ECOCLUB, Issue 94
19
days long, allows the visitor to experience a variety of
ecosystems: Paramo on Andes, the Cloud Forest at Pachijal
and surroundings, the Pacific Ocean at Rio Verde with its
large and deserted beaches, the Santiago river and the
Rainforest at Playa de Oro, and the Andes and the magic of
Laguna de Cuicocha.
The visitor will also sample the
cultural heritage and vibrant cultures of Ecuador: from
Mindo where Los Yumbos lived to Playa de Oro and its
afro-ecuatorian culture, then on to Cuicocha and Otavalo
and the Andean Culture, and finally the Colonial Center in
Quito, a World Heritage Site. About Pachijal Reserve:
Income from visits goes directly to the community and
protects the 10,000 ha cloud forest of Mindo.
>> Details:
Contact Renato Gregorini at Reserva Ecologica
Costa Rica: Award-winning Ecotour Operator attacks
Carbon Offsets
In an article on Planeta.com entitled "Carbon Offsets:
Paying off Unsustainable Life Styles or Investing in
Sustainability" Michael Kaye, founder of award-winning
ecotour operator Costa Rica Expeditions, disputes both the
mechanism and the ethics of the carbon offset industry
when it comes to Travel. According to Kaye "It is a
brilliantly seductive strategy: with a small manageable
financial sacrifice we "offset" our life styles. Any scheme
that allows sustainability gurus to guiltlessly fly around in
private jets and contaminate the atmosphere much more
than the ordinary citizen has got to be worthy of our
respect." Paying for carbon offsets was "like taking aspirin
for cancer that has very possibly metastasized".
>>Details:
United States: North American Ecotourism Conference
'a success
The North American Ecotourism Conference (NAEC 2007)
opened on Wednesday, September 26 with a special
welcome ceremony by representatives of the Native
American tribes in Wisconsin, and keynote speeches by
Barbara Lawton, Wisconsin's Lt. Governor; Stefanos
Fotiou, Coordinator of the United Nations Environment
Programme's tourism programme; and Kelly Bricker, Chair
of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) Board of
Directors. A traditional Native American grand entry
ceremony was performed under the tribal flags representing
Wisconsin's eleven tribal nations, officially opening the
conference and welcoming the attendees. The HoChunk
and other Native American tribes are "key stewards of
Wisconsin's natural treasures, working to promote
economic development and diversification while practicing
sustainability," according to the Wisconsin Department of
Tourism, the local sponsor of the conference. Held at the
beautiful Monona Terrace in Madison, WI, one of the first
buildings in the country to receive LEED-EB (Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing
Buildings) certification, the conference emphasized that
"going green is profitable," as Lt. Governer Barbara
Lawton explained in her opening speech. Through best
practice examples and case studies from across the region,
the conference sessions explored various topics in
ecotourism and sustainable development, including climate
change and carbon management, sustainable design and
green technologies.
Europe
Greece: New Minister plays up Ecotourism
Two months after the great fires that devastated over 12%
of the country's forests, Greece's new Minister of Tourism
Aris Spiliotopoulos, speaking at the 23rd 'Philoxenia'
Tourism Fair, hinted at a new direction for tourism
development, a 'new ethic' which would prioritise
environmental protection, Ecotourism and green tourism,
starting with a pilot project in Lake Kaiafa, in Ilia
Prefecture, which was one of the worst hit areas. The
Minister spoke about the possible creation of "eco-
campings and eco-marinas" in the popular Halkidiki
peninsula (which he unfortunately described as a new 'golf'
destination) mountain-hiking and walking tours in Epirus'
Zagori villages, the diffusion of alternative energy sources
in Tourism, and the operation of new Train Routes for
tourists. In a press conference he also criticised lodge
owners that keep serving mass-produced rather than
locally-made products for breakfast and announced a major
overhaul in the state-owned Agrotouristiki S.A. company,
which has tried to spearhead & control agrotourism
development in the last 3 years, due to unspecified
'problems'. For Minister Spiliotopoulos Agrotourism was
'not a business' but a 'calling' and a lifestyle 'choice'. On the
negative side and responding to a journalist, the Minister
said that inappropriate waste management in tourism
destinations was beyond his ministry's brief.
Greece: Rhodes Natura Networking & LIFE-Nature
Conference, TILOS, GREECE (17 October 2007)
The Tilos Park Association held their first ever conference
entitled "Natura 2000: For the People, By the People",
featuring leading Greek environment experts, local
representatives and public administrators, along the spirit
of the European Union Natura Networking Program. The
Association is confident that this event will contribute to
public awareness & education, as well as the exchange of
views between protected area management professionals,
and a review of the successful techniques implemented on
Tilos island.
Rhodes, the administrative centre of the
Dodecanese region, was chosen as the conference venue
due to accessibility problems in Tilos in low season. The
meeting took place at the "Aktaion", a listed 19th century
building owned by the City of Rhodes Municipality.
