Wild Asia, a social enterprise that promotes sustainable travel, community-based development and conservation of natural areas, recently announced the 2009 winners of its Responsible Tourism Awards, presented annually to tourist accommodations that exemplify best practices for sustainable tourism. This year’s awards ceremony was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 28. Awards were given in […]
While ecotourism and sustainable travel operators are minimizing the damage inflicted on World Heritage Sites, the sheer volume of travelers and irresponsibility on the part of tourists, urban planners and multinational corporations could see some of the world’s most famous wonders being closed to the public. The latest biannual watch list compiled by the World […]
A new organization called Angel Says: Read is working to promote literacy in Belize by collecting books from tourists on vacation and donating them to public libraries. When author and former Washington Post reporter Jackie Spinner first visited Belize earlier this year, she decided to leave her heavy stack of used books behind at the […]
Starting in January 2010, air travelers in the United States and Europe will have a new opportunity to support the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries. Travelers who purchase tickets through online or traditional travel agencies will be asked to make a voluntary contribution of $2, which will be added to the […]
In his newest book, “Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our Planet,” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and nonfiction author Edward Humes recounts inspiring tales of individual efforts to preserve and protect the earth. Meet Doug Tompkins, former CEO and founder of Esprit. The first eco baron in Humes’ book, Tompkins is a […]
When travelers think of ecotourism destinations, places like Costa Rica or Belize come to mind, but not Bolivia. This is about to change because the indigenous people known as the Tacanas, of Bolivia’s Amazon region, are banking on ecotourism as an alternative way to make a living. Located at the banks of the Beni River […]
The Mayor of Capri recently blamed tourists for the fact that the Italian island had “run out of water.” Capri is not the only destination in the region struggling to meet tourist demands for water. In a 2004 “Freshwater and Tourism in the Mediterranean” study, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reported that the largest tourist […]
The Ogiek people of Kenya may soon become the world’s most recent refugees of conservation efforts. Their long-time home is the Mau Forest in SW Kenya, a complex of 22 forests from which several rivers originate. The Mau Forest has been a center of conflict over land and resources for several years. In addition to […]
The elephant and ivory trade in Thailand, Asia’s largest illegal ivory market, has come under fire after a report published by wildlife monitoring network TRAFFIC highlighted how corruption, legal loopholes and a lack of law enforcement are contributing to the exploitation and dwindling population of the endangered Asian elephants in that country. Although any kind […]
