms, lavish events, wasteful luxury items and exclusive resorts, leaves...
From the Rodale Institute:"Global Warming is an issue that impacts everyone, yet it is also is an issue where everyone can make an impact. Simple everyday tasks, such as what food you buy, can either contribute to—or reduce—global warming. Rodale Institute research shows that organically managed soils can store (sequester) more than 1,000 pounds of carbon per acre, while non-organic systems can cause carbon loss. For consumers, this means that the simple act of buying organic products can help to reduce global climate change. “In this age of carbon awareness, we think farmers should be well rewarded for innovative stewardship that builds soil for future generations,” says Tim LaSalle, the Institute’s CEO"Full story: http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/global_warming
From Bill Moyers *Truthout"National Food Fight? Airdate: Friday, November 28, 2008, at 9:00 p.m. EST on PBS"As Americans gather to give thanks this week, food - quality, quantity, cost - remains a national issue. Bill Moyers Journal takes a hard look at how America's food policies - trade rules, farm subsidies and regulation - affect larger issues, including global warming, healthcare and even homeland security. Bill Moyers sits down with Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley, to discuss what direction the US should pursue in the often-overlooked question of food policy. Pollan is the author of "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto."More info: http://www.truthout.org/112508U
Travel has created big changes in my life, including the creation of Kalahari Management 19 years ago. I've just released a new book Reinventure: How Travel Adventure Can Change Your Life, and share a few of my travel stories and those of the people I've met along the way.One of the wonderful things about being a tourism consultant is visiting places before they are 'discovered' by tourists and getting behind-the-scenes tours. I think people will find these stories entertaining and get them thinking about a possible reinventure in their lives.People can take the Reinventure Quiz at my new website www.loseyourluggagefindyourself.com, find some suggestions for their next trip and share their own stories of transformation.They also make wonderful Christmas presents! Carol
“Is that boat operated by a whale watching company?” I asked, as we peered at Orcas through the fog-shrouded waters of Vancouver Island’s Johnstone Strait.“Yes,” our interpreter said. Hesitating, she continued, “But they don’t always adhere to the rules for watching whales.” I wasn’t surprised at this news; the boat did not carry any identifying logos, the passengers seemed crammed into a small space, and they were too close to the whales. It looked more like a craft out for a spin, than a professional whale tour boat.Canada’s growing whale watching industry has many reputable tour companies, but there are others trying to capitalize on the economic opportunities without adhering to legislation or best practices. Customers may be able to watch out for their needs and safety, but who looks out for he whales?The Canadian government has taken a huge step forward with new Species of Risk legislation. Whale watching companies can now be charged if they engage in behavior that harms whales. As well, the Marine Mammals Regulations of the Fisheries Act is being modified to include unacceptable viewing behaviors, for example, the use of acoustic harassment devices.Prior to these developments, the conduct of whale watchers fell under voluntary guidelines...
IUCN regularly issue updates of their famous "Red List of Threatened Species". The latest results for mammals show at least 1,141 of the world's 5,487 recognised mammal species to be threatened with extinction. Some, unfortunately even within the sustainability ranks, try to justify conservation via Economism, arguing that it pays to conserve an animal and 'sell' it many times over to tourists, rather than killing it. According to this argument however, the rarer (i.e. the more endangered) an animal, the higher would be its economic value. So it would pay to decimate numbers reducing them to an 'optimum' endangered level, that would also minimise human-animal conflict. Is this what is actually taking place? It would be interesting to research a correlation between countries that have successfully developed mass tourism in protected areas and those with a high percentage of endangered species. Some endangered species percentages in popular nature tourism destinations are: Australia 16%, Tanzania 9%, USA 8.4%, Kenya 7%, Tanzania 9%, Belize 4.6%, Costa Rica 3.5%
Recent articles in the New York Times that are interrelated (but some people might not yet see the correlation). The first is about preservation of culinary heritage in France (implementation plan not yet clear). The second is about disappearing culinary heritage in one region of Crete and the health consequences of adopting western eating habits (and the influence-power of western junk food PR). This is all the more reason find concrete ways to preserve disappearing traditions that are healthier for people and the planet, beginning with the obvious -- tangible support for current educational-preservation programs and acknowledgment of the benefits of such programs for residents and visitors.French Cuisine, Exalted by Chefs as a World Heritage TreasureBy ELAINE SCIOLINOPublished: September 23, 2008, The New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/dining/2...per&oref=sloginFast Food Hits Mediterranean; a Diet SuccumbsBy ELISABETH ROSENTHALPublished: September 23, 2008, The New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/world/eu.../24diet.html?em
According to Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), meat production puts more greenhouse gases (18% of the total) into the atmosphere than transport. This 18% includes gases released by clearing forested land, making & transporting fertiliser, burning fossil fuels in farm vehicles and "the front and rear end emissions of cattle and sheep" as BBC politely puts it.So "offset" your meat, rather than your flights, and offset it the real way, by not consuming it!Which may also help you limit your rear end emissions
