On May 23rd, Sheri Liao, China’s best-known environmentalist and founder of Global Village Beijing, spoke to the World Affairs Council in San Francisco. Liao has long been at the forefront of the grassroots movement towards a greener China, serving as an environmental advisor for the Olympic Committee and spearheads many projects for Global Village, an […]
Kenya is home to some of the world’s most exotic wildlife and the country is reliant on its wildlife-based tourism. According to the Associated Press, “a million tourists a year spend more than $580 million” to see and photograph wildlife. Over the past year, delegates have debated the fate of Kenya ‘s wildlife, as many […]
Climate change is threatening the polar bears of western Hudson Bay and the tourism industry of Churchill, Manitoba (population: 923), which depends heavily on the furry, photogenic beasts. “Churchill is unique as a destination. It’s where the sea-ice of western Hudson Bay freezes first, and the bears aggregate each fall, waiting,” remarks John Gunter, Marketing […]
On March 28, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to prohibit non-biodegradable plastic bags in supermarkets and drug stores. The ban, which will come into full effect later this year, adds an important voice to the growing global movement toward cutting down plastic bag usage worldwide. Between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags […]
A United Nations-backed solar energy project has literally shed light on rural India. The program, which launched in 2003 and has since won the prestigious Energy Globe Award, has made a positive impact in rural communities where residents previously relied mostly on dangerous kerosene lamps to light the night. The southern Indian state of Karnataka […]
Visitors to National Parks expect pristine wilderness, but such habitats may be the last thing we see while vacationing there. My recent trip to Yellowstone led to concern about our park system as a refuge for wildlife. Roads in National Parks are a harsh obstacle for wildlife, with hundreds of animals struck or killed each […]
Historically, Kashmir has been known more for its violent conflicts than for its tourist attractions. As late as 2002, India and Pakistan were involved in a near nuclear standoff over the disputed region. Over the past 25 years or so, tens of thousands of people, some foreign tourists included, have lost their lives in the […]
The Ganges, the Colorado, the Nile, the Yangtze: these are but a few of the world’s greatest rivers, whose names paint a majestic image and whose places in history are nothing short of legendary. The Ganges, sacred to Hindus, is considered the physical form of the goddess Ganga. According to Hopi Indian legend, mankind emerged […]
Mumbai’s latest attraction seems an unlikely match for India’s most cosmopolitan city: guided walks through Dharavi, Asia’s biggest slum and home to over 600,000 people. For an afternoon, visitors give up the glamour of Bollywood for the grime of the hutments, where great industry and extreme poverty lie side by side. The tour has triggered […]
