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Voicing Irish concern

Photo: Tourism Concern
Photo: Tourism Concern

The Irish are famous worldwide for their sense of justice and human rights. During my travels, this is something that many people comment on and admire. One active conservationist company providing hiking holidays asked me to write about them recently, and requested specifically that I choose an Irish target audience, “We love Irish visitors” they told me, “as we don’t need to explain to them about leaving no trace as they go, or respecting farmers’ privacy. They don’t just barge into the countryside like gatecrashers at a party. They are always sensitive to local needs.” 

That is why I am urgently appealing to Irish tourists to support another organisation which has been striving to put a stop to exploitation through tourism for over twenty years now. This sense of justice and democracy, which the Irish tourist so often demonstrates abroad, is something the charity Tourism Concern has been actively campaigning for, for twenty years now. Like so many charities at the moment, it is struggling to survive and it recently announced that it won’t make it beyond the end of the year, unless it gets an urgent injection of funding. I have often referred to Tourism Concern in Ethical Traveller, because its work is unique. I have seen its Director, Tricia Barnett, in action at international conferences, taking on tourism ministers, multinational hotel chains and tour operators to put a stop to unethical practice. Consequently, they persuaded leading tour operators to adopt policies on labour conditions for hotels represented in their brochures with their Sun, Sand, Sea and Sweatshops campaign, and their Trekking Wrongs: Porter’s Rights campaign forced many international trekking companies to improve the lives of hundreds of porters and their families. It has also created huge international awareness of breaches of human rights in the name of tourism in Burma, put a hold on bulldozers which are wiping out local communities to build mega-resorts, and keeps up a constant awareness campaign on the horrors of the child sex tourism industry.

 

Tourism Concern has just put an urgent appeal out to the UK travel industry, where the charity is based. The appeal is called Tourism Concern 100, because it hopes that 100 travel companies will donate £1000 each in order to sustain the charity into the next decade. However, the Irish travel to many of the same destinations which Tourism Concern strives to protect, and also benefit from the ethical framework which it has put in place for us, so I wanted to share the appeal with you too.

 

I love writing about the ethical companies I come across on my travels, and giving them a voice. I am hoping that some of these will now offer a little bit back to the organisation which paved the way for exemplary ethical practice in tourism. Or perhaps some of those large businesses which have contacted me for advice on how to incorporate travel into their impressive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies can offer support. Inform your employees of Tourism Concern’s campaigns, make a donation, or why not consider getting individual annual membership (only £24 or equivalent in Euros) for each employee who travels regularly for work? To become a member, see tourismconcern.org.uk or for a one-off donation, please go to www.justgiving.com/tourismconcern/donate.

 

 And if you are planning any international travel over the next year or so, I would always advise checking out Tourism Concern’s website or buying their superbly informative travel guidebook, Ethical Travel, which lists audited eco-accommodations in many destinations, as well as ethical tour operators to guide you when you are there. You can buy this on their website and, if you can also afford annual membership, then you will be doing your bit and flying the Irish flag of support for good ethical work in the way that we are so often proud to do.

tourismconcern.org.uk

An edited version of this article was first published in The Irish Times, 31/10/09

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On a slippery slope

Ski touring with Wilderness Scotland
Ski touring with Wilderness Scotland

A long slippery slope should be a good thing for skiers. The environmental one, however, looks more like a rocky road to disaster than a fun day out on the piste. In the

Alps, as in many other mountain areas, the glaciers are disappearing at an uncomfortably rapid speed, snowfalls decreasing, and many resorts closing due to rising snowlines. Skiers are going higher and higher in search of perfect powder, with the United Nations predicting that Alpine snowlines could rise by 300 metres in the next fifty years.

 

Sadly, most people who don their skis in search of ‘pristine’ wilderness, are totally unaware that they play a huge part in the destruction of their beloved winter wonderland. Resort development has been virtually unstoppable over the last thirty years, with piste after piste being cut into untouched ground.  With lack of snowfall, thousands of snow cannons have been introduced to create it artificially, ejecting water droplets into the night sky (220,000 gallons of water to cover an acre), which then freeze and fall to the ground as snow. About half of this water comes from manmade reservoirs, the rest from rivers and local drinking supplies. With eighty million tourists visiting the Alps every year, compared with a resident population of around sixteen million, that’s a lot of adrenaline junkies’ habits to feed.

 

One international conservation group, Mountain Wilderness, describes skiing as ‘the cancer of the Alps’. The energy-eating water cannons, heli-skiing, or off-piste skiing are top sore points. Not to mention the vast amounts of CO2 from endless flights descending over this chocolate box scenery.

 

Keen skiers can do many things to reduce their personal impact. I struggled to find any Irish ski websites with ethical guidelines, but The Ski Club of Great Britain’s Respect the Mountain campaign offers many useful tips. From taking the train instead of the plane to not leaving litter on the slopes.  A dropped cigarette butt may look like it’s disappearing,  but it will be there when the snows melt, and still there five years later, which is how long it takes it to disintegrate. Water bottles take about 1000 years longer. It has a guide to eco-friendly resorts, including those with bio-diesel piste bashers, solar panels, use of biodegradable detergents, and eco-friendly water waste systems. (www.skiclub.co.uk). Ski journalist, Patrick Thorne, who has visited over 200 resorts,  also makes a passionate plea to protect mountain landscapes in his website www.saveoursnow.com.

 

Many companies are now offering low-impact winter holidays. For a Christmas trip to Lapland with a difference, try Aurora Retreat. They create an itinerary to suit your family, including cross-country skiing using traditional wooden skis, igloo-building (and sleeping), indigenous Sami activities such as felt making, and dog-sledging (www.auroraretreat.se).

 

Among the big operators, Neilson has one of the best responsible tourism policies. They use only locally-owned properties, and do not offer ‘all inclusive’ holidays, encouraging you to bring cash into the small rural communities. Responsible travel company Explore offers many low-impact ski holidays from Slovakia to Siberia (www.explore.co.uk), or for a winter-walking break in the snowy Scottish Cairngorms, learning how to manage ice axes and crampons, see Wilderness Scotland.

 

Anyone who has experienced that sensation of seeing the Alps for the first time, and almost weeping with the pure beauty of it all, must know that we have to do everything we can to preserve these mountain landscapes. By supporting some of the organisations above, you will add to the much-needed statistics which prove to governments and those who can help stop the destruction on a grand scale, that skiers really do care.

(This article was first published in The Irish Times, 4 October 2008) 

 

 

 

 

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Green is the new blue

Charles Plunket at Belle Isle, County Fermanagh
Charles Plunket at Belle Isle, County Fermanagh

Ecowarriors come in all shapes and sizes. Yet castles and country house owners are not always the ones we expect to be pushing the ethical message.

Ireland‘s Blue Book (irelands-blue-book.ie), with its collection of exclusive country getaways is, however, a good reminder that we shouldn’t judge a book by its colour. A year ago it agreed with its members that they would work towards achieving the EU Flower Ecolabel, a prestigious, international green accreditation which is awarded to tourism accomodation with exemplary green practices. The EU FLower is one of Failte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s recognised green awards and, with their ever-growing commitment to sustainable tourism, they will no doubt be giving special attention to the two Blue Book members, which have just been presented with this coveted award – Belle Isle Estate in County Fermanagh and Coopershill Country House Hotel in County Sligo.

Coopershill, a magnificent 18th Century manor house tucked away in the Sligo hills, is managed by Simon O’Hara, the seventh generation of his family to live here (coopershill.com). Being green is not a modern concept, says O’Hara, “Like so many buildings of its era, Coopershill was designed with sustainability at its core. It still houses the vast wood-burning stove which heats the whole house from one source. We use an original rainwater harvesting system and water has always been sourced from our natural spring”. O’Hara has also maintained the farming tradition here, and converted the land into pasture for fallow deer. And during my recent visit, I can assure you that the venison stew is a good enough reason alone to treat yourself to a break in this sumptuous green spot.

At Belle Isle Estate, which boasts a castle, cottages, courtyard apartments and a cookery school at its stunning location on the shores of Lough Erne, Charles Plunket started his green journey by replacing the ancient oil burning boiler with a wood pellet one a couple of years ago and has now gone the whole green hog (belleisle-estate.com). The biggest obstacle was, surprisingly, changing lightbulbs, “I discovered, to my horror, that there were 553 light bulbs, of which only seven were low energy.” Both these businesses recycle as much as they can, use environmentally-friendly cleaning products, scrupulously monitor energy usage, and inform all guests of environmental and economically sustaining activities in their area such as walking trails, cycling, public transport and slow food options.

Coopershill and Belle Isle have set a tough green precedent for other Blue Bookers to follow, but watch this space, as they are on a mission to show that green is the new blue. Hilary Finlay, Blue Book’s Managing Director is quite rightly delighted, not only with Belle Isle and Coopershill, but with all her members striving to put Ireland on the rapidly growing worldwide map of green tourism. Finlay says that ” When the opportunity arose for the Blue Book to assist our members with the EU Flower process, we did so without hesitation. The commitment shown by our members is quite staggering. We hope to be the vanguard for Irish hotels and are confident of having a bouquet of Blue Book members with EU Flower accreditation before the end of 2009″. With people such as Plunket and O’Hara leading the way, showing that noone is too posh to push for what is right, let’s hope the others are inspired to keep going.

 

(An edited version of this article was first published in The Irish Times, 17 October 2009)

 

 

 

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Work with Kenya’s Maasai shortlisted for Responsible Tourism Award

maasai-agm-under-the-treeHaving spent some time working with Dr. Cheryl Mvula of Tribal Voice Communications in Kenya (click here for this travel article) and seeing the extraordinary work she has done towards helping Maasai communities develop an ethical and sustainable source of income from tourism, I am over the moon to see that she has been shortlisted in The Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards 2009, organised by responsibletravel.com.

Launched in 2004, the Awards aim to celebrate those individuals, companies and organisations in the travel industry that are making a significant commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and are providing a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation.

 

Dr Cheryl Mvula who owns and manages Kent-based Tribal Voice Communications said:  “It is great that our work in Kenya with the Maasai tribe has been recognised in these awards in the ‘Best for Poverty Reduction’ category. We have been working in Kenya’s Masai Mara since 2006 overturning decades of exploitation of the Maasai cultural villages there by Kenya’s driver guides. These villages are now benefiting from tourism for the very  first time since setting up their tourism enterprises over 30 years ago and are now lifting themselves out of the poverty trap through their newly acquired tourism income. They have to date built their own schools, rain water harvesting and sanitation systems.”

Cheryl with two of her Maasai elders and colleagues
Cheryl with two of her Maasai elders and colleagues

 

The shortlist was selected by a panel of 13 prolific judges at a recent judging day held at The Royal Geographical Society, London. Dr. Harold Goodwin, Chair of the Judges and Professor of Responsible Tourism Management at Leeds MetropolitanUniversity said :

 

“Working our way through this year’s long lists, we were impressed by the willingness of so many organisations to take responsibility and to do what they can to help make better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit. This year over 140 submitted detailed responses to our questionnaire and we received hundreds of references. Despite the economic difficulties being faced by the travel and tourism industry, responsible tourism continues to move ahead and I’m continually impressed as more is achieved by more people. As judges we are all very aware of the great work that is being done by so many and our decisions are often very difficult and sometimes long debated”.

 

You can learn more about Tribal Voice’s work in Kenya on their website www.tribal-voice.co.uk.