tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78767731500181199482024-03-13T06:04:01.589-07:00Coastal EcoVenturesSustainable Real Estate and Tourism
Consulting ServicesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-15506622874527015662013-05-21T07:20:00.000-07:002013-05-21T07:30:27.197-07:00Maraú - enroute via Salvador<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>How does one get to Peninsula de Maraú, known for having one of the top ten beaches in Brazil? </b></div>
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I chose the "long route" on this trip, as I needed to stop in Salvador, capital of Bahia. </div>
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<u>Day 1</u> was in Pituba area, which is in the northern part of town. Long beaches, açai shops along the streets, and evening bars to watch soccer while the rush hour traffic mellows down.</div>
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<u>Day 2</u> was in Pelourinho, the colonial part of town, re-built for tourism. It is very worthwhile, with an array of museums and live music options -- especially on Tuesdays. </div>
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<u>Day 3</u> was the trip to Maraú -- heading to the ferry boat terminal which crosses the Todos Santos Bay for 1hr, and overland to the maritime town of Camamu about 3hrs. Usually at this point I'd take a boat across the bay to Barra Grande, the "village" on the end of the Peninsula, but instead we took the car around to the so-called highway, BR-030. It is a 23 mile dirt road which alternates between smooth grading and horrendous mud-slick potholes, depending on the amount of rain and time since the government machines last graded the road. Luckily, we were only going half-way, just past the municipal center of Maraú, and the trip took 1hrs of bumpiness, only. </div>
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It is a tiring voyage, but the rewards are in the scenery, which slowly becomes more magnificent...</div>
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<i>in Pituba area, on the northern part of Salvador</i></div>
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<i>Pelourinho, as seen from Museu Jorge Amado</i></div>
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<i>An artist in a painting shops along the street</i></div>
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<i>The Lacerda elevator which leads from Pelourinho to the harbor</i></div>
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<i>BR-030 "highway" that goes up the Peninsula</i></div>
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<i>Sunset is always spectacular with lakes glimmering next to the roadway</i></div>
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Perhaps next time, I'll probably take the "short route"! That will be via the regional airport of Ilhéus, which is 2hrs from the Peninsula.</div>
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<i>also published on maraupeninsula.blogspot.com</i></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-65361875355280161102012-06-15T14:22:00.004-07:002012-06-15T14:22:53.515-07:00Brazil tops Global Price Index<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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After the 2008 crash in real estate prices, it appears that South America is far outpacing North America and even Asia, in terms of re-gaining market strength. </div>
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According to the country-by-country chart, the high performers - Brazil and Colombia - are pulling the average up. But where do Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama rank, I wonder?</div>
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Brazil is leading the pack by a long shot. The data is apparently skewed, since it is the only country whose figures are based on "asking prices"; nevertheless, it signals the real estate market in Brazil is very strong.</div>
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How long will the Brazilian growth spurt last? Will the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics keep the economic flywheel coasting? Speculation may be driving prices high, but infrastructure investments and a spiraling rise in middle class suggest the economy will sustain this for awhile yet.</div>
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<i>Source: http://my.knightfrank.com/research-reports/global-house-price-index.aspx</i></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-11147940569919762172012-04-30T10:59:00.000-07:002012-04-30T10:59:05.476-07:00Report: Green Spotlight on Mexico's Tourism Plans<br>
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« Build, Baby, Build ! » Perhaps it’s not about drilling, but about building, when it comes to Mexico’s tourism planning.<br>
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The enthusiastic, all-chips-in approach of some players in the oil industry likewise applies to large-scale resort development, a formula begun with the success of Cancun, and replicated around the country and overseas. <br>
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President Felipe Calderon has set ambitious targets for tourism development in Mexico, as described in the <a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com.br/2012/04/will-mexico-make-classy-comeback.html">previous post</a>. How will this fit into the sustainability agenda professed by their National Accord for Tourism? How can they guide their growth so that it has long-term value ? <br>
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<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2012/04/report-green-spotlight-on-mexicos.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-66057616803427494112012-04-26T08:26:00.001-07:002012-04-26T10:07:13.508-07:00Will Mexico make a Classy Comeback?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Roughly translated as "no problem, leave it for tomorrow", vacationers and retirees love Mexico's <i>mañana </i>attitude. But to keep tourism dollars rolling in, President Felipe Calderon is not letting that relaxed attitude take hold - at least not at the planning and policy levels.<br>
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The country's position has fallen from the world's 7th to 10th place in global tourist arrivals in the last 15 years. Complications with the US-European recession and the drug cartels have contributed to this drop. President Calderon is adamant he can reverse this trend. Very soon.<br>
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<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2012/04/will-mexico-make-classy-comeback.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-54364111561634241702010-06-04T06:24:00.000-07:002012-04-26T08:45:14.453-07:00Cataviña and the Water-collecting Cacti: rainwater harvesting<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
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Near the town of Cataviña, central Baja, in one of the most ecologically diverse deserts in the whole world, the <i>Valle de los Cirios</i>. Dark silhouettes of 40-foot-tall <i>cardon</i> cacti lay in front of the bright setting sun.</div>
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The blooming desert was buzzing earlier with bees and hummingbirds, but they are now asleep. A lush desert flora surrounds me. Although the word “lush” is usually reserved for green jungles — not dry, bleak deserts — this is no ordinary desert. Despite being water-starved, it is vibrant and colorful, and offers an impressive and natural lesson in water management.<br>
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<i>[This post is from the Voyage of Kiri, an educational trip about sustainable development and climate adaptation in Mexico's coastline. For more information see www.voyageofkiri.com]</i><br>
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<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2010/06/catavina-and-water-collecting-cacti.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-80816317470669101752010-05-26T08:18:00.000-07:002012-04-26T08:35:07.933-07:00Certification: a trendy but tricky practiceWhen <a href="http://www.coastalecoventures.com/Coastal_Eco-Ventures/Home.html">Coastal EcoVentures</a> first started thinking about how to positively impact tourism development practices in coastal Mexico, one obvious option was to develop a certification standard.<br>
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In a world of <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/winston/2010/04/avoiding-greenwash-and-its-dan.html">greenwashing</a>, certifications can be powerful and important signals of quality to consumers, while providing a valuable point of differentiation and isolating mechanism to businesses in crowded markets in which every competitor seems to be making green claims. <br>
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But actually securing the intended environmental benefits via certification is harder than it may seem, as evidenced by a <a href="http://www.rff.org/documents/RFF-DP-10-17.pdf">new study</a> from <a href="http://www.rff.org/">RFF</a> that finds only limited evidence of successful certification schemes. <br>
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<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2010/05/certification-trendy-but-tricky.html#more">Read more »</a>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-21574648879003982622010-05-23T19:12:00.000-07:002012-04-26T08:45:58.057-07:00Balancing tourists and turtles in Costa Rica<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/S_nhpu7oPcI/AAAAAAAAE3Q/MZl1wjMM_dw/s1600/turtles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="150" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474654929134566850" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/S_nhpu7oPcI/AAAAAAAAE3Q/MZl1wjMM_dw/s200/turtles.JPG" style="display: block; height: 240px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="200"></a></div>
Turtles are often a draw in coastal tourism destinations. As popularity grows, though, pressure to develop more tourist accommodations <a href="http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/turtles-vs-tourism-in-puerto-rico/">creates a conflict</a> with the need to protect the turtles’ sensitive beach habitats.<br>
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A <a href="http://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2010;volume=8;issue=1;spage=26;epage=43;aulast=Meletis">recent paper in <em>Conservation and Society</em></a> – ‘Tourists and turtles: Searching for a balance in Tortuguero, Costa Rica’ – examines several aspects of ecotourism in Tortuguero, Costa Rica. The results raise some interesting questions about balancing the trade-offs between access to ecotourism destinations and protecting the very natural resources that tourists have traveled to see.<br>
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<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2010/05/balancing-tourists-and-turtles-in-costa.html#more">Read more »</a>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-85194665868976781792010-05-12T21:10:00.000-07:002012-02-07T12:46:53.377-08:00Doing large tourism projects sustainablyWhile <a href="http://www.coastalecoventures.com/">Coastal EcoVentures</a> is focused on small- and medium-sized tourism developments (what other choice does a new, small fund have?), it’s worth taking a quick look at one of the largest new developments in the world.<br>
<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2010/05/doing-large-tourism-projects.html#more">Read more »</a>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-62258765180026958502010-05-10T05:59:00.000-07:002012-02-07T13:50:01.114-08:00Vineyards in the Desert: groundwater issues<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.miller-mccune.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/David-Dalgoff-225x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="David Dalgoff at winery" border="0" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-15761" height="200" src="http://www.miller-mccune.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/David-Dalgoff-225x300.jpg" title="David-Dalgoff" width="150"></a></div>
Instead of going directly to Ensenada along the coast, we veered inland and went upriver, to the main wine and olive growing region in Baja: the Valle de Guadalupe. The valley has the rocky appearance of a desert, which makes the vineyards sprouting along the <i>Ruta de Vino</i> (the Wine Route) seem like a string of oasis. I wondered, where does the water come from?<br>
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<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2010/05/vineyards-in-desert-groundwater-issues.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-34937052987312946322010-05-02T11:36:00.000-07:002012-02-07T12:48:20.183-08:00Joining the responsibility revolutionThis week we met <a href="http://www.jeffhollender.com/">Jeff Hollender</a>, a successful and inspiring leader who is currently building support for the <a href="http://www.asbcouncil.org/">American Sustainable Business Council</a>. It was interesting to hear about Jeff’s thoughts on the ASBC’s role in giving voice to all the small businesses who want Congress to act on the climate bill and other important issues; the latest round of corporate malpractice and malfeasance; and what it takes to be a truly regenerative business.<br>
<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2010/05/joining-responsibility-revolution.html#more">Read more »</a>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-12670352995176453652010-04-21T19:32:00.000-07:002012-02-07T12:49:04.101-08:00The Voyage of Kiri: how climate might affect Mexico's coast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZkW4PfiHnAY/TK2-wjIR3vI/AAAAAAAAFQI/FeqIWNx45xM/s1600/Clouds+Santa+Barbara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="102" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZkW4PfiHnAY/TK2-wjIR3vI/AAAAAAAAFQI/FeqIWNx45xM/s400/Clouds+Santa+Barbara.jpg" width="400"></a></div>
<i><span id="goog_914834972"></span><span id="goog_914834973"></span>[Kristian Beadle, a </i><i>Coastal EcoVentures project manager, </i><i>is traveling along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, visiting sustainable tourism projects and protected areas, to understand how climate change might affect the coastline in Mexico. We will follow his blog here during the next several months.] </i><br>
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<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2010/04/voyage-of-kiri-how-climate-might-affect.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-8982386574444812872009-11-30T12:52:00.000-08:002012-02-07T12:49:30.357-08:00Country risk and ecotourismStories of storms, droughts and other local extremes bring about all kinds of varied reactions: relief aid, renewed political will to solve problems of poverty and environmental degradation, and, inevitably, jittery investors.<br>
<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2009/11/country-risk-and-ecotourism.html#more">Read more »</a>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-79828701547118343752009-11-15T14:29:00.001-08:002012-02-07T12:49:45.617-08:00What is responsible tourism?I came across <a href="http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a913817033">this review of</a> <em>Tourism and Responsibility: Perspectives from Latin America and the Caribbean</em>. The purpose of this book in part is to account for the full host of externalities from tourism development, beyond those addressed directly in decision-making among private actors.<br>
<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-is-responsible-tourism.html#more">Read more »</a>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-86291901885830860222009-11-08T15:33:00.000-08:002012-02-07T13:51:09.071-08:00Size matters: Models of ecotourism development in Costa RicaCan ecotourism protect the exotic destinations that we love? The answer is a qualified yes, according to <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/j026w66x9136v5tw/fulltext.pdf">an article</a> in this month’s <em>Environment, Development and Sustainability</em>.<br>
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<a href="http://coastaleco.blogspot.com/2009/11/bigger-is-not-always-better-ecotourism.html#more">Read more »</a>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-33195537224890353752009-10-13T08:25:00.000-07:002009-10-13T08:47:31.024-07:00Grant money for the East Africa tourismYet another example of how tourism can't happen with environmental protections: USAID <a href="http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/protecting-wildlife-and-tourism-in-east-africa/">pledged $3 million</a> (a grant) for ecosystem management in East Africa. Kenya's tourism industry, accounting for 10 percent of the economy, relies on a healthy ecosystem to sustain the large ungulate and other populations that attract so many visitors. Drought and pollution are the twin dangers to the freshwater components of the ecosystem, which are the focus of this USAID program.<br /><br />It would be interesting to hear what other funding sources are contributing to these efforts, including not just grants but also investments in the private entreprises that benefit from (and therefore steward) the Mara River Basin. Though a U.S. agency's debt or equity investment in a foreign country may raise new governance and sovereignty issues, ideallyinvestments like the one USAID just made could hold some prospect of repayment. At a minimum, it might be worth the effort to see what other types of funds could be attracted to the basin as a result of USAID interest in the region.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-10117895908536325792009-09-27T21:39:00.000-07:002009-10-01T20:27:02.542-07:00Top 10 Ecotourism Stories of 2009A quick run-down of noteworthy news and emerging themes from a long and lazy summer:<br /><br />1. <strong>Measuring environmental performance</strong>: Although we were involved in the global <a href="http://www.sustainabletourismcriteria.org/">effort to establish a scorecard</a> for the environmental and social performance of tourism development, we were never quite sure how these efforts would play out, and whether they would ever have a positive impact on development practices. How would it gain widespread adoption where other efforts had not? Nonetheless, perhaps the most important effort, among other worthy ones, seems to have come to fruition, and it will undoubtedly have an impact on a large portfolio of tourism investments. The Inter-American Development Bank developed the <a href="http://www.iadb.org/tourismscorecard">IADB tourism scorecard</a> for their investments (typically projects greater than $100 million). Given that this bank invests hundreds of millions in tourism annually, this is a pretty big deal. (Kudos to Jorge and his team.) It remains to be seen what will become the standard for smaller projects.<br /><br />2. <strong>Social media in ecotourism</strong>: It's a sign of the times when the <a href="http://planeta.wikispaces.com/spotlightaward">Ecotourism Spotlight Awards</a> is rewarding the best online presence of a government ecotourism organization, not some other worthy triumph in the tourism space. (<a href="http://www.ecotourismlaos.com/">Ecotourism Laos</a> won the award, for the third straight year.)<br /><br />Of course, examples of online ecotourism content abound. Indeed, social media is at the core of the integrated marketing strategies; it won't take you long to find a <a href="http://www.bigisland.org/ecotourism">good example</a> out there.<br /><br />Future successes will likely include the use of content generated by users (enabling visitors and employees to get the word out about quality ecotourism) and, according to one <a href="http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/09/socially-responsible-schwag-as-metaphor-for-socap09.html">emerging Web 3.0 definition</a>, online interactions that lead to offline action: deal-making, positive impact, and so on. For now, we're trying to decide if Twitter Search is really a good way to follow ecotourism...<br /><br />3. <strong>Ecotourism hitting the American West</strong>: Earlier this summer, New Mexico held a conference about ecotourism, and it struck as a novel headline. In this country, and especially in the West, tourism is heavily dependent on the 'wonders of nature,' and these assets are (usually) protected and stewarded. But ecotourism is a new term in the U.S. The result in New Mexico, <a href="http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/09/14/daily47.html?s=industry&i=travel">announced last week</a>, is a $250,000 initiative authorized by the governor. The work will include taking an inventory of ecotourism assets throughout the state and educating communities on ecotourism, including teaching marketing skills related to that sector. EcoNewMexico will work with state agencies and other public and private entities.<br /><br />Increasingly, ecotourism is seen as a way of maintaining growth in tourism revenues in an economic downturn in ways that respect and sustain the natural assets that attract tourists in the first place. The New Mexico effort was undertaken largely because ecotourists appreciate that state's significant cultural and natural offerings. And they spend more. Similar stories are popping up <a href="http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20090803/COLUMNS/908029985/1078&ParentProfile=1055">in Colorado</a> and elsewhere in the West.<br /><br />4. <strong>New capital for responsible development</strong>: Ecotourism is an indirect way of paying for the environmental services (biodiversity, carbon sequestration) provided by our favorite tropical vacation destinations. While <a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122541838/abstract">direct payments</a> for these services may be a more economically efficient means of protecting the natural assets we care about, ultimately those are new tools that are inevitably difficult to do. Thus, ecotourism is seen as one of the next best things.<br /><br />Although some established funds, notably <a href="http://www.rootcapital.org/">Root Capital</a>, have actively supported responsible development in the past, we are excited to hear about new sources. The <a href="http://www.conservation.org/sites/verdeventures/loans/wh_leep/Pages/WH_LEEP.aspx">newest fund</a>, announced in early September, brings new focus to another established funding source: Verde Ventures will support new biodiversity-friendly businesses in and around World Heritage sites, in partnership with the UN Foundation and UNDP's Small Grants Program.<br /><br />5. <strong>Portals</strong>: Aggregated information is important: the value of <a href="http://eco-indextourism.org/en/home">Rainforest Alliance's work in certification</a> is a good example. So we really benefit from the established experts in ecotourism controlling the information overload. <a href="http://planeta.wikispaces.com/">Planeta</a> has apparently been around a while, and its <a href="http://planeta.wikispaces.com/space/stats/overview/2009">site traffic</a> is not insignficant. Importantly, it's a wiki, so so it's harnessing collective knowledge rather than relying on one person's narrow experience. <a href="http://www.ethicaltravelportal.com/">New</a> <a href="http://www.wholetravel.com/">ones</a> are popping up, too.<br /><br />6. <strong>The science of ecotourism</strong>: Before we get too carried away with the virtues of ecotourism - remember, there's a not insignificant <a href="http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a914342531">carbon cost</a> associated with most of this travel - there's <a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121482447/abstract">plenty</a> <a href="http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a913104306">of</a> <a href="http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a908743631">science</a> to support the policy-making and business development. It can only be promoted more, in order to move this work beyond academic circles.<br /><br /><br />7. <strong>Agro-ecotourism</strong>: Anyone who's been to Napa Valley knows that a popular, lucrative product can get people very interested in farming. Two other foods that people tend to be zealous about - coffee and chocolate - grow in tropical countries, which presents a real opportunity given the overlap with ecotourism in these areas of the world. This overlap seems to be a somewhat <a href="http://doinglifebeingtiff.com/?p=569">growing area</a> with real potential.<br /><br /><br />Coffee, it turns out, is a very important industry in these tropical countries, for economic livelihoods. For biodiversity, coffee's expansion into <a href="http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/shade-coffee.htm">sun monoculture</a> is a very real and recent concern. Unfortunately, the coffee tourism <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.spraycar/Panama">we saw in Panama</a> was primarily sun monoculture. However, the increase in demand for shade-grown coffee, albeit within a pretty small niche of consumers, leads us to think there's an opportunity for the shade growers, with the bird habitat and other pluses they provide in addition to a quality cup of coffee, to differentiate their agro-ecotourism experience.<br /><br />8. <strong>Tourism and biodiversity</strong>: Many successful (and genuine) ecotourism businesses have plenty of luxury amenities to go along with the nature. But, first and foremost, the biodiversity is the key to these businesses. And, in turn, the businesses can benefit the biodiversity, mainly by protecting the land from alternative development scenarios, and, secondarily, by promoting stewardship among visitors and local communities that benefit from the business. This phenomenon is <a href="http://www.blogger.com/(http://www.mywebjpg.com/blog/2009/09/ecotourism-and-endangered-species-in-nova-scotia">not just in the tropics</a>; and you can probably find plenty of other examples even <a href="http://www.awrta.org/index.cfm?section=About&page=About&viewpost=2&ContentId=428">farther north</a>.<br /><br />9. <strong>Understanding the investment issues</strong>: Triple bottom line performance is also <a href="http://www.prlog.org/10312379-ecotourism-and-sustainable-tourism-conference-2010-focuses-on-triple-bottom-line-sustainability.html">being discussed</a> at a major conference in this space. In the ESG domain, investors are increasingly recognizing environmental degradation as a major <a href="http://www.eiris.org/files/research%20publications/esginvestorsurveysurveyjan07.pdf">risk factor</a> to realizing return on investments in tourism.<br /><br />Again, there remains a major gap between supply of triple bottom line projects, demand for responsible investment opportunities, and the measurement tools to connect the two. We will be looking for, and working toward, mature tools moving forward.<br /><br />10. <strong>Applying sustainable development lessons</strong>: <a href="http://www.propoortourism.org.uk/">Not a new concept</a> in ecotourism circles, the needs of local stewards of the environment is seen as an increasingly important component of the success of responsible development practices. And gaining more <a href="http://www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk/index.php?id=105">funding and support</a> every day. Our main concern is how well this approach will scale, relative to private-sector approaches and other alternatives.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-15684755863279764482009-09-27T17:59:00.000-07:002009-09-27T19:46:10.858-07:003 good things about the new Verde Ventures fundWe anticipated an announcement from Verde Ventures on how they would re-double their efforts (and considerable funds raised) to support tourism businesses that benefit biodiversity. And <a href="http://www.conservation.org/sites/verdeventures/loans/wh_leep/Pages/WH_LEEP.aspx">here it is</a>. Released earlier this month, Verde Ventures, along with UN Foundation and UNDP, will support entrepreneurs (both investment capital and capacity grants) whose work complements conservation goals in nearby World Heritage Sites.<br /><br />This coincides with major advances in measuring the impacts of funds like Verde Ventures' new one - so-called impact investing. A <a href="http://www.monitorinstitute.com/documents/InvestingforSocialandEnvImpact_ExecSum_000.pdf">new report</a> from the Monitor Institute outlines the major hurdles still to be addressed before impact investing is anywhere close to the mainstream. Here are three of these hurdles, and some comments on where the Verde Ventures fund stands:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">1. Unlock Latent Supply of Capital by Building Efficient Intermediation—Enable more investing for impact by building the investment banks, clubs, funds, and products needed to facilitate existing interest.</span><br /><br />These entrepreneurs are a couple worlds away from mainstream investment capital: they're in far-flung places, they're small and speculative concerns, and there are language and numerous other barriers to attracting investment capital. The fact that CI focuses its efforts on, and has an installed base of contacts in many of these World Heritage places will address almost all of these barriers. The major remaining barrier - the fact that these enterprises still are small and speculative - is addressed in part by the 'social returns' nature of the fund, meaning that the funders are looking for a return of their capital, but beyond that they are looking primarily for environmental and social impact as well as modest financial returns.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">2. Build Enabling Infrastructure for the Industry—Build the ecosystem for impact investing, including common metrics, language, and an impact investing network that can serve as a platform for collective action such as lobbying for policy change.</span><br /><br />Here is where the challenges may lie. We have been working towards common metrics in a common language, while working on global sustainability <a href="http://www.sustainabletourismcriteria.org/">indicators for tourism</a>. But even we were focused on a particular type of tourism development in a small part of the world. This fund, however, will need something that applies across grantees (in a variety of industries) in different parts of the world, and with each business having a distinct impact on the success of the World Heritage Sites. Comparing across geographic regions means accounting for variations in the extent of surrounding economic and physical development (e.g., infrastructure, biodiversity of roads, etc.), among other factors. Creating something that is substantially more than a "look-back" afterthought for this initiative will be crucial. We hope there is plenty of time and money spent on this aspect of the fund.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">3. Develop the Absorptive Capacity for Investment Capital—Develop investment opportunities and ensure high-quality deal flow by cultivating talented entrepreneurs and supporting the enabling grants to support entrepreneurs in building their businesses, and particularly developing biodiversity-friendly strategies and practices.</span><br /><br />This, of course, is where this fund really earns its keep. Not only will the fund make loans and other investments, but it explicitly makes grants for building capacity among the entrepreneurs to build successful businesses in regions that demand environmentally responsible business practices. It's intermediaries like the ones involved in this fund, as well as <a href="http://www.rootcapital.org/">Root Capital</a> and others, that are needed to employ capital that is increasingly ready to test these ripe waters.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-20138221364262629692009-05-20T15:50:00.001-07:002009-05-20T15:52:43.660-07:00Coastal EcoVentures combines field work and funding for conservation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yjS2NzP1qUI/ShSHS29PCmI/AAAAAAAAAqM/GtA34slIpYU/s1600-h/lucas_kristian_mich_comp.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yjS2NzP1qUI/ShSHS29PCmI/AAAAAAAAAqM/GtA34slIpYU/s200/lucas_kristian_mich_comp.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338040216400628322" border="0" /></a>There was a method to our madness when we decided to initially focus our business, Coastal EcoVentures, on coastal tourism in Mexico. As both environmental scientists and avid travelers (and surfers), we were concerned about the rapid development taking place along Mexico's coastline and the negative impacts it was having on the environment and local communities. One need to only look at Cancun to get a sense of the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE48T01G20080930">ills of over-developm</a><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE48T01G20080930">ent</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Assuming that development will continue in fragile coastal regions, the question was whether we could promote responsible development that potentially mitigates negative impacts. For example, those that restore wetlands rather than eliminate them; that promote waste reduction instead of increase pollution; that hire community members rather than displacing the locals; these are the kinds of projects that should be supported.<br /></div><br />Fortunately, such projects exist. To learn more about this niche industry, we focused our initial research on <a href="http://www.playaviva.com/">P</a><a href="http://www.playaviva.com/">laya</a><a href="http://www.playaviva.com/"> V</a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yjS2NzP1qUI/ShSHjk_HlOI/AAAAAAAAAqU/xk_koniMDvY/s1600-h/juluchuca+beach.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 184px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_yjS2NzP1qUI/ShSHjk_HlOI/AAAAAAAAAqU/xk_koniMDvY/s200/juluchuca+beach.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338040503634466018" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.playaviva.com/">i</a><a href="http://www.playaviva.com/">va</a>, a resort in the early stages of development near Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Playa Viva is promoting an innovative approach to development that goes a step beyond sustainable and incorporates <a href="http://www.playaviva.com/sustainable-by-design/regenerative-practices">regenerative development</a> goals. In other words, they are restoring distressed land, in this case a palm plantation, back to its native landscape. The plan is to create a low-impact resort and residential community that can finance restoration and conservation.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Last July we had the chance to visit Playa Viva. While we were there we met the onsite management team to see how well the project actually matched its proposed responsible development goals. We met with Playa Viva’s green architect Michel Lewis, to look over development plans and site renderings. He showed us casita test structures and restoration activities of one of the coastal lagoons. We also met with Odin Ruiz, Playa Viva’s permaculturalist. He is actively re-vegetating the palm plantation with native species, and is reintroducing ancestral Mayan terracing for sustainable agriculture. We also had the opportunity to participate in a sea turtle release at the community-run turtle sanctuary.<br /></div><br />During our visit, we thought about how we would go about evaluating Playa Viva’s development plans and what environmental and social criteria could be measured, particularly at such an early stage in development. The project became the case study upon which we built our <a href="http://fiesta.bren.ucsb.edu/%7Eadean/gp/Coastal_Eco-Ventures/EcoValuator.html">methodology</a> for evaluating responsible tourism developments. The field trip and sunset surf sessions provided a nice break from our laptops and Excel, and reaffirmed our hunch that we were working in the right industry.<br /><br />A recently released article, "<a href="http://www.ejmagazine.com/2009a/33.ecotourism.html">Good Preachers: Students' eco-tourism firm to fund guilt-free travel</a>", highlights some of the additional work Coastal EcoVentures and Playa Viva are doing to support investment in and travel to sustainable tourism developments.Ashley Deanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11379892038661571568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-39280007481777372352009-05-19T15:29:00.000-07:002009-05-19T15:47:26.531-07:00Domestic tourism in Mexico<span style="font-size:130%;">Our personal accounts of ecotourism are usually in the first person; that is, we talk about our own experiences of traveling to Mexico and other beautiful, far-flung tropical locales from another country. Not surprising to be coming from a group of Americans.<br /><br />But international tourists are only part of the story. Just as the majority of tourists to be found at most attractions in the U.S. are, in fact, Americans, the tourism industries of Mexico and other Latin American countries also are dominated by domestic visitors.<br /><br />In Mexico, 80 percent of total tourism expenditures (and <a href="http://www.blogger.com/zedillo.presidencia.gob.mx/welcome/docs/tourism.doc">60 percent of the spending</a> on lodging) come from Mexican residents, according to a 2001 OECD <a href="http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/43/54/33650486.pdf">study</a>. (In some places, of course, international visitors dominate.)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/ShM2yrjI9uI/AAAAAAAADRY/unERIi5GmXU/s1600-h/sunset.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 235px; height: 314px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/ShM2yrjI9uI/AAAAAAAADRY/unERIi5GmXU/s400/sunset.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337670227675641570" border="0" /></a><br />Why should we care? Well, in our minds ecotourism can only be sustainable if tourist activities maintain the integrity of the ecosystems where eco-resorts are found. And local residents are almost always the best stewards of that. Community-scale stewardship is the most critical, but all domestic visitors have a stake in stewarding the natural landscapes within their country's borders.<br /><br />Since domestic tourists are, on average, probably less affluent than visitors from America and other (richer) countries, it's also important to have tourism options at all price points, not just the luxury experiences that often exclude the average middle-class tourist. On a related point, we should be sensitive to the potential for a lagging level of appreciation of environmental values among domestic tourists, stemming from simple things like education and even <a href="http://www.scidev.net/en/news/study-finds-low-internet-use-in-costa-rican-scient.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_news">access to the internet</a>.<br /><br />Domestic tourism is in some ways a measure of the interest in and appreciation of a nation's environmental assets, and we're glad to see it's alive and well in Mexico. Strong domestic tourist flows will, we hope, provide the capital to maintain and restore ecologically important lands. We'll be watching for studies to confirm that domestic tourists are just as interested in eco-friendly travel <a href="http://waste.environmental-expert.com/resultEachPressRelease.aspx?cid=4797&codi=13657&level=4&idproducttype=8&">as Americans are becoming</a>.</span>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-28502544355145497192009-05-15T12:23:00.000-07:002009-05-19T20:15:31.523-07:00Financing ecotourism #1: The role of government<span style="font-size:130%;">This blog serves partly as a forum to talk about the next big ideas in ecotourism and sustainable development. But too often these well-intentioned policy innovations are never successfully implemented, and the intended conservation outcomes never happen.<br /><br />And often it is financing that's the missing piece. Environmentally friendly projects, such as investments in energy efficiency, typically generate positive returns but are passed over in favor of even more lucrative projects. (Energy efficiency investments often take many years to pay for themselves.) The tight credit markets don't help, but this problem is not unique to recessionary periods.<br /><br />So we'll start using this blog to discuss <a href="http://www.conservationfinanceforum.org/Paul%20Spraycar%20-%20A%20Conservation%20Fund%20for%20Sustainable%20Tourism%20Development.doc">new financing mechanisms</a> that increase access to capital and thereby expand the use of responsible development practices in ecotourism. And the first topic is the role of government-led financing.<br /><br />Developing countries routinely receive funding from the world's richest economies - through the big development (e.g., massive <a href="http://www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/summit-aims/timeline-events/summit-outcomes">lines of credit</a>) and from the private sector - to support economic development and environmental protection. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), for example, sends money directly to national governments, which then have discretion over how the money is used. More and more, the World Bank and related institutions are giving these governments leeway over how they use the money and, more generally, how they set and enforce environmental regulations.<br /><br />Many developing countries also enjoy a robust tourism sector, which often dominates local economies. And it's becoming <a href="http://waste.environmental-expert.com/resultEachPressRelease.aspx?cid=4797&codi=13657&level=4&idproducttype=8&">increasingly evident</a> that consumers want more responsible tourism experiences.<br /><br />So there is money available from two sources (development banks and tourists) that demand environmental protection. And some investments in environmentally friendly development (like energy efficiency) often don't get made because scarce capital is employed in more readily available projects with shorter payback periods.<br /><br />What if a national government administered <a href="http://www.conservationfinanceforum.org/Paul%20Spraycar%20-%20A%20Conservation%20Fund%20for%20Sustainable%20Tourism%20Development.doc">a revolving loan fund to support tourism development</a> that simultaneously meets national goals for economic development and environmental protection? Good projects would get the capital they need, while less environmentally friendly forms of development would be discouraged implicitly (though not outlawed entirely).<br /><br />The mechanism would invest in projects that meet high standards of environmental performance, recognizing that such environmental performance often requires significant capital investment above and beyond that required for a viable development. The revolving fund could even specifically target investments that normally don't get funded, like investments with a payback period of seven years or more.<br /><br />The method for evaluating the environmental performance of tourism developments must include a quantitative, outcome-oriented analysis of whether (and how) each stands up to a set of environmental standards, like in our <a href="http://fiesta.bren.ucsb.edu/%7Eadean/gp/Coastal_Eco-Ventures/EcoValuator.html">EcoValuator scorecard</a>.<br /><br />A revolving fund would return capital to the national government, with a small return to pay for costs of administration and to ensure the financial sustainability of the program over time.<br /></span>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-11690644847822606812009-05-14T12:14:00.000-07:002009-05-14T15:14:20.302-07:00Cheap buses, fast Spanish, and ecotourism: Lessons from the Lakes District<span style="font-size:130%;">I was finally on my own, traveling through the land of <span style="font-style: italic;">lagos y volcanes</span> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318462/">that Che experienced</a>, after a conservation finance <a href="http://www.conservationcapitalintheamericas.org/">conference</a> in nearby Valdivia. Chile is a <a href="http://beyondclimatechange.blogspot.com/2009/05/live-blogging-from-valdivia-chile.html">wonderful place</a> to visit, combining the beauty of South America with the charm of Europe. And it's cheap: a decent hostel bed is around $10, and a six-hour bus ride cost me $4. Photos from the adventure are <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.spraycar/Chile#">here.</a><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">After a rest day in Puerto Varas and a climb of Volcan Osorno - a stunningly symmetrical cone overlooking a massive glaciated lake - I headed to the tourist center of the Lakes District: the town of Pucon.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/SgyLkYj7jDI/AAAAAAAADQ4/wgKzk2eOx8s/s1600-h/chile1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/SgyLkYj7jDI/AAAAAAAADQ4/wgKzk2eOx8s/s400/chile1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335793115711900722" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">I went there to visit El Cani, a forest reserve that's home to the endangered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana">araucaria tree</a>, which has a limited range that is pushed to its limits by the expanding development frontier. El Cani was saved from land conversion by</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> a local ecotourism proprietor. Revenues from a nearby ecoresort were used to finance the purchase of the reserve, which has since become a </span><span style="font-size:130%;">tourist destination in its own right. The araucarias are still safely perched on an isolated ridge within El Cani, this tree's <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.spraycar/Chile#5306247385181296338">last remaining outpost</a> in the region.<br /><br />Pucon is overrun by touristm, but don't blame the tourists. Countless recreational activities populate the region, including an <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/paul.spraycar/Chile#5306247427301202450">active but accessible volcano</a> that's practically inside the city limits.<br /><br />From an environmental perspective, such masses of tourists may be cause for concern. And there are undoubtedly impacts on water quality in Lago Llanquihue (though fortunately the <a href="http://worldhotels.wordpress.com/2007/06/03/villarica-park-lake-hotel-pucon-chile/">lake is huge</a>), and certainly local pollution from the frequent traffic jams and innumerable autobuses ferrying tourists to their daily outdoor excursions.<br /><br />But clustering of tourist activities is a good thing in many contexts. Even mega-destinations, like Cancun in Mexico, could be good for conservation: although they leave a staggering imprint on local ecosystems, they provide millions of tourists with the tropical vacation experiences they demand without disturbing large tracts of intact wilderness elsewhere in the tropics. Imagine how those landscapes would hold up if all those people chose more remote destinations located closer to important tropical ecosystems.<br /><br />So there are trade-offs. We think part of the solution is to promote limited tourism development that provides economic development opportunities that encourage stewardship of critical habitat for biodiversity while avoiding the environmental costs of intensive development practices. The answers won't come easily, but we're working on <a href="http://fiesta.bren.ucsb.edu/%7Eadean/gp/Coastal_Eco-Ventures/EcoValuator.html">ways to assess these alternatives</a>, both at the project level and at a regional scale. We see great promise in some forms of "limited development" ecotourism, and we hope to identify and promote the most responsible forms of development.<br /><br />As for fast Spanish: I have a long way to go on my Spanish skills, but every visitor to Chile agrees: Chileans talk really, really, ridiculously fast.<br /></span>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-36901027713370343552009-05-13T19:21:00.000-07:002009-05-13T19:43:46.928-07:00Ecotourism vacations are short: Stay awake for them!<span style="font-size:130%;">We traveled to Panama recently to see how communities are addressing the pressures brought on by increased tourism demand. One of the best things about ecotourism is the opportunity to witness (and support) non-tourism industries and livelihoods. And we discovered a thriving coffee industry that is alive and well in the mountains of western Panama.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/SguFB6rDvLI/AAAAAAAADQw/-hzDONKH0DY/s1600-h/panama1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/SguFB6rDvLI/AAAAAAAADQw/-hzDONKH0DY/s400/panama1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335504451526704306" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />An hour inland from the Pacific Coast, Boquete sits at around 1,500 meters above sea level and is surrounded by coffee plantations. There are plenty of Americans here - Boquete was <a href="http://www.odyssei.com/travel-tips/3777.html">featured by AARP</a> a few years ago - but the coffee industry remains the dominant force in the local economy. A full day of walking through the surrounding hillsides opened our eyes to the vibrant and varied coffee-growing activities, all well-insulated from the growing stream of tourist traffic.<br /><br />(By the way, nice to see that the local enterprises are capturing a majority of the coffee value chain: all the way from growing and harvesting the raw beans to processing, roasting and packaging.)<br /><br />Although <a href="http://www.egret.us/coffee/tzcoffee.htm">not</a> <a href="http://www.terracurve.com/2008/11/07/dominican-republic-strives-for-a-sustainable-economy-with-coffee-tourism/">a</a> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2006/oct/03/colombia.travelfoodanddrink.foodanddrink">new</a> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a href="http://www.dorman.co.ke/farmtours.php">concept</a>, we think there is an under-utilized opportunity for growing tourism to be integrated with and even to benefit local coffee growers. Coffee-loving tourists, after all, love to see the plantations, a lesson the wine industry knows well.<br /><br />And ecotourists, drawn to the beauty and "intactness" of the natural landscape, will no doubt demand a responsibly grown product, complete with polyculture and safeguards for biodiversity. Thus, coffee tourism can serve to protect biodiversity by ensuring responsible cultivation practices are used. In conjunction with coffee certification schemes - including <a href="http://www.transfairusa.org/content/certification/coffee_program.php">fair trade</a>, <a href="http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/agriculture.cfm?id=coffee">shade-grown</a>, and the like - the coffee-drinking public will be educated about the impacts of their consumption decisions, thereby (we hope) reinforcing price premiums in the market.<br /><br />In a place like Boquete, which borders a massive national park reaching across the nearby border with Costa Rica, coffee tourism could also expose visitors to the intact landscapes beyond the agricultural frontier.<br /><br />Working in a fast-paced, nascent start-up, we can certainly appreciate the caffeinated pleasures of a good cup of coffee (at any hour of the day or night). To be sure, we'll be using this invaluable resource as do field research and other tasks this summer and beyond. As our work progresses, we'll be looking for opportunities to responsibly integrate important local industries with ecotourism. In the coming months, we'll be checking out coffee tourism taking place in Mexico, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.<br /></span>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-77647828682899055922009-05-07T11:18:00.000-07:002009-05-14T12:14:00.928-07:00Turtles and ecotourismWe watched, somewhat bemused, as National Geographic's <a href="http://blog.conservation.org/2009/04/day-14-the-race-is-over-but-the-turtles-swim-on/">Great Turtle Race</a> came to a thrilling conclusion last week. The <a href="http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/greatturtlerace-map/">race map</a>, along with the <a href="http://www.conservation.org/great_turtle_race/pages/commentators.aspx">Olympic-caliber commentary</a>, is entertaining.<br /><br />The race, involving 11 leatherback turtles on their annual migration from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean, was a nice encore to <a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0425-turtles.html">the 2007</a><a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0425-turtles.html"> race</a> from Costa Rica to the Galapagos, in which Stephen Colbert's namesake narrowly lost.<br /><br />Turtles have come up a few times in our research on coastal ecotourism. After all, turtles, perhaps more than any other species, rely exclusively upon beach habitat for nesting. In southern Mexico last summer, we helped "launch" some newborn leatherback (the largest turtle species) and golfina turtles from a turtle nursery.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/SgMpJI-1yaI/AAAAAAAADQQ/PihGF9Orwoo/s1600-h/turtle3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/SgMpJI-1yaI/AAAAAAAADQQ/PihGF9Orwoo/s400/turtle3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333151620743416226" border="0" /></a>The <a href="http://www.playaviva.com/ecology-in-harmony/preserve/turtle-sanctuary"></a><a href="http://www.playaviva.com/ecology-in-harmony/preserve/turtle-sanctuary">nursery, called La Tortuga Feliz</a> ("The Happy Turtle"), is notable because of the direct involvement of tourists and the local community in turtle stewardship. Also notable: about 100,000 turtles hatch at this site every year.<br /><br />Sounds pretty touchy-feely, but in fact several turtle species are endangered and attract plenty of regulation from local governments - which often enact laws to protect the endangered turtles - along with conservation groups. Historically, turtle eggs have been a food source for local beach communities.<br /><br />Ecotourism projects can do their part by establishing links between local environmental assets (like turtle nesting grounds) and increased tourism demand, an important industry in many coastal Mexican communities. Located within a <a href="http://www.playaviva.com/">new ecotourism resort</a>, La Tortuga Feliz offers a chance for tourists to volunteer in the nursery, a valuable learning opportunity, not to mention an attractive selling point for the resort.<br /><br />Hard to believe the newborn turtles will survive the currents, fishing nets and predators of the open ocean between Mexico and the Galapagos. But witnessing their lives on the edge made us appreciate the importance of protecting their beaches even more.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-2732748247675867462009-05-06T10:37:00.000-07:002009-05-14T12:14:19.051-07:00Tourism in a recession<script type="text/javascript"><br /><br />var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");<br /><br />document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));<br /><br /></script><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /><br />try {<br /><br />var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-8702641-2");<br /><br />pageTracker._trackPageview();<br /><br />} c</script>Talk of the recession, frozen credit, and home foreclosures seems to dominate the airwaves these days. So it's natural to think that tourism, one of modern life's great indulgences, might be jettisoned quickly by consumers worried about the long-term health of the global economy, not to mention their own finances. After all, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staycation">staycations</a> can be enticing when money is tight.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/SgHNNXRnDOI/AAAAAAAADPY/CSNaXbBKsmQ/s1600-h/recession1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LtVXpV7wD8c/SgHNNXRnDOI/AAAAAAAADPY/CSNaXbBKsmQ/s400/recession1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332769063253249250" border="0" /></a>Yet many economists and decision-makers, including <a href="http://www.unwto.org/G20.php?lang=E">tourism experts at th</a><a href="http://www.unwto.org/G20.php?lang=E">e United Nations</a>, herald tourism as an essential part of the economic recovery. Tourism is the world's largest industry in terms of jobs, especially for young people, women and other new entrants into the job market.<br /><br />And many experts are arguing for increased support of tourism, an important source of international trade, in the various stimulus packages being developed around the world. Tourism even got some consideration at the recent G20 meetings in London.<br /><br />One of the biggest headlines from G20 was the rich nations' decision to provide $1.1 trillion (via the IMF) in <a href="http://www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/summit-aims/timeline-events/summit-outcomes">loans and financial guarantees</a>. This credit is intended primarily for developing countries, citing the developing world as the key to the global recovery. Since tourism is a pillar of so many Latin American countries, tourism reasonably will figure into the economic recovery.<br /><br />Tourism is also linked to climate change, so the best investments in tourism must effectively deal with the potential downsides of future development. For our team, that means smart siting, design and construction decisions in resort and infrastructure development, as well as a keen eye toward the negative impacts of land use change, which is especially important in tropical countries. Not to mention that the aesthetic beauty and other natural assets are what draw tourists in the first place.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016867298027011250noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876773150018119948.post-38751899831147225922009-04-13T22:44:00.001-07:002009-04-16T20:32:02.023-07:00Property in Mexico remains a safe investment<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090412/BIZ/704129944/-1/RSS01"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_yjS2NzP1qUI/SeQl_-AUrMI/AAAAAAAAApE/X0Dlf32Uagw/s320/houses_BV.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324422440365108418" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />April 12, 2009<br />By Tom Kelly<br />Source: <a href="http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090412/BIZ/704129944/-1/RSS01">HeraldNet</a><br /><br /><span class="art-body">Is Mexico safe?<br /><br />In recent weeks, the question has become common. But curiously, many people with second homes in Mexico don't seem too worried about it.<br /><br />"You think Americans really are not visiting Mexico because of crimes in the papers? Don't they realize it's basically a border deal among drug gangs?" asked Jerry Kerr, a native of San Francisco who spends his winters windsurfing in the warm waters of the Sea of Cortes.<br /><br />Kerr has a point. Recent news reports, including a segment on "60 Minutes," have depicted the entire country of Mexico as being an absolute mess, awash in blood and guns on every street corner. Ironically, people living there have a dramatically different perspective, especially in the "fly-in" destinations that continue to appreciate in value.<br /><br />Despite what you may have heard, read and seen, the country is not under siege. The laid-back lure of Mexico's beaches, forests, deserts, people and culture has been capturing visitors and second-home buyers for decades and has become an international draw no longer driven solely by Americans and Canadians. Not only is land plentiful, exotic, captivating and beautiful, it also is typically more affordable than most of the property found in America's getaway areas.<br /><br />Kerr's little casa across the street from the water near the tiny village of La Ventana, 40 miles south of La Paz, has nearly doubled in value in the past five years. He can walk to get basic groceries and wax for his windsurfing board while La Paz, home to 200,000 residents, supermarkets, hospitals, banks, cultural events and an international airport, is less than an hour by car.<br /><br />The La Ventana area is gated and fenced on all sides -- not for protection from criminals but to prevent the neighboring cattle from invading the property and munching on the vegetation.<br /><br />"Vandalism and theft have never been a concern,'' Kerr said. "In fact, our home and well being are much safer in Mexico than in California.''<br /><br />Much has been written about the kidnappings, roadside hijackings, crooked cops and bandits in some regions of Mexico. Most of the violence south of the border, however, is directly related to the drug cartels and the authorities who are trying to eradicate them. There is absolutely no pattern of any innocent U.S. citizens being randomly murdered in drug violence.<br /><br />Though much of the violence occurs in border towns, Mexico City has had major problems, as has the community of Culiacan, two hours north of Mazatlan. In reality, Mexico needs and wants tourism, and the country is doing a much better job protecting foreigners.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the negativity surrounding the country comes at a time when more and more Americans could use a less expensive place to live. According to a new report by Washington, D.C.- based Center for Economic and Policy Research, baby boomers have not saved, will be forced to work longer and/or move to less expensive places than they anticipated. Property taxes, health care and cost of living will force boomers strongly consider moving to other countries, especially if they plan on living at the same level of comfort as they do now.<br /><br />Let's remember that the United States is plagued with inner-city crime. Guns are commonly used in the U.S. (they are against the law in Mexico), and convenience store clerks should receive combat pay. Tourists in the states also are attacked, often with more violent consequences than are found in many "uncivilized" countries.<br /><br />Mexico is still a relatively safe place to live and visit. However, some gringos continue to leave their brains at the border and behave as if all of Mexico is a safety zone -- acting totally differently than they would back home. Public drinking may be tolerated, and even encouraged in many Mexican tourist destinations, but public intoxication can easily lead to a spectacle and arrest.<br /><br />As with anywhere on earth, think twice before walking home alone at 3 a.m. Play it safe and smart, no matter where you are.</span><br /><br />Original link: <a href="http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090412/BIZ/704129944/-1/RSS01">http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090412/BIZ/704129944/-1/RSS01</a>Ashley Deanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11379892038661571568noreply@blogger.com0