Building a society without fossil fuels is possible. We need to shake of the myth that it cannot be done. The belief that a country needs to choose between nature and development is complete rubbish. This TED Talk explains all.
Costa Rica, although relatively special due to its volcanic activity, produces nearly 100% of its energy from renewables. However, Austria and Germany have taken huge leaps without a volcano in sight.
Many may say the responsible tourist looks for ethics, social consciousness and supporting the local population economically. But really the bottom line is EXPERIENCE. Working in responsible tourism I occasionally get asked about the political, social and economic benefits of the holiday but this always comes second. So what does a responsible tourist look for? What are the most common questions? Here are a few of my regulars…
93% of corals have been impacted by abnormally warm waters. Coral bleaching has spread around the globe, devastating reef mortality and resulting in a sense of urgency amongst some tourists. A feeling of ‘I have to get there before its too late!’ is sweeping across many travellers. This has created a form of tourism that I have come to loathe the most, ‘last-chance Tourism’. It suggests a feeling of hopelessness, that we are too late and nothing can be done. Conservation soon gets replaced by an acceptance of demise and we extract as much as we can before it disappears. This needs to change and fast!
China’s views on animal welfare are clearly lagging behind the rest of the world. Its ownership of the worlds saddest polar bear and how it uses animals for entertainment in this horrendous video suggests that perhaps theirs actually no animal welfare values at all. Continue reading
The warning signs have been around for a very long time. Responsible Travel has been campaigning for its closure for years, Born Free and other NGO’s have been screaming out to people to stop going. There are even films on YouTube showing tigers being hit so what went wrong, why did it stay open for so long? Why are we all surprised that 40 dead cubs were found in the freezer when the National Geographic linked it to a black market trade? Continue reading
The below picture really caught my attention this week. It is an incredibly provocative example of our relationship with animals. How does it make you feel? Does it make you want to support the conservation of orangutans or fight to put this one back in the wild?
What a month and half its been for wildlife conservation! But it seems things are now starting to calm down giving us all some time to catch our breath, brush ourselves down and reflect on recent events. Since Cecil the Lion’s death the media have had a field day and long shall it last! The more publicity this story gets the larger the audiences conservation will be attracted. It’s a welcome step away from the economy and towards subjects that really matter. However, over the past month, an uncomfortable concern has been growing on how beneficial the media really is, especially in relation to its impacts. This time of calm is a good opportunity to revisit the case of Cecil, look back over the medias role and perhaps reinvigorate the hunting argument.
I have been told by a very wise person that perhaps I should take another look at what I am writing and reconsider my approaches. So I have reassessed … she is completely right. I work in tourism because I believe it is a tool that can do so much good in the world, so why am I always complaining? Probably because this blog is based on recent things I hear in the news and as you well know, a lot of the things that we see in the news are negative. So lets switch this around and look at the positive in a negative story I heard this week.
The story that shocked me this week was a short documentary called The Elephant in the Room that was possibly inspired by the Blackfish effect. The short documentary investigated captive Elephants across zoos in Europe. I am sure you will agree it is an incredibly sad documentary. In many places we watch elephants in their concrete confines without really considering the cruelty behind it. So what positives can be taken from this story?
