Is ecotourism both culturally and ecologically responsible?

I recently returned from a six week visit to India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Before I venture into what I did there, I want to express my sadness about the devastation that has occurred in Nepal. Just one week before the earthquake, we were in Nepal, having spent three wonderful nights above Pokhara in the village of Dhampus at Basanta Lodge. We were greeted by spectacular views of the Annapurna Range with what seemed like an arms-length distance from Fishtail or Machhapuchhre (pictured above). To hear that all of those wonderful people we met were subjected to such a disaster is beyond expression. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the quake.

I did some research, trying to understand the use of the word “ecotourism” in the places we visited: three lodges in central India; one lodge in the state of Assam in northern India; one lodge west of Kathmandu, Basanta Lodge mentioned above; and various lodges, guesthouses, and small hotels in Bhutan. This is the question I tried to answer: Is ecotourism environmentally and culturally responsible? We have all seen hotels jumping on the bandwagon to be “green” by not washing our towels every night, but what does true ecotourism mean and what issues does it address? I will be presenting my results at a poster session at the 2015 conference of the Society of Ethnobiologists in Santa Barbara, CA on May 6-8.

Here is what I found:  “ecotourism” addresses both environmental and cultural issues, but in reality the term is used quite loosely. Martha Honey, in her book Ecotourism and Sustainable Development, has eight categories to help define ecotourism, which I have altered mildly for clarification or emphasis:

• Involves travel to natural destinations (areas under environmental protection)
• Minimizes impact
• Builds environmental and cultural awareness (cultural awareness added)
• Provides direct financial benefits for conservation
• Offers financial benefits and empowerment for local people
• Respects local culture
• Involves low-impact facilities
• Recognizes the rights and spiritual beliefs of the Indigenous people in the community

I went on my trip armed with FileMaker on both my laptop and phone in order to facilitate easy data gathering. My primary categories of questions involved: village appearance and living conditions; lodge conditions, services, and environmental consciousness; general attitudes and atmosphere around the lodge; and community interaction. My field work consisted of observation combined with open-ended questions to elicit viewpoints and attitudes about environmental awareness and education; community input and interaction; cultural awareness; conflicts between parks or lodges and local inhabitants; lodges and conservation areas giving back to local communities; and local sourcing, to name a few. Admittedly, there were issues with language barriers, as I was asking questions in English, which very few people spoke fluently. This meant that I often had to ask yes/no questions, which often translated into leading questions. In addition, obviously I only visited a limited number of lodges in a limited number of locations, and my results were generalized across countries and my recommendations were presumed to be applicable to ecotourist destinations as a whole.

What’s Working

• All lodges that we visited had 75%-100% local staff
• A majority of the food at the lodges is locally sourced
• Successful “Vulture Restaurants”: an successful example of revitalizing vulture populations, which had been decimated by ingesting livestock that had been medicated with Diclofenac, a frequently administered anti-inflammatory veterinary painkiller.
• Village living conditions had improved at most, if not all, of the villages adjacent to the eco-lodges that we visited
• A  successful “gatekeeper” at Chitwan National Park (DB) was local, and both active in conservation and respected by the community (an example of how they can work together)
• Lodges were constructed from local materials
• Conservation areas are maintaining high biodiversity
• Buffer zones are helping to mitigate human pressure on core conservation areas
• Local communities have generally retained access to sacred areas within the parks, which are also sheltered from tourist activities
• Community Based Organizations are helping to resolve conflicts (example: Bandhavgar National Park)

What’s NOT working

• Environmental education is cursory
• Park entrance fees and permits aren’t contributing much to the local economy, which can make local people resistant to conservation rules since their homes and land are being taken from them
• Lodges provide jobs, but often aren’t truly contributing to local empowerment, as jobs are a small part of the equation
• Cultural values and human rights are not being addressed: conflicts still exist; outside development does not always consider local cultural impacts; community input is often not genuinely considered
• Conservation laws are outdated
• Poaching is still a problem: anti-poaching enforcement tends to punish locals more than outside organizers
• Military anti-poaching patrols and community are in conflict

Best Practices

• Environmental education
• Local sourcing – materials, goods, people
• Transfer park and business management to local communities
• Sustainable use practices
• Community-based conservation and development with partnerships and shared responsibility
• Environmentally sensitive lodge construction
• Tourism that gives back and keeps money in country

Recommendations

• Increase Community Based Organizations > solicit genuine community input
• Involve all stakeholders in environmental education programs: local communities, schools, parks, lodges, government
• Lodges contribute more to local communities, which still need improvements in infrastructure, education, and healthcare
• Improve community relations
• Update conservation laws to support local communities and conservation issues (government is too removed)
• Address greenhouse gas emission issues

Ode to Sean Kelly

Nov. 14, 2014

Today I lost a good friend, and the world lost a fine man! Sean Kelly, to me, was the Voice of America, for whom he worked for many years in Africa. Sean, at 6’5” (?) had the stature and deep resonant voice of the radio. Always accompanied by that smile, which hid a warm but intellectually challenging sense of humor, Sean could tell a familiar story in a new way. There was always the feel of adventure when Sean launched into his stories – he had been places that you had never heard of, but the familiar liberal theme always found its way through, and there was always a touch of “naughtiness.”

I never knew Sean before Helen, their names were always said together. I gather he had quite a lively life in the “good old days” but my image of Sean was driving in the convertible with Helen on the way to the store, with a dog hanging out the back and Sean looking a little big for the car, and Helen looking a little small next to him. But you never messed with Helen either, as strong mentally as Sean was physically, Helen was the boss; they were a perfect match. Referring to each other as “Dear”, which they obviously were to each other.

And what a life Helen and Sean found together, being bi-Capal, traveling from Cape Town to Cape Cod and back with their menagerie twice a year. If you only knew one of their Capes, you had to visit the other in order to understand the full Sean and Helen. Africa is an integral part of each of them, and their home perched overlooking the Lion’s Head in Cape Town; their familiarity with a very different culture; Eunice, who was really in charge, all showed a different life than they lived in Cotuit. Sean will be laid to rest in Africa, where his heart lies, although it will always be with Helen…

I’ll miss that warm, deep voice; his brilliant bar-tending abilities; his storytelling; his gentlemanliness; his humanity. It will be hard to say “Helen” without “Sean.” RIP Sean, may the fair winds blow you to a peaceful resting spot in your beloved Africa.

Here is a biography from Sean’s book, “Chasing Chaos: A Foreign Correspondent’s Memoir’

Sean Kelly covered rebel conflicts in Africa, civil wars in Indochina, peace talks in the Middle East and the downfall of the President of the United States in Washington.He was ambushed in Zimbabwe and death-listed in El Salvador. But not all of his career was spent chasing chaos. He also went to the Seychelles Islands to report on the first flight of the Space Shuttle and to South Africa for the presidential campaign and election of Nelson Mandela.

Between deadlines, there was time for humor, compassion, good food and wine, even romance along the way.

Born and raised in California, Kelly reported for the Voice of America, the Associated Press and several other new organizations during a forty-year professional career in journalism. He worked in print, radio and television. His books include “Access Denied: the Politics of Press Censorship’, and “America’s Tyrant: the CIA and Mobutu of Zaire”.

He and his wife Helen Picard divide the year between Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Cape Town, South Africa.

A Response to New York Times article “Seeking Stars, Finding Creationism” by George Johnson

“Seeking Stars, Finding Creationism” by George Johnson published on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 was offensive and culturally incompetent. The author has no understanding of cultural differences and the variations in world views that make this world a diverse and interesting place. Science is one way of looking at “reality,” although this coincides with Western thought, it is by far and away not the only worldview. This article shows a serious lack of respect for other ways of knowing. There is total disrespect for the years of desecration that has occurred on native land in Hawaii, in line with the disrespect that has occurred throughout the United States. What makes astronomy more important than the sacred land of the Hawaiian peoples? Do we need a 14th telescope on Mauna Kea? How about using the land where the old telescopes are located instead of desecrating more sacred land? The sarcastic attitude in which the article is written is offensive: “Push them too far, the demonstrators warned, and Mauna Kea, a volcano, will erupt in revenge.” Yes, this is tied to colonization, the native Hawaiian peoples have been disregarded ever since the White men appeared! “A pawn in a long, losing game?” Yes, the colonizers have shown no respect for indigenous land for centuries, but at least some countries, like Australia and New Zealand have attempted to make amends! Perhaps becoming allies with environmentalists will give indigenous peoples a voice that has been repeatedly ignored! Profits are unrelated to sacred ground, this has nothing to do with consumerism; call it what you want “the international astronomy industry” or some other name. The state’s Board of Land and Natural Resources agreed with the astronomers that the trade-off [of building a new observatory] is worthwhile;” according to whom? Were the native peoples, who were the original inhabitants of the land, consulted? “Swearing allegiance to different gods?” Is there a law against that? How does this become religious fundamentalism? Biblical creationists? Has it occurred to the author that the  ancestral bones that the archaeologists stole to put in museums belonged to Native American ancestors in the first place? “The dark ages,” how about some respect for our native peoples? Did it occur to the author to contact the other side of the discussion – besides the archaeologist and anthropologists? Thank you Dr. Lekson for showing some respect to the genocide of Native Americans: “I think science can afford this act of contrition and reparation.”
Indian creationism? Further disrespect of Indigenous worldviews, and making the analogy to Christian creationism interfering with public education is outrageous! In this case, the Christian fundamentalists are attempting to change our teaching methods in public schools. How is the fact that the Indigenous peoples are trying to reclaim their land the same thing? In a true collaborative and respectful manner, Chad Kalepa Baybayan, a Native Hawaiian, supported scientific research, even though it may not be entirely compatible with his worldviews, but he acknowledges and respects that there are other points of view. Let’s take a lesson from an open-minded individual, rather than scorn their knowledge!

Fall Colors in Vermont

I recently spent three days viewing the fall colors in Vermont with my 84 and 90-year-old parents. I was planning to visit their home on Cape Cod for ten days, and we had to figure out where to go for peak fall colors. I found a great website sponsored by Yankee Magazine with cool graphics showing the migration of the fall colors on their peak foliage forecast map. The site maps out a route with all sorts of side trips: historic sites, restaurants (I like to use Urban Spoon), Vermont classics like Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Waterbury, VT (you can get a factory tour) or visit Cabot Creamery at one of three locations in Vermont. If you’re into cheese, check out a map of the Vermont Cheese Trail. Unfortunately, due to the warm autumn we were a bit early, but the colors were lovely nevertheless, enhanced by Vermont’s rolling hills. Another fun thing to do in Vermont is to visit breweries. Vermont is coming on the map for their beer production, and according to a local source they used to grow hops in Vermont. In addition, to enhance the leaf peeping experience, there are some fabulous restaurants, which also service the ski community in the winter. Some of the quaint areas have grown up to service the tourists, such as Stowe, but there is still plenty of old New England charm in the churches that dot each town (for a real treat visit the Old Round Church in Richmond, VT), the village greens, or make a fun side trip to Hope Cemetery in Barre, VT (est. 1895) with amazing tombstones carved by local sculptors. I also have a thing for covered bridges. You can find a Vermont covered bridge map and pick how many you want to see en route.

Our visit was greatly enhanced by our stay at a B&B in Waterbury, about half an hour SE of Burlington. The Moose Meadow Lodge is run by Greg Trulson and Willie Docto, Washington, D.C. transplants. They bought the lodge and turned it into a B&B and added a treehouse for those so inclined. Willie makes up a fabulous breakfast and also offers massages in your room. Greg is a hunter, with much evidence displayed around the main rooms. I patted the bear each time I walked past it saying “poor bear,” but Greg assured me that none of the creature goes to waste, but sustains them over the winter.

We didn’t do much hiking this time around, but here is a list of good hikes to do around Vermont, or visit one of Vermont’s beautiful State Parks. Mt. Mansfield, the highest mountain in Vermont, offers a pretty drive, which can be followed by a ride on the Stowe gondola to get a view of the surrounding countryside. If you like to bird, the Green Mountain Audubon Society has a list of birding hotspots in Northwestern Vermont; or a general list of birding trails in Vermont put out by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy; or visit Vermont’s IMB’s (Important Bird Areas).

Finally, we can’t mention Vermont without a visit to the Trapp Family Lodge, remember the Von Trapp Family Singers from the Sound of Music? Well they settled in Stowe, Vermont in the early 1940s. The lodge was opened in the summer of 1950.

Has it really been that long?

It looks like it’s been four years since I wrote on my blog, but I’m back after almost completing another Master’s degree in Intercultural Relations. I am hopeful that intercultural communication will help me to be more sensitive to the world and its peoples and create more interesting fodder for my musings.

Collaboration (Public ICT Access, Part 1)

This is thought provocation, there’s a lot more to it, but it’s a start at looking what has come out of a study of public access information venues in 25 “developing” countries.

The modern world of web 2.0, digital organization, and social networking has shown us what many minds can create. It’s not about what one person knows, but about what we can all create by putting our heads together. This idea also shines through when studying different venues for public access to information (in my situation, I refer to public access to information, in an attempt to provide access to underserved populations). Access to what? ICTs can help access information, but what is important is the information, not necessarily the tool. We studied three primary public access ICT venues: public libraries, cybercafés, and telecentres. Cybercafés, according to our definition were venues that provided access to ICTs for a fee, in other words, financial enterprises. Telecentres, we defined as socially-directed ventures that targeted underserved populations, usually providing access to ICTs for free or for a minimal fee.

Each type of venue had its strength, why not collaborate and create venues that provide public access, are economically sustainable, and even aim to support the Millennium Development goals of providing access to information for everyone? It is a given that every context will be different, let’s move beyond that. What does each venue do best? Libraries often provide the following: government support (a source of financial stability), places to get information (although who actually uses them is an issue), and pre-existing buildings and infrastructure. We can dispute whether librarians provide access to information (in the international context), but that is the job of a “trained” librarian. Problems frequently occur due to lack of technology, which can affect a librarian’s digital literacy, but let’s put that aside for the moment. Cybercafés must respond to user needs if they are to be economically viable, something libraries don’t do well (aren’t economically viable without government support, and don’t respond to user needs). Cybercafés have found the formula for sustainability – find out what the users want, charge as much as possible without chasing away too many users, have operators that have some familiarity with the technology, provide open hours that suit the users, and position in populated areas where access is easy. Unfortunately this model often does not serve rural nor poor populations, nor populations with cultural and physical access issues (such as women in Muslim countries, disabled users, people concerned with access to “inappropriate” material, etc). Finally we have telecentres, whose aim is generally targeted at underserved populations, but who struggle with financial sustainability once initial support is withdrawn. Telecentres offer technology in rural areas, free ICT access, operators trained to support user needs, and often include local stakeholders in their formation and ongoing administration.

By putting these concepts together, what kind of public access to information can be created and how? Let’s start with a library building and its staff paid for by the government. We’ll add computers and communication technology access, perhaps supported by NGOs, but certainly supported by the community who helps to determine user needs. Complement this with training so that users and operators or librarians know how to use the technology, and find out who the users are so that everyone has equal opportunity to access the location and its resources.

What is still missing?
1) getting governments to prioritize public access to information – is this a human “right” such as access to clean water?
2) Changing the perception of libraries, so people want to go there and think of them as the place to go for information
3) OR taking the values inherent in libraries and transferring them to other public access venues – operators as providers and facilitators for access to information
4) Support of digital training for both users and operators

Next we will tackle who this is for, and why…

World Views

On Nov. 28 we flew into Fiji and since then have boarded a ship and are traveling south through the Kermadec Islands, spent several nights visiting the north island of New Zealand, and just left the Chatham Islands. Most of the islands we are visiting are VERY remote and seldom visited, never mind by cruise ships with 60 people! We have had several groups share with us their insights into their culture and world view through dances and presentations. We first visited a small island named Kadavu in Fiji, then visited a Maori village in Rotorua, and lastly a very small group of Moriori in the Chatham Islands. Thanks to my exposure to world views my Indigenous Systems of Knowledge class, I was able to look with a more open and curious mind into what influences their beliefs and cultural norms.

I wrote previously about happiness, inspired by our visit to Kadavu Island in Fiji. The excursion to a Maori village prompted thoughts about the subjugation of indigenous communities, which is a subject for a different blog, but most recently we were treated to a multi-day exposure to Mana, the leader of the Moriori community on Chatham Island. Mana was not born on the island, as the Moriori population was decimated by European settlers in the late 1700s and Maori invaders in the mid-1800s, but he returned to the land of his ancestors 25 years ago and his goal is to teach the “kids” of this generation about their heritage. The last full-blooded Moriori died in 1933, but the rekindling of Moriori life is slowly occurring as they regain their land and return it to its original state (sheep, goats, and introduced plants and animals have turned Chatham Island into farmland, but little by little the eradication of introduced species is allowing the land to return to its original state).

Listening to Mana requires attention, and a suspension of earthbound beliefs. My son spent the day sitting in the front seat of a small van with Mana, and said that one needs to stick to the visual elements of his mind processes and the flow of consciousness can be followed. Fascinatingly, Mana has a solid grounding in physical science, so his ideas travel between the comprehension of DNA, to traveling to the 14th dimension. His belief system is based upon the revisiting of his ancestors, and I believe that part of what made his oratory difficult to follow was that he himself leaves and returns to earth to check on his people. Those of us with linear worldviews have difficulty following where he has been and what he has done in “his life,” which is clearly not one lifetime, but many.

Most of the travelers in our group are interested in natural history and conservation. This makes the connection with Mana’s need to preserve the land easy to follow. But many scientific minds also have problems with the ethereal, which makes us appreciate the beauty of this Mana’s oratory, but have problems grounding it to our own belief systems. Fascinating discussions have arisen over the elegance of his imagery, and the inability to connect those images with “reality.”

Everything is Miscellaneous

I just finished reading “Everything is Miscellaneous” by David Weinberger (ah, to be on vacation and able to catch up on reading!). Weinberger refers to the “third order order” of information – the third level of order. The first level of order is simple organization; the second level is some sort of (arbitrary) classification or categorization; and the third level of order throws away the categories and allows searches to be done by random access to metadata. The third order is digital, not physical, so “we get to create our own categories, ones that suit OUR way of thinking.” (p. 102). The new information age is all about the third level of order, where there is no pre-determined classification scheme, people search for information using their own thought processes and their own terms. Hence, with social networking the more people adding terms the more likely you are to have the same term describe the same item, unrelated to how an “expert” classifies something. Your organization and my organization do not have to be the same! So instead of having to organize information according to rules, you can just search because you want to know, there doesn’t have to be a formal organization that you have to learn in order to find what you need.
Is there any need at all for organization? Yes, but it’s MY organization, not someone else’s – if I want to put all the red books on my shelf in one digital file, that’s okay, because only I have to be able to find it… “The gap between how we access information and how the computer accesses it is at the heart of the revolution in knowledge. Because computers store information in ways that have nothing to do with how we want it presented to us, we are freed from having to organize the original information the way we eventually want to get at it.” (p. 99)

Intangible Impacts of ICT

The intangible impacts of ICT are particularly hard to measure, yet are important gauges of social impact. The sense of connectedness and empowerment that is achieved through these intangible dimensions may contribute to economic development and growth. The strength of the group is measured through the strength of the individuals in a community – how to measure this strength? We might refer to this societal/community empowerment as “human capacity” or “social appropriation.” It looks beyond the pure “tangible” impacts and might be measured through interconnected factors such as human resource and infrastructure improvement, life expectancy, literacy rates, distribution of power, diet, income, poverty rates, occupational structures, and enlargement of people’s opportunities for choice (Ashraf). This is not easy to measure, as attribution is often not direct. People often share their technology resources and information, which may have originated from the Internet and may well have been passed along by word of mouth. In addition, how people utilize different information is highly variable, again making it difficult to measure.
Further, it is not just the technology itself, but how the technology is utilized, that makes the difference. “When we talk about technology we are only referring to the instruments, not the social, economic or cultural development. A knife is just a knife, it can be used to hurt someone or to carve a beautiful wood sculpture. Content and utilization is what makes the difference” (Arunachalam). Local content and community buy-in are crucial to technology adoption. But we circle back to the measurement of this social and human empowerment. ICT enables access to crucial information and communication networks, but the power goes beyond the individual and into the community, hence the confusion in the need to separate legitimate from non-legitimate usage. Through the integration of ICT into the daily lives of people, we enable choice, freedom, opportunities, interaction, and communication. Can we measure satisfaction? We need to move beyond wealth and economic variables to empowerment and community connectedness variables to determine how ICT is affecting people’s lives. In addition to who is using ICT, there need to be discussions about how this influences people’s daily lives, what information is needed in each context, what technologies are serving individual and community needs, and most importantly, how these technologies can be adapted to empower communities and underserved populations. By looking at individual needs in particular contexts, we obtain a better picture of impacts and how outcome can be measured.

Measuring Happiness

Since reading The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner I’ve been thinking about happiness. Yes, it’s not quantifiable, yes, everyone has a different perspective and definition of happiness, but does it really matter? If you believe you are happy, isn’t that all that really matters? And when you’re unhappy, you know you’re NOT happy.
Having spent the last two days in Fiji, I asked myself, what makes these people so happy? They always respond with a smile and “Bula!” (hello, and welcome). I haven’t seen a single grumpy person. Of course, I’m a tourist and they are supposed to be welcoming, but I asked several Fijians if they were happy, and they all answered “yes.” When asked why, responses varied from short term to long term happiness: “We saw the Kadavu whistling dove” (meaning, we had a good morning, everyone in the group saw a bird that only lives on this island, an endemic) to “Life is good.” A tour guide explained to us that Fijians are happy because they have plenty of food, land is abundant, and most importantly, they have lots of friends and family around them. If someone is poor, it has no relation to their monetary state of affairs, it means that they have no one to be with, they are lonely. So people are wealth. Certainly, it helps that there is no lack of food resources – lots of fresh fish, food grows well in this environment – the weather is good, except for occasional storms; but there are also not great social and economic divides. In his book, The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner mentions that societies with social and economic equality are happiest. We saw the Prime Minister of Fiji having a picnic with his family at an offshore island. There were perhaps 50 people (friends and family) spending the day at the beach and not a single guard or gun to be seen. We cruised by in our zodiac (inflatable motor boat holding 10-12 people) and all the people swimming in the water waved and shouted “Bula!” No threat, people don’t seem to do that around here!
Not that Fiji hasn’t had its political problems in the recent past, but the common man is still happy. At dinner the other night we theorized that this might be due to short term goals rather than setting long term goals. The man who saw the Kadavu whistling dove was happy today, but if it were just one bird on his list of 10,000 birds to find in his life, would he still be happy? Would we all be happier with short term goals, rather than long term goals? Back to the beginning, what’s happy?