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International: The World Tourism Organization has
appointed Geoffrey Lipman, chairman of Green Globe 21, of which ECOCLUB is
an Associate Member, as special advisor to the Secretary-General on Trade in Tourism Services.
Mr. Lipman, will be responsible for "promoting the fair and sustainable
liberalisation of
tourism services in the next round of negotiations of the World Trade
Organisation". The (first ever) International Year of Ecotourism was officially launched on 28 January 2002 at the UN Headquarters in New York. Organized by the World Tourism Organization (WTO/OMT) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the event highlighted the activities of the Year. In his speech WTO/OMT Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli stressed that ecotourism is crucial to developing a balanced, sustainable and responsible tourism sector. UNEP's Executive Director Klaus Töpfer, argued that "if handled properly, ecotourism can be a valuable tool for financing the protection of ecologically sensitive areas and the socio-economic development of populations living in or close to them." Kenya: A lioness in Kenya's Samburu game reserve adopted an oryx calf, protecting it for two weeks before, irony, another lion killed and ate it. Proving that some have feelings, the lioness is now trailing oryx herds. S.Africa: Endangered exotic birds, of which four feature on the Cites 1 list, were stolen from Pretoria's Wonderboom Bird Park / An internet auction at agri24.com aims to sell an "eco-tourism hunting package" (!) including animals such as hyrax, hare, porcupine, wild cats and spring-hare. The package comprises "500 springbuck, 20 black gnus, 20 blesbuck, 2 Hartman zebras, 3 oryx, 5 ostriches, 2 brindled gnus, 10 wild mountain goats, but also smaller game species such as hyrax, jackal, hare, porcupine, wild cats and spring-hare." [wildnetafrica] Zambia: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has gone into partnership with Star of Africa (SOA), a major investor in the Zambian tourism sector. The two sides signed an agreement to enhance conservation of natural resources in the Kafue flats, a fragile eco-system. SOA has built a seasonal camp in Lochnivaron in the southern edge of the Kafue flats but is troubled by heavy poaching of wildlife, uncontrolled fishing and cattle grazing. [Xinhua] Asia & Pacific Pakistan: Despite events in neighbouring Afghanistan, the International Year of Mountains 2002 celebration has started in Pakistan and first function took place on January 14, 2002 at Islamabad where the Federal Minister for Tourism officially opened IYM 2002 and IYE 2002 celebration. Local representatives of UNDP would also attend this function. [Ecotourism Society Pakistan] Turkey: The international importance of Turkey's bird life has been recognised with the launch of the country's first ever bird field guide to be published in the Turkish language. More than 300 species of bird, including six that are globally threatened, breed regularly in Turkey. [RSPB] Indonesia: Apparently there was a split in Project Bird Watch, an Ecotourism NGO that was training former bird poachers as tourism guides. The resulting websites, Project Bird Watch.org and PinkPenjaga.org are throwing allegations at each other, all very sad, but equally instructive. / The United Nations has chosen the Komodo and Ujung Kulon national parks for a US$1 million project linking environmental conservation and tourism, along with four other world heritage sites. Ujung Kulon is located at the western tip of Java, about a three-hour drive from Jakarta. It is the home to several endangered animals and plants, including the Javan rhinoceros, whose population is believed to be less than 50. Komodo park is situated on an island in East Nusa Tenggara, where the endangered Komodo dragon, numbering less than 6,000, lives. The fund, equally shared by the UN and cosmetics giant Aveda, will also go to Sian Ka'an and El Vizcaino biosphere reserves in Mexico, Tikal national park in Guatemala and the Rio Planto biosphere reserve in Honduras. [Worldsources Inc] Nepal: In apparent response to a growing problem of air pollution, Om Sanjivani Oxygen Bar at Thamel, Kathmandu is offering 94% pure oxygen at Rs 100 for a 20 minute shot. [CEN News] / * A healthy, 101-kilogramme male elephant calf was born at Temple Tiger Jungle Resort in Nepal on December 11. The attending doctor said it was the first case of offspring resulting from a match between a wild elephant and a domestic elephant. [PATA] Israel: The conflict with the Palestinians was estimated by Israel's central bank to have cost Israel $2.8 billion, much of the costs resulting from lower tourism. [Developmentex] China: The National Tourism Administration's director, He Guangwei, announced that despite the global slump in air travel following the September 11 attacks, tourism related revenues increased to $60 billion (496 billion yaun) for 2001, up 9.8% from 2000 levels. [Developmentex] Philippines: The proposed Prachuap Khiri Khan power plants may scuttle a government plan to promote ecotourism in the province's small coastal villages. [Greenbase] Cambodia: A spotted linsang, a rare jungle cat was photographed for the first time in Kirrom National Park, southwestern Cambodia. [Greenbase] India: Times of India reports that the state of Goa will now focus on developing hinterland tourism with more stress on eco-tourism, as stated by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. Malaysia: "Ecotourism sites, especially beaches, marinas, marine parks and terrestrial parks will be rated according to their pristine condition by the end of this year" as stated by the Culture, Arts and Tourism Ministry human resources and services officer Lim Cheong Chuan. The ratings, similar to hotel ratings, will be given by the ministry for marketing purposes and are to encourage tour operators to show greater corporate environmental responsibility. The areas would be rated as a whole, with considerations such as water quality, proper sewage and environment management practices by hotels" Lim said. [nstp.com.my] Japan: The town of Hirado, in southwestern Japan, is making preparations for a minke whale (a migratory species) watching farm, claiming it will attract tourists and enable scientists to study the behavior and breeding patterns of minke whales. Whale meat is a delicacy in many parts of Japan. [BBC] Jamaica: Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce officials are introducing a new policy aimed at converting at least 25 per cent of the ports 30,000 cruise ship passengers into stop-over visitors. The initiative, spearheaded by the Cruise Shipping Committee of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, asks cruise passengers to complete a questionnaire regarding their expenditure during their brief stay on the island. Respondents get a chance to win a one-week vacation (to Jamaica). EU: The European Union may penalise airlines that bump passengers from overbooked flights. The plan calls for the airlines to pay more than triple ticket price compensation to passengers who have a confirmed ticket but do not get a boarding pass. The proposed compensation would be EUR 750 per passenger for flights less than 3,000 kilometres and EUR 1,500 for longer flights. / Hunters from the European Union (EU) were banned from bringing grizzly bear trophies home from the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) which forms the heart of the species remaining range. The ruling was made after the UK and Germany called for a ban claiming the hunt is unsustainable. [EIA] Romania: Theme Park 1: Greenpeace said it was considering legal action to stop a man posing as its Romanian representative endorsing plans for Dracula Park, a controversial Dracula "Disneyland" as ecologically sound. Romania's Tourism minister had been quoting Greenpeace as a supporter of the project. The park is due to be built in wild and hilly countryside near the beautiful mediaeval town of Sighisoara, around 300 km (186 miles) northwest of Bucharest. The government expected the project to generate 3,000 jobs and $12 million in annual revenue. [Greenbase] Lithuania: Theme Park 2: Vilniumas Malinauskas, a canned-banana mogul, is about to open "StalinWorld", a thirty-hectare Theme Park in Grutas, near Vilnius. It will "combine the charming thrills of a Disneyland with the very worst of the Soviet Gulag prison camp," Visitors will arrive by cattle wagon from Vilnius, crammed in like prisoners. Malinauskas will charge 2 USD entrance and hopes to attract one million visitors in the first year of operation. [Private Eye] Poland: ECEAT-Poland's Ecotourism at Organic Farms-Vacations With an Ecofarmer project has won a Tourism for Tomorrow Award from British Airways and the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The organization helps Polish farmers host foreign tourists and Poles visit farms in other countries. Jadwiga Lopata, president of ECEAT-Poland, says ecotourism not only enables people from urban areas to get closer to nature, but also represents a valuable weapon in the battle to preserve the environment. UK: Large parts of England and Wales are at risk of becoming breeding grounds for malaria as global warming heats up local temperatures, according to a study by Durham University scientists commissioned by the Department of Health. Malaria was once common in much of the U.K., contributing to large numbers of deaths in the 16th through the 19th centuries. [BBC] / The Eden Project, a series of vast domes enclosing environments from the corners of the world, is expected to break into the top five most-visited attractions in the U.K. / Fourteen British MPs, including former minister and chairman of the Commons works of art committee Tony Banks, have called on the UK government to return the "Elgin" Marbles, 56 sculpted friezes, sawn off under the supervision of Lord Elgin in 1799 from the Parthenon of the Acropolis in Athens, 30 years before Greece gained its independence from the Ottoman Turkish Empire. The 2,500 year old sculptures, held along with treasures from all over the world by the British Museum, depict the most formal religious ceremony of ancient Athens - the Panathenaea procession. The campaign for their return is being backed by famous British actors including Joanna Lumley, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Sean Connery. German and Swiss museums have recently returned important antiquities to Egypt. A U$40 m museum is currently being built for the sculptures in Athens, under the Acropolis, in anticipation of their return, in time for the Athens 2004 Olympics. [BBC, The Times, various] Greece: In a rare development, the Junior Minister for Development announced the creation of a special committee that will devise a national policy for ecotourism - agrotourism with priority in four municipalities, Thessaloniki, Patra, Herakleio and Volos. In addition, Agrotouristiki S.A., a new state-private venture will coordinate agrotourism development, as well as pilot projects of strategic importance in the troubled Balkans, such as the creation of joint Greek-Turkish ecotourism programs as well as similar projects in Albania devised in coordination with the Albanian Orthodox Church. [Various] / Greece, a member state of the European Union, was condemned by the European Court of Justice for failing to adequately protect the endangered sea-turtle (Caretta) breeding grounds in Zakynthos Island, the most important such site in the Mediterranean. A national marine park has been created but despite the efforts of local environmentalists it is mostly a paper exercise as a result of local tourist entrepreneurs opposition. The condemnation will be followed by a hefty fine if no measures are taken within 6 months. Spain: Earlier this month, Spain's Environment Minister Jaume Matas pressed the button which blew up a disused nine-story concrete hotel disfiguring the southern coast in Zahara de los Atunes. (Scared?) European tour operators First Choice and Preussag "warned" Spain that tourists would be driven away if its attempts to take tourism "upmarket" made Spanish holidays too expensive". Spain attracted 49.5 million tourists last year and the industry accounts for about 12 percent of its gross domestic product. Authorities on Spain's Mediterranean Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera) will introduce a tax (on average 1 euro per day) on their 10 million tourists from March this year to "repair the damage done by the millions of tourists that visit each year", a step the Preussag chairman called "a move in the wrong direction" (!). The islands receive over 12 times as many tourists as their resident population. The tax was proposed by the local government two years ago but met vociferous opposition from the hotel industry and the central government. Malta: In the latest brave display of local shooting skills, three hunters on a speedboat roared through the water and blasted 8 rare large mute swans while a crowd of onlookers had gathered to watch them, in St Thomas's Bay. [The Scotsman] Italy: WWF Italy has called for stopping the privatisation of its coasts. Italy's beaches are in danger of becoming private property through the adoption of a new law, argued to be an 'oversight' by the Italian Government 71% of the coastline has been constructed upon or is affected by construction, leaving only 29% of the coast free. These constructions include thousands of illegal buildings. The adoption of Article 71 of the 2002 budget, provides for the transfer of State-owned coasts, beaches, river and lake banks to the local municipalities, which are authorised to sell them to private parties. Estonia: As part of the activities for the IYE 2002 in Estonia, training for rural nature tourism entrepreneurs will be organised by the Estonian Ecotourism Association. 4-day training courses will be carried out for three groups of 20 entrepreneurs, special handbooks as training materials will be designed to accompany the courses. Mexico: A master plan for the development of tourism in Quintana Roo for the next 20 years estimates that by the year 2020 the state will receive up to ten million visitors Already thousands of Mexicans have migrated to the state attracted by the tourism boom and this has created a housing shortage and other strains. While the hotels zones are immaculate and crime-free, areas inhabited by locals experience an upsurge in crime. The last governor is presently in jail facing trial for drug trafficking and money laundering. In addition, there is growing concern among local environmentalists. Recently a massive resort in Riviera Maya, undertaken by Melia, had to be stopped by court order because its site is a turtle breeding area. [Sidsnet] / In response to the growing threat to coral reefs, worldwide, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) prepared five new tools to promote coral reef protection. The first of these tools, a wall-calendar, was distributed to the 1,500 hotels attending "MarketPlace" , a travel trade exhibition in Cancun. It provides recommendations on twelve areas of action (one per month) that are linked to the protection of coral reefs, including waste water treatment and solid waste management [Sidsnet] United States: NASA and its International Space Station (ISS) partners have finally agreed the rules governing who can fly to the outpost as space tourists. The guidelines state that paying "spaceflight participants" must undergo a minimum amount of training, to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Those staying more than a few days will have to train 12 months in advance of launch. All tourists will also have to pass a medical examination, although this will be less rigorous than those for professional astronauts. The new guidelines also mean that criminals, drug addicts and the "notoriously disgraceful" will not be allowed into space with the station partners. This is to protect the reputation of the project as well as the safety of the rest of the crew, says a NASA spokeswoman. Australian businessman Mark Shuttleworth is set to become the second space tourist when he visits the ISS aboard a Russian Soyuz in April 2002. / The U.S. took a significant step toward acquiring its 57th national park yesterday when the Nature Conservancy announced that it had signed an agreement to purchase historic Baca Ranch, which borders Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve. Conservationists have long lobbied for national park status for the area, which includes the tallest sand dunes in North America. The Nature Conservancy paid $31.3 million -- its most expensive acquisition ever in the Rocky Mountain West -- and will turn the deed over to the federal government. The area is expected to become a national park by 2005. / U.S. hotel room revenues were down 13.1 percent during New Year's week, compared to the comparable period a year ago [Reuters] |