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CUM GRUNO SALIS
(with a pinch of salt)
"CANO-PATENT ?"
The future of Costa Rican canopy-tours may now be in the
balance because of a patent. In 1998 a Canadian entrepreneur,
received a 20-year patent from Costa Rica's Industrial
Property Registry for "an elevated forest transport
system using harnesses and pulleys on a single horizontal
line, using gravity for propulsion." Last spring Hreniuk
began to "enforce" his rights. With police and a
cease-and-desist order he went to 14 canopy tour operators and
tried to close them down unless each agreed to pay at least
$75,000 for a franchise."
Source:
ScientificAmerican.com |
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Disclaimer:
Any views
expressed in this newspaper belong to their respective
authors and are not necessarily those of
ECOCLUB S.A. Although we try to check all facts, we accept no
liability for
inaccuracies - which means you should not take any travel or
other decisions
based only on what you read here... Use of this newspaper is
covered by the Terms & Conditions
of the ECOCLUB.com
Website and by your uncommon sense and
good humour.
Copyright © 1999-2004 ECOCLUB
S.A. All rights reserved.
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 EDITORIAL:
ECOTOURISM, AN EASY TARGET?
 The
8th of March issue of the influential New Scientist
magazine carried an unusual article that for no apparent reason or
event made an
unscientific attack of Ecotourism. The attack was also featured on the
cover of the magazine.
The article's crux was that "Ecotourism adversely impacts
wildlife as ecotourism programs are not monitored". The article
was reproduced and is still being reproduced by news
repeaters
all over the world. It seems Ecotourism is such a hot concept, that
some believe they can enhance sales by attacking it. We immediately
sent this protest to the magazine:
"We
wish to complain about New Scientist's not so scientific attack on
Ecotourism in your 8th of March issue. The author apparently & totally confused
Ecotourism with Nature Tourism. Ecotourism, officially recognised and
celebrated by the United Nations in 2002, is a worldwide movement to
steer tourism towards a more ecological and equitable direction, and
such nihilistic attacks are counter-productive for the cause of
conservation. It is like blaming Vegetarians for genetically-modified
beef."
I had
almost forgotten about this unfortunate article and thought I should
not be reproducing its contents in any way, when it was pointed out to
me that one of our local mass circulation papers
in Athens, had reprinted this story after copying it from a German
magazine that had reproduced the original attack! To make matters
worse, then came a public attack in a Conference by a Canadian "Ethics"
Professor who more or less, accused Ecotourism of "spreading the
virus of western capitalism, values and lifestyle". Had I been at
that conference, I would have said:
Dear
Professor of "Ethics" (Ethics = the philosophical study of
moral values - rather than the study of tourism), rest assured that we
are not a virus or a trojan, and we do not wish to spread
"Western Capitalism" and "lifestyle" as you put it.
Rather, we wish to spread change towards a more ecological and
equitable society, irrespective of political and cosmological beliefs,
because human happiness is more complex than any one-size-fits-all
system. Ecotourism advocates, of all people,
are well aware and first to talk about the problems and dilemmas of
tourism. But a "dilemma" always calls for an "apofasis"
(decision), and choosing the lesser of two evils. Because if they
don't choose, others will choose for them, as tourism is never the
main or the first threat for these communities. The main threat
invariably comes from extracting
industries - and would they ever be financing ethical Universities?.
Genuine, community-owned Ecotourism is the best defense for indigenous
communities, except perhaps from hiding with the hope that no one will
find them.
No
publicity is bad publicity, attacks are most welcome. But, those who
try to discredit this broad movement for change in tourism, should
really look elsewhere for punchbags, or they will discover Ecotourism
is thorny. Our friends in the Ecotourism
movement should in turn, consider these attacks as wake-up calls, and
should stop being introvert, endlessly arguing about semantics,
divisions, funding, and certifications, and deal with the
real issues and obstacles of progress.
Antonis
B. Petropoulos
ECOCLUB Editor.
| Members
News
Laos: The Boat Landing Guesthouse co-organised the first clean up
day to pick up litter after a 3-day local festival at
That Poum Pouk. The Lodge was also featured in Time, Asia
Edition in an article on "Ecotourism without Tears",
(Feb 16, 2004) and as an "exemplary Ecolodge" in an Associated Press story from
Laos. In the article, titled "Laos Going for
Green", by Dennis D Gray, Bill Tuffin, the
Marketing Director of The Boat Landing Guesthouse (originally
from Pueblo Colorado, and a longtime Laos resident), was
quoted as saying: " It's all changing very quickly. Ten
years ago you could see the Akha in their traditional costumes
everywhere. Now, it's almost all gone except deep inside the
countryside. Most tourists don't want to leave a big
footprint. They want to have that meaningful kind of
experience with local people. But it's an art to have tourists
going into a village again and again and not have them leave a
negative impact."
 Details
Canada: Bathurst Inlet Lodge was featured in the
March/April 2004 issue of Canadian Geographic (pages 38 thru
56) in an article by the magazine's editor Rick Boychuk on
Bathurst Inlet, the home of Bathurst Inlet Lodge and the
Kingaunmeot, “People of the Nose”. The extensive article
covers all the history of the Bathurst Inlet Lodge as well as
the current threats from a planned port development.
Characteristic Excerpt: " The year they opened, Trish, a
friend and a pilot were flying supplies in
from Yellowknife when they were blown off course. They managed
to land on a small lake and spent a week huddled in a tent
eating with forks carved from willow sticks" until they
were rescued.
Details
New
Members
We warmly welcome to two new Ecolodge Members:
Locanda
della Valle Nuova in Italy and 3
Rivers in Dominica
and two new Expert Members:
Mr.
Louis Korb in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa and
Mr. John
Henderson Todd in Scotland, UK.
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An
Award for ECOCLUB.com!
ECOCLUB.com was chosen as one of 4 Winners worldwide, in the
"Best Practice Awards in Tourism & Destination
Management - Sustainable Tourism Category", by Georgia
Tech's Economic Development Institute (USA). Nominations were
submitted by tourism and destination management organizations
worldwide. The awards aim to help the local, state, national and
international tourism and destination management industry adopt
successful approaches in the areas of research, funding,
professional development, Web marketing and sustainable tourism.
Details
ECOCLUB.com
Events
Our February Live Chat (26/2) featured Ron Mader of Planeta
as a Special Guest, who presented his experiences from
organising an innovative rural
tourism fair in Oaxaca, Mexico in late January. Ron got the
idea for the fair following roundtables with the local tourism
industry representatives, artisans, communities and the local
authorities, where it was realised that the countryside of
Oaxaca was ignored by foreign tourists, mainly due to bad
marketing, lack of awareness and information. The fair, not
least due to the delicious tamales, was a success and managed to
produce some travel bookings and crafts sales, despite a limited
presence of foreign tourists in the City at the time. It is
hoped that the exercise can be repeated, and also linked to a
more permanent on-line expo.
Our March Live Chat (25/3) featured Ben
Box, renown Travel writer and Editor of Footprint's South
American Travel Guide, who also graces this issue with an Interview.
Please find the complete transcripts of the chat at http://www.ecoclub.com/forum/
DCForumID23/214.html and feel free to add your own
comments.
And then as Ben says, "Just go, experience South America,
and share with South America what you know, just as South
America will share itself with you."
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