Eco Announcements

Punta Gorda, Belize - 6 Nov 2009

The Toledo Tourism Expo and Battle of the Drums will both take place on Saturday 14th November this year. The Tourism Expo (TOLTEX) will be in Central Park in Punta Gorda between 10am and 5 pm. Stalls will feature accommodations and tours, mouth-watering food, locally made crafts and
tourism related developments by NGOs in the district.

TOLTEX is organized by the Toledo branch of the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA). There will be a raffle towards the end of the afternoon and live music in the park during the day. Tickets can be purchased in advance from the Tourism Information Center or TIDE Tours office on Front St or in Central Park on the day.

The Battle of the Drums will once again be in the PG Sports Complex. Doors open at 6:30 and the event starts at 7:30.

There will be eight drumming groups taking part from Belize,Guatemala and Honduras. The Honduran band Grupo Guchelo from Baha Mar plays a distinct contra style unlike all the others.
Punta Gorda will be represented by Chucurru and the Tribal Vibes, the defending champions,
and Luwaruguma Peini. The Ugundani Dance Group from Belize City have represented Belize in music festivals in Europe and the USA, while The Lebeha Boys from Hopkins have produced an award winning CD.

Submitted by: Rob Hirons, The Lodge at Big Falls

Oaxaca, Mexico - 8 November 2009

Nominations are open until the end of November for the 2010 Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award which is a collaborative effort between Planeta.com and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) with the support of the Heidehof Foundation to showcase best practices in web-based technologies helping indigenous people manage tourism in a biodiversity-friendly way.

The award is presented to indigenous tourism operations for their websites that promotes sustainable practices and educates visitors on cultural protocols and biodiversity conservation.

Timeline

Nominations will be accepted through November 30, 2009

Confirmation of eligible candidates occurs in December 2009

Voting for the popular award takes place online in January and February 2010

Jury voting takes place online in February 2010

Winners of popular and jury voting receive award and face-to-face workshop training in April 2010 at the Reisepavillon in Berlin, Germany

Bonus points to applicants making the most of Web 2.0 channels!

Details:
http://planeta.wikispaces.com/itbw

Athens, Greece - 13 November 2009

Community projects in Guyana & Peru which were undertaken by ECOCLUB.com Members and funded by ECOCLUB.com have been successfully completed according to reports received from the organisers.

Jane Crouch, Responsible Travel Manager at Intrepid Travel (Australia) has successfully implemented the project entitled "Water Filters in Chichubamba Community - Peru" which involved the improvement of the health of the people of Chichubamba South by providing access to clean drinking water throught the provision of ceramic water filters and education in their use and maintenance. The detailed report including videos and photos appears at https://ecoclub.com/awards2009-c.html

Judy Karwacki, Principal of Small Planet Consulting (Canada) has also reported the completion of a wildlife monitoring project in the Yupukari community of Guyana, entitled 'From Wild to Web'. This project involved the enhancement of Ecotourism-linked wildlife monitoring activities by the village Wildlife Club by the purchase of a dedicated laptop and cameras, so that village youth can learn to digitally document field projects, make web pages, and upload them online. Please find the completion report and two interesting videos at https://ecoclub.com/awards2009-f.html

Due to current political events in Honduras, the third ECOCLUB.com funded project for 2009 which will create a tourism cooperative in the community of Buenos Aires (Honduras) has been delayed, however key steps have already taken place, and the organiser Manuel Apaza (ICADE, Honduras) is optimistic. (see latest progress report)

>> For more details about the ECOCLUB.com Annual Awards please see
https://ecoclub.com/awards.html