tagged w/ eco-tourism
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Gorillas are being dangerously stressed by tourists whose attentions are disrupting the animals' feeding routines and making them aggressive. The discovery – made by researchers who have just completed a year-long study of the great apes at Bai Hokou in the Central African Republic – has important implications for the tourism industry.
Eco-tourism has become extremely popular, providing travellers with opportunities to get close to rare species, including tigers, polar bears and gorillas. Money raised in this way has helped to preserve endangered animals and bring employment to developing countries.
Gorilla tourism in particular has boomed, providing jobs and business opportunities in several African countries. In Uganda, gorilla tourism brings in an estimated £345,000 a month from the sale of permit fees alone.
But now scientists warn that greater care will be needed. Not only do tourists disturb the animals, but so do research teams studying the animals' behaviour and their interaction with tourists. It is recommended that the minimum distance between humans and gorillas be increased from seven to 18 metres.
"We got a lot of warning barks from the male silverback in a band of gorillas if we went too close," said Michelle Klailova of Stirling University. "And you ignore a male gorilla's barking at your peril, for there is a real danger that it will turn into something much worse, like a full-blown charge. They can kill very easily. They know exactly where to bite a person."
Great apes are known to be vulnerable to human diseases. A common cold has the potential to kill an entire family group. Research at the Tai chimpanzee project in Ivory Coast found that 15 young chimpanzees who died in three disease outbreaks there had been infected with viral strains that were very similar to those found in humans.
Authorities have so far insisted that humans remain at least seven metres away. "Even if we sneeze, then particles from our breath will not reach the gorillas," said Klailova, whose study – written with Chloe Hodgkinson and Phyllis Lee – is published in the American Journal of Primatology. "This barrier has been created for physiological reasons. However, our work suggests that there are good reasons to establish a far bigger gap between humans and animals – for psychological reasons."
Klailova and her research group concentrated on one silverback named Makumba and recorded his vocalisations, daily activities and interactions with his 12 family members. They then studied how these types of behaviour changed when different groups of humans – which included local trackers, scientists and often tourists – came close.
As numbers in a group increased, the gorillas spent less time feeding and instead behaved in a disturbed, unfocused manner. Klailova found that Makumba was more likely to stop feeding and start watching humans as observers moved closer.
Making a male gorilla angrier could lead to him attacking humans or female gorillas in his own band. Either way, the reaction reveals that animals that are now hovering at the edge of extinction are being further stressed.
Klailova admitted that a recommended gap of 18 metres "is not a realistic goal in dense forests, particularly for tourists who have spent valuable time and effort to see the gorillas". But in clearings and in open land, where there are good sight lines, it should definitely be adhered to.
The suggestion will find support from other scientists who have called for increased protection for great apes. Other proposals have included suggestions that all tourists be required to wear face masks to block any transmission of human diseases.
However, the prospect of wearing masks all the time while only being allowed distant glimpses of animals could have a detrimental impact on gorilla-watching holidays.
Eco-tourism has become an important source of income for remote African communities. Foreign visitors who come to enjoy the sights and sounds of natural parks have become a strong motivation for governments to invest in conservation, while the presence of researchers, tourists and tourism infrastructure can work as a strong deterrent to poachers.
As Klailova has said: "It is a very delicate issue."Gorillas are being dangerously stressed by tourists whose attentions are disrupting... more
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Click on link for photos of some of the beautiful creatures...
By Hilary Whiteman, CNN
April 22, 2010 3:27 p.m. EDT
(CNN) -- Color-changing frogs, the world's longest stick insect and a slug that shoots "love darts" are among the biological "treasure" discovered by scientists in the lush green heart of Borneo.
Scientists have found 123 new species of animals, insects and plants on the South East Asian island since the three governments that control the land signed a pact to safeguard its future in 2007.
The new species are on a list released Thursday by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to mark Earth Day and to raise awareness of the value of protecting areas rich in biodiversity.
"You have some iconic small species which are very interesting to talk about but perhaps it's the plants that are tremendously important in terms of potential future cures," said David Norman, director of campaigns for the WWF.
"About half of all synthetic drugs have a natural origin -- these are commercial drugs based on plants and sometimes animals. So we can't afford to lose species," he said.
The number of new plant species discovered in Borneo in the last three years outnumbers all the other categories combined. Sixty-seven new plants have been found, along with 29 invertebrates, 17 new species of fish, one bird, five amphibians and five reptiles. The WWF describes the region as a "global treasure teeming with unique and extraordinary life."
Some of the more unusual amphibians found there include color-changing frogs, which also fly.
Males of the species (Rhacophorus penanorum) are just 3.5 centimeters long and their skin changes from bright green during the night to brown during the day. They can be found living in trees in the Tapin Valley within the Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak. Their fully-webbed feet allow them to glide for up to 15 meters from tree branch to tree branch.
The tail of the long-tailed slug (Ibycus rachelae) is three-times the length of its head, allowing it to curl up to sleep. More unusually, when it mates the slug fires a so-called "love dart" made of calcium carbonate that injects a hormone into its prospective partner to increase the chances of reproduction.
The world's longest-stick insect (Phobaeticus chani) is more than half a meter long and lives high up in the rainforest canopy. "Only three specimens have ever been discovered. It's quite extraordinary that it's been there for so long -- you wouldn't miss it if it landed on you," Norman said.
The rate of the discovery of new species has increased since 2007 when the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei signed an agreement to conserve the area.
The agreement covers a 220,000 square kilometre tract of land that straddles all three countries which is known as the Heart of Borneo.
"This not just a nature reserve. There are lots of people who live there. Farming goes on there. There is eco-tourism. These are all things that must continue. The point is to ensure that the value of the forest standing is much greater than the value of it being cut down," Norman said.
The WWF says the Heart of Borneo Declaration has worked to conserve the environment by exerting pressure on governments, developers and industry to adapt their plans to minimize their impact on the land.
It credits the agreement with preventing the destruction of two million hectares of rainforest to create the world's largest palm oil plantation. Plans to build a road through the middle of the region in 2007 were also shelved for environmental reasons.
"About half of all the land in the heart of Borneo lies in private hands. It's so remote you can't possibly enforce this, so this is very much about negotiating agreements. Whenever there is a new proposal for a new road or a new farm or a new plantation or a new mine, it is worked through in the context of the agreement that was signed in 2007," Norman said.
Meanwhile, scientists are still busy surveying the tangled mass of plants, animals and insects that thrive in the hot, humid conditions of the Borneo rainforest. The WWF says it is impossible to predict how many more new species will be found.
"It is so difficult to know how many species there are on the planet. Scientists sometimes estimate maybe there are 10 million species in total out there and we've only described 1.7 million of them so far," Norman said.Click on link for photos of some of the beautiful creatures...
By Hilary Whiteman,... more
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Ecological tourism or eco-tourism is a highly popular term and possibly one of the most misused in the travel industry. It should describe travel to fragile areas where the fauna, flora and cultural heritage are the main reasons for travel.
Essentially eco-tourism protects and empowers local people and natural areas, and at the same time provides visitors with a unique, but low impact experience.
The Ecotourism Society defines eco-tourism as ‘responsible travel to natural areas, which conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people’. Essentially eco-tourism should unite conservation, communities and sustainable travel.
However, it can get a little confusing. There are a handful of similar terms used to describe this type of travel, like ‘adventure travel’, ’sustainable tourism’, ‘responsible tourism’, and ‘green travel’. Most of these loosely adhere to the principles of eco-tourism. A walk through a rainforest is not eco-tourism unless it also benefits the people who live there. And in the same vein, a safari trip is only eco-tourism if it raises awareness and funds to help protect wildlife.
There are companies who market themselves as eco-tourism establishments, when in fact they are not. So it is up to the traveller to ask important questions about the trip’s ability to conserve and improve the destination. Often the term is used as a marketing tool to promote nature related tourism. However, placing a splendid hotel in the midst of a fragile ecosystem and calling it eco-tourism is ‘greenwash’.
Two of the terms most often used interchangeably with eco-tourism are ’sustainable tourism’ and ‘responsible tourism’, both of which include aspects of eco-tourism.
Sustainable tourism means that resources should be unaffected by your visit and that your stay at the destination should not prevent future tourists from enjoying the same experience.
Responsible tourism means that you minimise your negative impacts on the environment, but often this also incorporates an element of ‘giving back’ to local communities. The Responsible Tourism Awards describe ‘responsible tourism’ as tourists who ‘want to interact with communities on a personal level, learn first-hand of their challenges, experience environments and hopefully, leave something constructive behind’.
So what does one need to do make sure that eco-tourism is really the form of travel on offer?
By asking the following types of questions:
* Is the environment being looked after?
* Is the local community being protected and uplifted?
* Does the travel build environmental awareness?
* Are resources remaining for future generations?
* Does the travel respect local culture?
It is not in South Africa alone that the term eco-tourism is used to describe ‘adventure’ or ‘nature’ trips that do not always meet the requirements of true eco-tourism. There are only a handful of countries around the world with national eco-tourism certification programmes in place, and these include: Costa Rica, Australia, Kenya and Sweden. There are also attempts to create international eco-tourism accreditation programmes.
In South Africa there is not yet an official regulation of the term eco-tourism. SATSA (South African Tourism Services Association) tries to ‘provide high standards of tourism and focuses on accountability, integrity and quality control’, and awards like the local Imvelo Responsible Tourism Awards and the international Responsible Tourism Awards also influence many tourist destinations and tour package companies. Eco-tourism cannot be monitored as closely as it should be, until a formal procedure or framework exists.
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I recently traveled as an Eco-Tourist in Costa Rica, and I think it's the best way to travel.Ecological tourism or eco-tourism is a highly popular term and possibly one of the... more
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Extinction Blog
United Nations declares 2009 'Year of the Gorilla'
Poaching, deforestation and the dreaded Ebola virus have taken a terrible toll on populations of the four remaining gorilla species. Now, in an effort to help save our primate cousins from extinction, the United Nations Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals has declared 2009 the "Year of the Gorilla."
Three of the four species of gorilla are considered critically endangered, with just 700 mountain gorillas, 300 Cross River gorillas, and 5,000 eastern lowland gorillas left. The fourth species, the Western lowland gorilla, is critically endangered in some of its home countries, although the total population is much higher, at around 150,000.
All four species face declining populations, with threats ranging from the bushmeat trade, poaching for traditional medicine, habitat destruction from logging or the charcoal trade (an important source of fuel in Africa), and disease.
Luckily, the Year of the Gorilla is already off to a good start. This week, the 10 nations with gorilla populations agreed to examine the effectiveness of their anti-poaching laws and, hopefully, improve their implementation. Some of the money pledged for the Year of the Gorilla campaign will go toward educating judges so they understand the need to strictly enforce current anti-poaching laws.
Other actions to be funded by the YoG campaign include training park rangers, supporting scientific research, raising awareness of the gorillas' threats, and developing alternative sources of income (such as eco-tourism) for people living near gorilla populations. The UN hopes to raise more than $600,000 to support these efforts.Extinction Blog
United Nations declares 2009 'Year of the Gorilla'... more
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The Adrere Amellal is stunningly set at a scenic oasis in Egypt, at the foot of a dramatic rock-mountain. The resort itself feels a little like the casaba in Star Wars (except without the space aliens and bar fights).The Adrere Amellal is stunningly set at a scenic oasis in Egypt, at the foot of a... more
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Above Photo of Lake Superior shoreline © Jim Kruger
Please read the Christian Century Article by Rev. Jon Magnuson on the "Acid Mine" that threatens Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
An ELCA Lutheran pastor, Rev. Magnuson is known across northern Michigan for creating numerous interfaith environment initiatives and other projects projects involving over 150 churches/temples, American Indian tribes, college students, at-risk teens, health care professionals and many others.
If this mine opens along Lake Superior, it could leak sulfuric acid into the Great Lakes.
It's the first of countless sulfide and uranium mines planned for Northern Michigan.
Besides unproven "new" technology, the mine will be open for only seven years - and create only about 150 short-term jobs. It's a drop in the bucket compared to the economic impact of the U.P.'s longstanding iron ore mines.
A lot of greed for a smattering of nickel and other minerals that will be sucked out of our precious soil.
The international mining company that wants to set up shop in Marquette County is Kennecott Minerals - an outfit with a dismal environmental record that has closed other acid mines without proper cleanup apparently finding it cheaper to fight in court than pay for the proper cleanup of the now vacent mine sites.
Photo of Lake Superior shoreline © Jim Kruger
Inland drilling: A debate over mining in Upper Michigan
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=5020
Many fear that the aicd mines - that will be joined by uranium mines - are a death-knell for northern Michigan and its bread-and-butter tourism economy.
Who will want to visit an area dotted by hundreds of acid pits and possibly polluted rivers, lakes and streams.
There are recent swirling rumors that Kennecott took state officials on junkets and other allegations of wrongdoing as their deep pockets wooed local and state leaders.
If true, it would not be the first scandal involving the local operation named the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company - as an important study critical of the mine were not made public by state officials until the information was leaked. Just an innocent oversight - the state claimed.
Do you hear the whirring sound? - it's Marquette's founding fathers are spinning in their graves.
For more information on the effort to stop the mines - visit Save the Wild UP website:
http://www.savethewildup.org
Above Photo of Lake Superior shoreline © Jim Kruger
Please read the Christian... more
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Coral reefs are dying a death of a thousand cuts and their disappearance threatens not only the incredibly diverse ecosystem that depends on them, but also human health and welfare.
In this episode of MicrobeWorld Video marine scientists Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Ph.D., chair of marine studies at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and Kiho Kim, Ph.D., director of the environmental studies program at American University, explain the important relationship between microbes and corals, and how this delicate symbiosis that sustains life on and around reefs is facing numerous threats from human interactions to global climate change. In addition, Tundi Agardy, Ph.D., founder and executive director of Sound Seas, discusses the need for public policy and community-based conservation efforts that may help stave off the degradation of these vital ocean ecosystems.
According to a 2004 report issued by the World Wildlife Fund, 24% of the world's reefs are under imminent risk of collapse through human pressures; and a further 26% are under a longer term threat of collapse. If nothing is done to protect these resources, many scientists estimate that reefs around the West Indies in the Caribbean will be gone by 2020, while the Great Barrier Reef may only last for another three decades.
Please visit the following sites for more information about coral reefs:
www.climateshifts.org
www.reefrelief.org
www.coralreef.noaa.gov Coral reefs are dying a death of a thousand cuts and their disappearance threatens not... more
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