The days of human beings having a monopoly on individual rights may soon be coming to an end. Bolivia is in the process of enacting the world’s first law giving nature legal rights equal to those of human beings. The Law of Mother Earth decrees that nature has 11 rights including the right to biodiversity […]
Belize is quickly becoming an international tourism hot spot, but will the country deal with an influx of tourists sustainably, with respect for indigenous groups and the environment? Or will it go the way of American fast food franchises, cruise ships and garbage? With the construction of a major new highway underway, some groups are […]
In a remote village close to the Amazon river in Colombia, 800 indigenous people are striving to uphold their culture and tradition in the face of tourism pressure. Nazareth, located deep in the jungle, is a 20-minute boat ride from the nearest town. The area is an ecotourism attraction because of the diverse flora and […]
The National Museum of China reopened in March after almost four years of construction and over $380 million in renovations. Curated by the Ministry of Culture and the People’s Republic of China, the museum is located in Beijing, next to Tiananmen Square, and was designed to combine elements of the former Museum of Chinese History […]
With no formal waste management system, the trash in Kenya’s crowded Kibera slum piles up in the dirt rows between shacks, in open pits and on people’s doorsteps: plastic bags, raw sewage, egg shells, the scraps of people’s lives. As slum residents, aid workers and tourists on “poverty tours”—a controversial idea in itself—know all too […]
When disaster hits a region, such as the earthquake, tsunami and radiation threat in Japan, or the political upheaval in the Middle East, governments take necessary measures to evacuate their citizens. Travel warnings are widely issued against non-essential travel to those countries. However, once the situation settles, some travelers still consider visiting nations with political […]
There’s a lot of coverage in the media about threats to different ecosystems around the world—not to mention the planet-wide threat of global warming—but except on rare occasions, the threats facing irreplaceable cultural heritage sites tend to garner much less attention. “Coral reefs, the Amazon, and polar bears are getting a lot more press than […]
The New York Times recently reported the collapse of Madonna’s $15 million project to build a school for poor girls in Malawi, where she has adopted two children. Mismanagement and cost overruns by Madonna’s charitable organization led to the project’s failure, but its merits were questioned earlier, when her philanthropy consultant suggested the money would […]
Across global civilizations the axiom “to the victor goes the spoils” has ruled nation building and enhanced museum collections. Colonial expansion, imperialism and war have been the basis for many of the cultural collections currently housed in national museums and archives around the world. Despite anger on the part of countries that lost cultural treasures, […]
