Subject: [Tweeters] Good reasons to travel in search of birds
Date: Feb 5 12:12:38 2010
From: Adam Sedgley - sedge.thrasher at gmail.com


Hi Tweets,

Rachel's comments about the overheard conversation in Forks reminded me of
something I try to do whenever I travel to bird both locally and abroad: *wear
my binoculars*. Specifically, I don't leave them in my bag or in the car
when I go into any establishment (e.g. restaurant, rest stop, gift store,
etc). My binoculars will periodically serve as a conversation-starter but
most importantly, the people whose livelihood depends on whatever
establishment I am in will link that sale with bird/nature tourism. We can
never have too many advocates.

I would recommend that others do the same ... well, unless you have a poor
attitude and would therefore taint the rest of us. :)

--
Adam Sedgley
S e a t t l e, WA
sedge.thrasher [at] gmail [dot] com


On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 11:52 AM, Rachel <RachelWL at msn.com> wrote:

> No one has mentioned the social and environmental benefits of birding
> travel.
>
> In the last few years, I have started to travel abroad on birding tours.
> Some of these tours have been to very poor countries. I have asked my local
> guides whether they think eco-tourists do any actual good, and they all
> agree that money spent on food and lodging, local guides and park employees,
> handicrafts, etc., directly benefits the local people. For example, in
> Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world, a maid at a lodge
> catering to eco-tourists can support her entire family on what she earns. A
> job like this may seem menial to us, but can be crucial for an uneducated
> woman with very few other options. A village in Madagascar lives off of
> the income from carvings the villagers make from sustainably-harvested wood
> and sell to tourists on the way to a nearby nature preserve. In turn,
> these people depend on there being a nature reserve or other intact
> habitat to attract the tourists, and this develops a constituency for
> preserving these natural areas. When eco-tourism is an important source of
> revenue, people see a direct benefit to themselves in protecting the
> environment. We see this happening in the US as well. Sometimes it seems
> like every town along the Texas border has its own birding
> festival. A friend told me he overheard a conversation in a cafe in Forks,
> a place not generally known for progressive views on the environment, in
> which one local chided another for complaining about birders. He told
> him that birders bring money into the community. Obviously, eco-tourism
> alone isn't going to save the world, but the self-interest of people that
> benefit from it can be a force for good. It makes me feel a little less
> guilty for all that jet fuel.
>
> Rachel Lawson
> Seattle
> rachelwl at msn.com
>
>
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