Subject: [Tweeters] Good reasons to travel in search of birds
Date: Feb 5 15:23:42 2010
From: annmariewood at comcast.net - annmariewood at comcast.net




Dear Rachel and other traveling Tweeters:



Thanks for bring this balanced perspective to the discussion!? I?am mindful of the impact, for better or worse, that birders can have on the environment and the creatures we encounter as we explore nature.? Hopefully, those who enjoy other outdoor activities, hobbies and sports will be as aware and responsible as the majority of birders seem to be, including lister s and twitchers .



Ann Marie Wood

Mountlake Terrace



----- "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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