Can anybody explain what "eco-tourism" is all about?
454739
TIES defines ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people." This means that those who implement and participate in ecotourism activities should follow the following principles:\n\n    * Minimize impact\n    * Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect\n    * Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts\n    * Provide direct financial benefits for conservation\n    * Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people\n    * Raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate\n    * Support international human rights and labor agreements
1327
There is this really great book called EXTINCTION by the Ehrlichs(?)...which starts out with a beautiful analogy about the environment. It starts off with this guy who removes rivets (screws) from an airplane wing so that he could sell them for profit. Each rivet/screw represents a unique species that plays an important role in our ecosystem. The loss of each one has an adverse effect on the whole structure. It is true that such effects may or may not have an immediate recognizable effect on us but that does not mean that it is not happening. Also, we humans, have proven that we are really self centered that we do not recognize the damage that we are doing unless it hits us in the face. There are countless examples of chain reactions in the ecosystem due to a loss of an integral species. For example, (although I am no longer certain about the details) due to the misuse of a pesticide by farmers in rural Peru, an outbreak of more resistant  pests evolved. The farmers in reaction started to use more pesticides which affected the other species that naturally feed on and control these pests. The situation got so bad that it escalated to such an extent that cats which controlled the rat population died out because they got the higher dose of the poisonous pesticide in their system. Finally, (believe it or not) they had to fly cats to the area and dropped them from helicopters...thus it did rain cats that day in Peru.
764798
Did the oil companies destroy the environment?  Really?  The environment is destroyed?  Have you been to eastern Europe?  I have, and let me tell you, our environment is not even close to being destroyed.  The environments over there are WAY worse off than they are here, and guess what?  All that destruction was done by their governments under communism (not by 'greedy' companies)!  And who do you think is driving the oil industry anyway?  Everyone who buys fuel, or anything made out of plastic or other oil products, or buys something shipped with oil burning methods is driving it.  You need to learn some basic economics and think about things holistically to see the real forces that drive things.  Good luck with that.\nOur judicial system will never be cleaned up as long as it has so much power.  It is a law of nature that power attracts the corrupt.  If you want a judicial system that is corruption free, you need to drastically reduce its power over the people.  Most people look at government and its branches as a benevolent big brother rather than the necessary evil that great men like Ben Franklin and Jefferson did.  The bigger and more powerful it gets, the more corrupt it will get, period.
1027155
Have a look at the following links. You can search more concisely:\nhttp://blogsearch.google.com/\nhttp://books.google.co.uk/\nhttp://scholar.google.com/\nhttp://www.searchbar.com/index2/index.php?term=travel
649970
tourism can be promoted in two basic ways.. \n\n-make people go by advertising\n-make place better so people go there (hotels, clenliness, attractions..)\n\nI think it should be a combination of both, the best way to create tourism it to make the time the tourist spends the best time of their lives so they come back and tell their friends
597591
Perhaps this will get you started....I think that is what you want.\n\nThe field of resource economics includes the study of environmental economics, agricultural production and marketing, bioeconomics, community economic development, resource utilization, and environmental policy.\n\nIt has evolved as the idea of "natural resources" and "human resources" were challenged by the ideas of "natural capital" and "human capital" and is now hard to characterize as a separate field of its own. It was a major influence on the theory of Natural Capitalism and of eco-villages.
1014673
Well, I think it's more politics that keep people from climbing Mt. Ararat, as it is in a politically volatile region. I'm sure the local gov't. doesn't want a bunch of religious loonies clambering around in their mountains, leaving trash everywhere and trying to find some non-existent boat. Of course, that doesn't stop Christians from believing any old thing they read about it.\n\nPlease, people, for once, think about the logistics of it. A boat that huge, made entirely of wood, COULD NOT survive an ocean voyage--it would collapse under its own weight, to say nothing of tons of cargo!  You cannot fit thousands upon thousands of animals onto a ship that size. There was almost no ventilation, except for tiny windows up at the top. Hello, FUMES, ANYONE?? Could 8 people keep up with the crap from thousands of animals? Where was it disposed of? Where did they keep food for that many animals? \n\nWhat about plant life? No, most seeds do not survive brackish water.  What about the fish? With few exceptions, they are adapted to either fresh or salt water, not both. \n\nWhat about animals that are so highly adapted to a specific environment that they die if taken out of it? Everglade kites feed exclusively on a specific type of snail, for which their beaks are adapted perfectly. Where did Noah get both the kites AND the snails?? Koalas and eucalyptus trees? Pandas and bamboo? Hummingbirds and various trumpet-shaped flowers?  Roadrunners and lizards? Egg-eating snakes and the eggs they feed on? Vultures and carrion? And then, how did he get them all back where they belong?  Good grief, this story is so silly that I can't believe anyone in the 21st century still takes it literally.
1033977
http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/res/industrial.htm\n\nhttp://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/EASTASIAPACIFICEXT/EXTEAPREGTOPENVIRONMENT/0,,contentMDK:20515211~menuPK:502915~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:502886,00.html\n\nhttp://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36587/story.htm\n\nhttp://www.acca21.org.cn/pp6-6.html\n\nhttp://www.chinadaily.com.cn/home/index.html\nhope those help,
187161
Conservation is using renewable resources so that the resources will be renewed.  In other words, don't take out more than nature can replenish in a given amount of time.
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As you travel across the green landscape of God's Own Country on Kerala tours, with Kerala Backwater you're sure to see acres of land covered with Rubber plantations. These green zones are a beautiful sight for the visiting tourist in Kerala and are also a vital part of the economy of Kerala. \n\n \nKerala is the leader in rubber production among the states of India. The rubber plantations are also opening their doors to tourists on Kerala tours who would like to see, a traditional way of life and experience a stay in a rural retreat. The quiet, green, environment of the rubber plantations of Kerala are a fascinating eco tourism option among Kerala tours with Kerala Backwater.\n\nlinks giving this info are : -\n\nhttp://www.keralabackwater.com/kerala-tourism/eco-tourism-in-kerala/rubber-plantations-in-kerala.html\n\nRubber tapping in Kerala :\nThe rubber plant is not a native plant of India. Dutch colonialists who also cultivated rubber in their plantations in Indonesia introduced the rubber plant to Kerala, India, because of its similar tropical climate. The Rubber plant (its botanical name is Havea brasiliensis) produces sticky, white latex that is collected and processed to produce natural rubber. A rubber plant has to grow for about seven years before it can be tapped on a regular basis. A rubber tree can be productive for over 20 years. Rubber trees are characterized by their straight trunks and smooth green leaves. The rubber is harvested by rubber tappers who make a long curving cut on the outer bark of the trunk of the rubber tree. The latex from within the tree seeps to the surface of the cut and trickles down the cut into a container, tied to the tree by the rubber tapper. Every morning the rubber tapper empties the cup tied to each tree, in the area of the plantation that he works in. After a few days he will make another cut just above or below the first cut, thus extracting more latex from the rubber tree. Eventually after about 20 years the rubber tree will stop producing latex, upon which a new tree is planted in its place. \nApart from rubber trees other plants grown alongside include spices, areca nut and cashew. You can see the local farmers and plantation workers tending and harvesting the crops on rubber plantations in Kerala, while on nature tours in Kerala.
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Ecological Release\nThe expansion of habitat and resource usage by populations into areas of lower species diversity. Ecological release results from lower levels of interspecific competition.\n\nImperialism\npolicy of extending control or authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires.
687692
As said earlier - HUMANS\n\nas we consume resources and increase population without any control limits. \nand modern humans seem to have lost any self-preservation instinct that might leave a viable eco-system for their off-spring
1130798
You can study this topic for an entire semester in a college class!  I did, and it cannot be explained in a few words.  \n\nWhat people are doing is changing the face of the earth and in the process we are destroying the places other creatures and plants live.  In our mad pursuit of things and riches and greed, we do whatever we want to get our way.\n\nIndustries make garbage, some of it is lethal, some is liquid.... guess where many liquids go?  Into streams. In my country, the USA, there are laws against such waste going into streams, but guess what?  Many companies dump their waste anyway because it's quick and easy.  Multiply this dumping around the world....\n\nDo you, as a citizen, consider how you pollute just by what you have in your own house?  \n\nNow, tying all of the above into marine ecosystems:   Streams run down hill. Ultimately, pollutants wind up in the oceans.  Businesses along coastlines often dump their wastes directly into the ocean.   \n\nIn our mindless pursuit of material possessions, we import a massive amount of material from poor nations where labor is cheap and pollution is rampant (few or no environmental protection laws in many poor nations).  The goods come via the ocean on huge, polluting ships. Those ships flush their sewage into the sea. They enter harbors and dump their wastes and that waste carries all sorts of things in it.  Some of that waste includes little sea living organisms that are native to waters halfway around the world, and those organisms start interfering with the new location where they got dumped.\n\nOver fishing?  Catch too many fish and the numbers decline. Not enough mama fish to lay eggs. Polluted waters make breeding more difficult.  Most fish live in shallow waters, and shallow waters are usually near land. People pollute the waters where they live... so we harvest the fish, we pollute the water, and the fish can't reproduce fast enough.\n\nAdd to the mix oil... oil spills, and runoff, and all the many things we make from petroleum... \n\nEarth is one big organism, and all of it's parts work together. People think to rule the earth and change it and ultimately, we most likely will kill the earth and most of it's creatures from our pursuit of things and our lack of controlling the horribly toxic wastes our factories make.
750471
I'm not sure what level of technical knowledge you are looking for, but here are a few ideas:\n\nThe water cycle\nThe greenhouse effect\nDepletion of the ozone layer (NOT the same as above) \nFood chain based around a coral reef\nWaste disposal techniques\nPros and cons of alternative fuels\nEl Nino as an environmental phenomenon\nWhat if sea levels change?\n\nGood Luck!
1066587
seems pretty straightforward, its an observation that this is a small world, and things interact, and while its good to save the forests here its also necessary to save the rainforests, the oceans, and the atmosphere everywhere.
936431
Dude,\n\n1st off, thanks for serving in the Marines! As soon as you realize that environmentalism is the new communism, you'll understand their motivations for stopping all sorts of energy production. Energy means progress, progress means economic development and economic development means some get rich and the lazy get left behind. These people are the lazy and they see themselves being left behind and must lash out at the rest of us.\n\nBe patient my friend. They're having abortions thus, eliminating themselves from the gene pool. Have children and raise them as competitors and Americans. We will eventually beat their asses back into the stone age where they prefer to live.
713359
It's a bit difficult because your first sentence is ambiguous. At present it reads as "all of the two claims" relate back to what you said in a previous paragraph. I get the impression, though, that your "two claims" are the ones you make beneath, regarting humanism and naturalism? I have assumed this in my redrafting. I have also taken the liberty of reorganising your arguments a bit and add a sentence at the bottom.  \n\nI would like to make two claims, both of which may seem extreme, but which in fact seek to keep the world from going to devastating extremes. We have forgotten essential things. We are in constant pursuit of economic and technological progress without properly considering human development. For instance, computer technology, which may seem human and can be adapted to emulate human behaviour, is anything but. \n\nAlso, we should put nature above most other things, because we ourselves derive from nature. Loving nature and earth is like loving your parents, and I fervently hope earth will not be ruined by so-called "progress". People like to say that the world is developing, but they should perhaps stop to think about the true meaning of the word development. \n\nThus, true development is the one that takes as its beginning and its end our humanism, and places this humanism in the context of the fate of nature and earth.