Wild Asia organizes and manages a tourism industry program named Responsible Tourism Initiative; unique amongst any other sustainable tourism events. Annually, a greater number of tourists hit the road under an ever expanding umbrella of an increasing number of low cost carriers and various newly discovered destinations. However, following this boom in commercial tourism are the concerns regarding possible negative impacts on the environment, local communities, and natural wildlife. Responsible Tourism (RT) is aimed at reducing this impact by promoting practices that contribute back to the local communities, preserve natural ecosystems, and the natural history of the regions.

When asked how Wild Asia makes RT a reality, they answered enthusiastically, “We do this by creating rewards, promoting, sharing, and inspiring change from within the travel industry in order to make a difference. Every year, we run an Awards program called the Responsible Tourism Awards; now in its 6th year. These Awards culminate at a regional platform in ITB Asia Singapore were tourism experts and industry leaders come together to network and contribute innovative ideas and possibilities.”

As tourism increases across the globe, the need for sustainable management amongst every form of tourism operator is essential to maintaining a healthy environment. Individuals, families, and even companies are increasing their travel significantly. “It is important that we all consider our impacts on the environment and choose accommodations carefully so we do not lose the cultural and natural gems that tourists come to Asia for in the first place”, says Dr. Reza Azmi, director and founder of Wild Asia.

Quite pointedly Wild Asia remarked, “For those who think that travelling responsibly does not concern them; think again. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, by the year 2020 one out of every eleven jobs will be tourism related. Furthermore, Asia is one of the top tourist destinations in the world. Thus it is vital to become aware of the travel industry and the impacts it has economically, culturally and environmentally. The RT Awards acknowledges those who are working towards conserving local culture and environment while boosting local economies.”

In a few final words Wild Asia sends out and invitation to all, “Wild Asia’s 6th Responsible Tourism Awards will be beginning soon and we would like to extend the opportunities for you to be part of this event in 2011. Whether you are an individual who would like to find out more about sustainable destinations and accommodations in Asia, or an accommodation operator who wishes to enter the awards, or perhaps you may be part of a company who wishes to support the Awards, Wild Asia urges you to get involved. The Responsible Tourism Initiative and Awards is a very unique program that anyone can participate in and it is your support that truly makes a difference.”

For those interested in participating, supporting or sponsoring the Awards contact Sarah Mayer at greenty.com@gmail.com and you will be redirected to the proper source of information.

About Wild Asia
Wild Asia is a social enterprise working with businesses and communities to promote best practices for a sustainable future. Our hope is that through meaningful engagement, we can minimize adverse impacts on the environment, ensure that local communities are engages and that local cultures are respected.

About Greenty.com
Greenty is the First Green Travel Guide; ensuring that every hotel you pick is selected and recommended as an ideal eco hotel, and located at the perfect eco destination to suit any eco conscious traveler’s needs.

If you love to travel, there are a few things you can do to reduce your impact on the environment. Our guest writer, Isabel Clift has come up with four tips for more eco-friendly travel and commonsense ways to reduce the carbon footprint of any journey…

1. Replace flights with trains, coaches and even cars

If you’re going on a short-haul break, replace the flight you might take with an equivalent coach or rail journey. An entire journey by these means uses a fraction of the fuel used up by a commercial flight during take-off and landing, resulting in a far lighter carbon footprint for your trip. If you’re renting a car to make the journey, go for a lower-emission hybrid model, and take all passengers in one car rather than splitting the group between two vehicles.

Flights are often unavoidable for essential long-haul journeys. If you have to fly, take non-stop routes rather than journeys with connecting flights, as this means less fuel spent on take-offs and landings.

2. Pack with an eco-conscience

There are three small but essential items that will instantly make your luggage greener. Don’t leave home without…

1. A canvas tote bag: use for carrying market shopping and souvenirs you’ve picked up, instead of opting for plastic bags.
2. A water pouch: unlike plastic bottles, water pouches are hard-wearing, easy to carry around (you can roll them up and put them in your pocket when empty) and safe to re-use again and again. Buying endless bottles of water on excursions becomes a thing of the past: simply fill your pouch with drinking water and you’re ready to hit the streets.
3. Refillable toiletry containers: fill travel-sized re-usable containers with shampoos, conditioners and other toiletries from home. This means you don’t need to buy more mini-sized products to take on holiday with you, or use the toiletries provided at hotels. Wherever you can, use organic products and those that are kind to the environment.

3. Choose a greener destination

Some destinations are a greener choice than others. For example, it’s always more environmentally-friendly to stay close to home then it is to go abroad – as your transport time is shortened, your trip’s carbon footprint is considerably lightened, too.

If you do have a burning desire to leave the country, you can try to counter-balance the emissions spent getting there with choosing a relatively eco-friendly destination. For city breaks, choose places with environmentally-responsible goals and infrastructure: Vancouver, for example, draws 90% of its power from renewable resources. If you’re looking for a rural getaway, consider a volunteering break spent living and working on an organic farm.

4. Support local business and culture

Vote with your wallet to support local livelihoods. Shun chain stores in favour of local markets and independent shops and go to festivals, exhibitions and events that showcase local and traditional arts, crafts and achievements. These boost the local economy and give back to the people that make the destination a unique place to visit.

Ready to travel greener? See more eco travel tips here.

About our guest author: Isabel Clift is a travel writer and blogger for AnyTrip.com, a travel company based in the UK. She lives in London, loves vintage fairs and organic food, and tries her best to balance a love for travel with an eco-conscience!

Siem Reap is one of the poorest provinces in Cambodia. Most tourists associate this beautiful region with the Angkor Wat Temple Complex which spreads across an extensive area throughout the countryside. Nevertheless Siem Reap has seen its fair share of the horrendous Khmer Rouge Regime, and its effects are still present amongst the population. Landmines are still scattered throughout the region, all too often set off by a remote farmer tending to his land or adventurous children chasing each other through the dense forests. Due to the war many were left poor, homeless, or badly injured and unable to provide a sustainable income. As a result desperate measures were taken to ensure some form of salary and support their family and survival.

The forests and monuments often carried the weight and sacrificed their sustainability for this survival mechanism. Fortunately, Siem Reap has been turned around and has become one of the top destinations for ecotourism. Aside from the sustainable approach to the region’s natural beauty, community projects have been established to aid the less fortunate individuals who suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. However, many individuals are often underprivileged as a result of the poor circumstances, and are given an opportunity to establish a promising future.

One of the well known and much visited projects is that set up by Aki Ra who was a former child soldier, trained in disabling land mines. As a result he has set up the Cambodia Landmine Museum and Relief Facility. This not only gives visitors an opportunity to learn about the historical landmines, various weapons, and tactics utilized and retrieved from the countryside. It also provides a facility that aids children affected by mines and poverty helping them meet basic needs such as a home and schooling opportunities. Furthermore the museum employs adult amputees and offering their family with an income. There are various other projects that attend to children suffering from impoverished conditions, as orphans or physically abused. Many of the organizations attend to the values that were lost during the Khmer Rouge regime such as the arts, education, family, and age-old traditions.

For those who seek a more environmental option, the Sam Veasna Centre for Wildlife Conservation is one of the several responsible tour organizers that explore the natural beauty; flora and fauna of Cambodia whilst benefiting the rural communities. You can visit the sanctuary where you may see the endangered Ibises, as well as an astounding number of other bird species, even a possible glimpse at the Eld’s Deer. At the regular feeding territory of the endangered vultures you can watch them dine up close and personal. The funds go to local projects such as wells, roads, or school buildings whilst the visitors are accompanied by English trained guides who provide you with expert information on the wildlife and the environment.

Since there are countless projects and each one unique and significant in its own way you can contact us to gather more information about Siem Reap, or Phnom Penh, and other locations Around Cambodia and the various projects they provide.

Vegetarians beware.

There may be plenty of vegetarian dining options in Ulaanbaatar, the capitol city of Mongolia, but if you are planning a trip to Outer Mongolia, make it a short one. Or bring lots and lots of your own food supplies.

Let me take you to Tosontsengel, in Northwestern Outer Mongolia, where we are treated to an old-style Mongolian Barbeque …’A Feast For Kings’:

The sheep is slaughtered using the traditional technique – I’ll spare you the gory details here, but just imagine that scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and you’ll get the picture.

First course is a rich mutton broth made from the water in which the internal organs have been boiling away for the last three hours.

Second course, you guessed it, the organs are presented to the guests of honour first – slopped into a steel bowl and placed at your feet with the handle of a large, sharp knife that has been made for meat-eating pointed in your direction. Dive in and carve off a piece of lung, kidney, or heart for your dining pleasure.

The organs are the most nutritious, and therefore the most highly prized part of the animal. Mongolia freezes over during their long, harsh winters, and the nomadic herding lifestyle has evolved in response to act as a family’s energy store through the cold months; hence Mongolians’ love of meat, meat, and more meat…

…Third course? Another version of mutton broth, to cleanse your palette – this one richer than the first, if that is possible, made from the water the rest of the carcass has been simmering in for the last three hours…

Don’t forget the condiments! Pickled green tomatoes, potent wild onions, zesty pickled beetroot, and perhaps some baby boiled potatoes. Mongolia’s growing season is short, and conditions harsh [try growing vegetables in the Gobi Desert!], so if you are lucky enough to be served veggies in the countryside than know that you are truly being treated as royalty.

Fourth course is slightly more recognisable cuts of meat served up in another bowl, with more knife handles pointed at your belly so that you can hack a chunk of meat from the bone you’ve picked. Wipe the grease from your hands on the leather bridle which is passed around the yurt; clean your hands and keep your hosts’ riding equipment soft and supple at the same time.

Take another sip of the traditional, ubiquitous salty milk tea called ‘tsu-te-tse’; milk is another highly nutritious product of the nomads’ animal herds, and is preserved by making it into cheeses and yoghurts. Diluting milk in tea is another way to stretch this precious resource further. Then, brace yourself for the next course.

The fifth course you will not have seen before: the boiled sheep’s stomach, bulging with its mystery contents, is presented on a platter. Your host produces his knife with a flourish, and deftly opens the sac to reveal… the sheep’s head, whose lips have been drawn back into a macabre smile when its hair was singed off in preparation for your meal.

A couple more slices of his knife, and the tripe bag opens to reveal the sheep’s shins and hooves, which have also been singed, and stuffed in along with the ‘happy’ head, whose jaw now drops open with a dull ‘thud’, turning its grin into a toothy guffaw.

But wait, there’s more! …the fatty tail pad has been scooped out, filled with minced meat, sewn shut and boiled next to the stuffed stomach for the last three hours – it is this part that was considered to be Ghengis’ favorite meal – A Feast Fit For The Khan.

Vegetarian Survival Guide to Mongolia:

1. Cling to the first piece of meat offered to you and nurse it through your entire meal. If you pick this bone clean your hosts will only offer you more.

2. Hold your breath when sipping the organ stew. Have some bottled water or fruit juice nearby in your canteen to wash the taste out of your mouth.

3. Beam with delight when offered pickled vegges or [on the very rare occasion] green salad to encourage your host to offer you more.

4. Sit next to a friendly carnivore whom you can offload your meat dishes upon when nobody is looking.

5. Clap your hands like a madwoman when the yoghurt appears. If you do this well, it will be lovingly prepared with clotted cream and sugar as you swallow back your drool. Your belly will thank you for this.

Dewalokam Farmstay Retreat will attend to the needs of guests with such precision, detail, and desire that you will feel as if you are the only individual staying here. The warm service and smiles offered by the well-spoken and understanding locally employed staff offers you a taste of India’s excellent customer service minded nature. Their knowledge of Dewalokam’s grounds and India’s natural resources surrounding the lodge reflects the time and effort spend in the training procedures to ensure customer service excellence. Furthermore, it shows the dedication behind green travel and Dewalokam’s insistence behind establishing a place that will provide sustainability and minimize the destruction of precious natural resources.

In order to remain a fully functioning, comfortable, and sustainable eco retreat, Dewalokam hosts its own collection of animals, and farm gardens to supply the guests and staff with a broad selection of local and organic food. This carefully selected, grown, and tended produce is transformed into mouth-watering meals tailored to perfection and giving the guests a generous serving of Indian delicacies. The farm produces its own vegetables, fruits, dairy, honey, meat, and fish to ensure hygienic and healthy food items to choose from. The guests may even chose to discover the farm work for themselves by exploring the fields and helping out the local farmers in sampling their own evening dinner. One may even be guided on a spice walk, be taught about the various spices that Dewalokam grows for its ayurvedic herbal treatments. Follow this up by a relaxing ayurveda treatment or a yoga class.

If you prefer a more adventurous form of activity, Dewalokam offers total emergence into India’s natural wonders. Discover the mystical jungles by organizing a day of forest trekking and discover the soothing sounds of exotic birds, or be amazed by the thousands of fruitbats that call the forest home. Or discover the thundering waterfalls hidden amongst the luscious greenery. Perhaps a guided tour on a bamboo raft, while enveloped by nature and allowing your eyes to feast on the many birds and junglelife, satisfies the senses.

If you wish to relax and retreat, you may do so in one of the hammocks located around the grounds, as you sway along with the steady breeze and listen to the only sounds that breaks the natural silence; the songs of birds.

The rooms function on alternative forms of energy, water is conserved, and all natural resources are managed to minimize waste. If you happen to be too full after the taste bud tingling meals, any scraps will be offered to the compost facilities. Your comforts will not be sacrificed while saving the environment. Comfortable and hygienic rooms and privacy alongside the beautiful swimming pool is what you may expect from this pristine natural haven.

The holiday season is upon us and it would only seem fit to discuss the impact some of our Christmas traditions have on our environment. Most of us will be travelling during this time; whether a long deserved beach holiday in the tropics, or an adventurous road trip to visit the family and spend Christmas with them. So, how do you go about travelling such distances without wreaking havoc on the environment? It is fair to say that planning a trip to Fiji, for example, would involve air travel; unless you were to set aside several months to get there the green way. It is hard to avoid airplanes if you plan a long distance trip, so putting that aside, how can you be green at your holiday destination?

1. First off, check-in at an eco-friendly hotel. In the rising eco-tourism economy plenty of reliable, safe, and fantastic places have sprouted in the region. Surely, there should be something to satisfy your senses; luxurious, simple, cozy, kid-friendly; you name it. And when you find something; don’t be afraid to spread the word and let us know!

2. Take the public transport in your country of destination. Not only will it save you plenty of money, you’ll be surprised what you can find when you emerge yourself in the local way of life. You often arrive at destinations which are much less touristy, and undiscovered by the commercialized sectors of the city.

3. Choose green activities. Hire windsurfing equipment over a jet-ski; not only will it be much less disturbing to the underwater world, you won’t be polluting the oceans with toxic engine wastes. Go for a bicycle ride or hike through the lush landscape instead of staring out the window of a taxi.

4. Seek out the eco-friendly tours, there are plenty around and if you consider the pollution levels from a full daytrip; it may encourage you to put in that little effort and tour the green way. You can find information at local tourist offices around the place you stay and often your eco-hotel will offer their own trips and activities designed to leave nothing but a memory of your own to be remembered.

If you can start by introducing just these few tips in your travel plans, it will make a big difference.

Of course not all of us are planning on an airplane trip; some will visit family and drive down to spend Christmas with them. Well, how about taking a bus? You will not have to drive, pay for gasoline, and cost the environment. Even with the kids you will not run the risk of being distracted when they quarrel in the backseat. Plus, for your own safety; we all know the holiday season still brings about plenty of raod hazards, whether the weather conditions or the many irresponsible drivers out there. I know I’d feel much safer in that big, tough bus. Do the right thing, do the green thing.

Ecotourism. Ecolodge. Ecotravel. Sustainable tourism. You see these words inscribed on almost every hotel, every tourist destination, and on the tip of every travel promoter’s tongue. Do we really know what we are talking about when we mention any of these terms? Our society has become so eco-orientated, desperate to come across as environmentally friendly, that soon we will be drinking eco-friendly water from a plastic bottle. Seriously? Assumedly we have all been travelling eco-friendly because we did not wash our towels every day, but the truth is, that is not what ecotourism is about. Quite frankly, there is no ‘one’ definition, there is no ‘one’ way of spelling the terms either. It has become an overstated description to satisfy our guilty conscious because deep down inside, that eco-trip last summer; you guessed it, it wasn’t so eco-friendly at all! Let’s start by, ‘How did you get there?’ Unless you walked, or swam it really was not so eco at all.

I am not even going to mention the possible un-eco side problems that come with swimming or walking, however I am not here to criticize anybody because I am just as guilty. Instead I intend on praising everybody for trying to at least make a difference, to spread an environmental statement across, and to ensure that even if they do travel they do so with as little impact as possible. That is the keyword here; possible. We have to do with what resources are available to us, and this techno-society of ours has given us a lot of opportunities to make a difference; to minimize our impact.

However, I stumbled across an article by the BBC by a man named Dr. James Mair and he points out that eco-tourism is doing more damage to the environment than good. I find his opinion hard to grasp, not only because he writes in ways I do not fully comprehend but also because I think he mixes up REAL ecotourism with the supposed ecotourism. I think he targets eco-hotels that only say they are eco-friendly to attract the growing numbers of eco-tourists but which are quite confused about what ecological preservation in the tourism industry really means. I am sure we have all come across these forms of accommodation and it is certainly difficult to distinguish the real from the ‘wannabe’. Furthermore, a lot of the waste that is washing up or causing destruction tends to be the lingering results of non-eco hotels. That is probably where it goes wrong, having both non-eco and eco-friendly accommodation on one island. I say, “Let there be green”.

Of course, I am not dr. at the Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and my opinion is probably way off, but I cannot see how a resort or hotel which have been assessed by green criteria or recognized by a known and accepted green organization could be doing any harm. Not in their vicinity at least. Possibly because they encourage more travelling to eco-friendlyeco-resort destinations and the travelling process itself is damaging, but in all honesty in this world people are going to travel. Is it not better that we travel eco-consciously (the airplane is bad, but those 5 days in that will wash away those sins) rather than travel and damage the whole lot? Like a vegetarian, we may think that one steak does not make a difference but if 1,000 vegetarians pass on it, it may save a cow or two (probably many more).

A one million hectare marine park. Isn’t it fantastic that our world is finally realizing the terrible impact global warming and ecological destruction poses on our society? Northern Sabah has been planning this for seven years. The park has shown a greater range of biodiversity than the Caribbean and Great Barrier reef in Australia. It is called Tun Mustapha and fantastic initiative by Malaysia and various environmental protection organizations to preserve the world’s natural wonders.

According to Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili it is just in time, “Any further delay will lead to the sensitive areas being further degraded.” Borneo is a popular eco-tourism destination, offering an exotic and wide range of flora and fauna however is threatened by the dependence on the fishing industry. The areas to fall into this marine park are Kudat, Kota, Maruda, and Pitas as well as 50 islands in total.

This area will be the largest conservation region in Malaysia, incorporating a population of 80,000 who are sustained by the fishery industry. Nevertheless, researchers from Maruda Bay and Universiti Putra Malaysia have found that opening this conservation park will give way to many new job opportunities. Based on their findings the population will have the options of developing and working in green tourism, homestays, aquaculture, sea cucumber and cage fish rearing, oyster breeding, sea transportation, mangrove boardwalks and bird observatories. Considering the eco-tourism industry grows with 5% annually worldwide, this form of economic income will likely keep expanding not costing the environment and its wonderful life nor the people in the conservation regions.

Aside from helping the environment, and giving more travel options for the ecological traveller, it will also offer the people in the region to explore more than just primary resource gathering and form independent forms of business in an eco-friendly manner. So far, all I see is a win win situation all around! Or am I missing something?