Nature Tourism promotes habitat conservation
Ec0-tourism is a term that has been called an oxymoron by Dr. Pam Thomason, now retired professor of recreation from Georgia Southern University. And, often it is true. When tourism to parks and other natural areas outstrips the area's capacity and/or is poorly managed, tourists feet and trash can destroy the pristine beauty and ecological value of an area. Dr. Thomason formed that opinion after decades of teaching the art and science of tourism to college students. At the time, Sue had to agree - but times have changed.
In many parts of the world, natural forests are rapidly being destroyed for a variety of economic reasons, with logging for wood to meet global demands important among them. In the developing world, nature tourism can provide a much needed economic base sufficient to entice local communities to preserve, and even to restore their forests and natural areas. By turning their efforts to hospitality and training guides, many impoverished communities around the world are banking on their appeal to tourists who want to see the birds, butterflies and other wildlife their area has to offer. This can be a win-win situation, with the winners being both the people and nature.
The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) is an organization that promotes the principles of ecotourism and responsible travel. TIES' goal is to unite conservation, communities and sustainable travel. It currently serves members in over 90 countries as the global source of knowledge and advocacy on ecotourism.
The Costa Rican Bird Route is a new effort linking a variety of outstanding birding venues in northeastern Costa Rica into a birding route. These sites range from family owned ranches with small patches of rainforest the family is preserving to attract nature tourists, to large, non-profit parks. By participating in the Costa Rican Bird Route, all the venues are promoted on a single website, making even the small sites accessible to interested bird watchers and nature tourists around the world. The goal of the Bird Route is to conserve the tropical rainforest habitat of the Great Green Macaw. The images at the left are from a 2008 tour to evaluate some of these sites.
Nicaragua ranks below only Haiti in the list of Americas' most impoverished nations. But, it is a place where the people are warm and friendly, the countryside luxuriant and beautiful, and the cost of travel, meals and lodging inexpensive. This makes it an ideal place for a low budget trip to enjoy nature in the tropics. Transportation across the country on old school buses filled with native Nicos is cheap, expedient, and fun. Clean, friendly and inexpensive family owned hotels are available. Many folks with rural properties or hotels are striving to emulate neighboring Costa Rica by developing nature tourism venues. In the northern, mountainous, coffee-growing region of Jinotega, several coffee fincas offer tours through patches of forest on their property. They have added handrails, steps, small bridges, signs, and other rustic infrastructure that makes a trek up a steep mountainside accessible to even non-athletic folks. Some coffee fincas offer meals and lodging. See images to left for some scenes from a recent trip there.
In Michoacan, Mexico, the various mountain top sanctuaries within the Monarch Biosphere Reserve, are managed by the local ejidos (communities), who are partners in the businesses that serve the thousands of tourists who visit the sanctuaries during the Monarch's winter stay in Michoacan, Mexico. These community members take tourists into the sanctuaries, carefully shepherding them to pre-planned areas where they will not disturb the Monarchs, but can view them from a safe distance. They also collect modest entrance fees, and operate the small shops that sell souvenirs and refreshments to tourists. These sites are threatened by illegal logging, and a new alliance of agencies from the three North American countries - Mexico, U.S.A. & Canada, are working to assure that this unique mass migration is protected.
During the eight years Sue lived in Michoacan, she took small groups to the Monarch Biosphere Reserve. Here, Sue and her guests were immersed in the almost religious experience of being in the presence of millions of large orange butterflies
Sue is now the volunteer President and Executive Director for La Cruz Habitat Protection Project, Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring the forests of Central Mexico, including the denuded mountain slopes around the Monarch Sanctuaries. In 2008, LCHPP, Inc. is planting 200,000 trees in the Monarch area, and an additional 100,000 trees on the watersheds of Lake Patzcuaro and Lake Zirahuen.
child Planting an LCHPP tree seedling in the
Monarch area.
by Medford Taylor
For more information or to contribute, go to: lchpp.org
Custom Tours available
Sue's Latin American travels have touched on South America, taken her through much of Central America, and some of the Caribbean - including Cuba. Since the 1970's she has led nature tours to and within Mexico.
She plans to offer future group tours to Michoacan. These excursions are expected to be by van, with stops along the way to enjoy nature, including birds and butterflies.
Sue is also available to lead custom tours for small groups or individuals - or as a fundraiser for a non-profit organization.
For
information email: Sue@NatureWorks2.com
Small,
Private Tours of Mexico,
planned and led by experienced
and
passionate Mexicophile
Dr. Sue Sill.
Two tours currently available
Dia
de los Muertos
– Oct. 28 – Nov. 5, 2008
Monarch Migration – Feb.
28 – Mar. 8. 2009
These
9 day trips will be by 15 passenger
van leaving from
McAllen, Texas.
The tour is limited to 10 participants.
To inquire about dates, itinerary and cost, email:
Sue@NatureWorks2.com
Girls of the Chumula Mayan
culture selling handwoven belts and
bracelets on the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas
The lure of Latin America
Nearly equaling Sue's passion for nature is her addiction to travel - especially in Latin America.
Starting in the late 1960s, she traveled extensively across Mexico by automobile, bus and train - rarely by plane.
While doing research on her Ph.D. dissertation, Sue and her then husband, David Gardner, with family in tow, made dozens of trips driving over much of Mexico. The Tillandsias she worked on took her from the Mexican states of Sinaloa on the west to Tamaulipas on the east, and south through most of the states in-between, culminating with several trips to Chiapas on the border between Mexico and Guatemala.
Sue spent most of the 1990's living in the forest on a mountainside in Michoacan, Mexico. On a property of 36+ hectares, she called Rancho Madrono, Sue built a home of adobe and lava rock, mined from a nearby lava flow. Using native craftsmen and local building traditions, her ranch home was both rustic and charming. Powered by generators, solar panels and candles, with water harvested from heavy summer rains, and stocked with horses, donkeys, dogs, and poultry, Sue thrived on the pioneer style life, which she describes as "like living in my own private national park."
Sue's home
at Rancho Madrono
While living at Rancho Madrono, Sue developed a bird list for the Lake Patzcuaro area. She divided her time between writing and leading tours. In addition to day tours to Rancho Madrono, around the Lake, and to see the Monarchs in their winter habitat, Sue hosted groups organized by professional birding tour leaders in the U.S. It was in 1997 that a California couple on one of these tours inquired about a tour extension to Chiapas. Sue drove them to Chiapas - birding along the way. After she delivered the couple to the airport in Villahermosa, Tabasco to fly home, she drove back to the airport at Tuxtla Guiterrez, Chiapas to meet her youngest son, Allen Gardner. Together, they crossed into Guatemala and drove along the Pacific coast of that country and down the coast of El Salvador to La Libertad. There, they hung out on a surfing beach and explored the coastal area of that tiny Central American country. Returning to Mexico by a different route, they climbed into the highlands for their return to Mexico, where she put her son on a plane at the Mexico City Airport, before returning to Rancho Madrono.
Due to financial considerations, in 1998 Sue returned to the U.S. where she soon became Executive Director of Georgia Southern Botanical Garden. During her 4 years in Georgia, she returned to Michoacan each winter. During her tenure at Georgia Southern, she was also able to visit Ecuador as a University project.
In
2002, she became the founding Executive Director of NABA International
Butterfly Park, a fledgling nature park that lies on the Rio Grande
in Mission, Texas. Since returning to Texas and the border with Mexico,
she has traveled several times each year back to Michoacan, as well
as to Veracruz. She has recently also traveled in Cuba, Nicaragua and
Costa Rica, and looks forward to further excursions through Central
America. Now that she is semi-retired, Sue offers guided tours to the
places she loves.
To inquire email:
Sue@NatureWorks2.com
Images from Veracruz, Mexico
Pico de Orizaba - photo by
Sue Sill from Fortin de as Flores, Veracruz
Sue with son, David Gardner
and granddaughter, Lauren
El Tajin, Veracruz
Below - Pyramid of the Niches - restored ruins of El Tajin
.
