Andaman Discoveries Blog
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Andaman Information Superhighway
Regional Tourism Network Launches Website
The N-ACT network was established in 2008 to help local communities secure their future through sustainable tourism and conservation. The website is a key marketing tool and is a collaborative effort between the villagers, with support from International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The N-ACT network serves as an evolving platform to increase the contribution of tourism to sustainable livelihoods and sound ecosystem management by providing communities with access to the best available knowledge and practices. The network's success is based on careful selection of partners, capable communities, and ethical businesses with a genuine commitment to responsible tourism. The network has developed a number of tools for community tourism development and also works closely with local conservation and community development efforts.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Stories from the Field
Likhit Yodying, Mae Nang Khao Conservation Network
Likhit spent his formative years playing the forests of Mae Nang Khao mountain near the coastal town of Kuraburi. Having worked in highly developed Phuket province for several years, Likhit returned to his hometown at the age of 31. While tending his fruit orchards and rubber farms, he noticed that nearby forests were rapidly disappearing. Mae Nang Khao was under threat from illegal deforestation.
Realizing that action was necessary, Likhit successfully ran for district council. In order to inspire his fellow villagers, he has initiated and a number of conservation efforts, including mangrove protection and the IUCN-supported Mae Nang Khaow Conservation Network. Taking a ride-to-reef approach to protecting the area, the network is active in several villages, and directly involves children in conservation. As Likhit observes, “if you learn to do it by yourself, you will remember it for the rest of your life.”
Likhit recognizes that tourism has an important role to play in helping protect the natural resources that locals depend on. The conservation network has built interpretive trails through the forest that also allow guides to notice and report illegal forest clearing. In the nearby mangroves, kayaking excursions give new value to restricted fishing areas.
Even without external support, Likhit says, “I will continue this work because the destruction of nature is bad for all of us.”
Labels: community-based tourism, conservation, IUCN
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Stories from the Field
Ladda Aharn, Ban Talae Nok Ecotourism Group
Ladda Aharn, or Pink, as her friends call her, smiles as she welcomes the group of tour operators to her village on the Andaman Coast. Unlike the majority of visitors over the past few years, this group of visitors is not here to see the destruction wrought by the tsunami of 2004. Instead, they are here as tourists to enjoy the cultural and natural splendor of Ban Talae Nok, a village of 67 homes situated in between the coral reefs and dense rainforests of Southern Thailand.Life has not always been so easy for Pink -- the majority of her village was destroyed in the tsunami, and, due to declining fish stocks and mangrove destruction, she was unable to return to her traditional fishing lifestyle. With the development of community tourism, however, her luck is turning around.
“We are beginning to understand how to connect tourism with our way of life, and share with people the natural environment that we depend on for our culture and livelihood,” Pink explains.
Since rebuilding their lives after the tsunami, some villagers in rural Thailand are using tourism as a tool for sustainable development. Community members such as Cha now offer homestays, eco-tours, and other activities -- allowing visitors to participate in the traditional way of life that so often eludes the casual tourist. Their work has been assisted by the North Andaman Community Tourism Network. Under the sponsorship of IUCN, the network is serving as a bridge between local villages and the private sector.
In the last two years, community tourism has generated over $20,000 USD income for villagers, while also generating funds to a children’s center, mangrove conservation, and other community development projects.
Labels: Ban Talae Nok, community-based tourism, conservation, IUCN
Monday, January 18, 2010
Viva La Revolution!
Youth in Action Final Seminar
It was the belief of Thomas Jefferson that every generation needs a new revolution, and for the past year Youth in Action for Next Generations (YNG) strived to make sustainability a key issue for the next one. This global project, organized by Pistes-Solidaires, actively united young people from both developed and developing countries in sustainable development projects. In Thailand, Andaman Discoveries collaborated with Mangrove Action Project (MAP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to create a network of ten youth groups in the North Andaman region.Andaman Discoveries hosted the final meeting in November 2009, which summarized the various outcomes and was attended by NGOs from the eight participating countries. “The project helped strengthen and broaden networking and participation amongst the youth along the North Andaman Coast,” said Jaruwan “Ning” Kaewmahanin of MAP. The group reflected on their environmental and natural resource management experiences and community development project implementation.
Labels: IUCN, Mangrove Action Project, youth conservation, Youth in Action for Next Generations
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]