#>ecotourism

[graywhalewatchingbaja]

Whale Watching in Mexico: An Act of Ocean Safari Within the Sea of Cortez and Its Surroundings.

Wildlife lovers from various regions of the world visit Mexico for their passion for whale watching. Thanks to the long stretch of coastline along the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico is gifted with a prime whale watching area. Like every other wonder on Earth, whales are equally in need of a suitable environment. During a specific season, Mexico's rivers become a sanctuary for an array of whale species. From North to South, Mother Nature has gifted mother whales with the best breeding grounds and waters surrounded by an ideal west coast.

Whales Come for Feeding Grounds, Stay for Birth Waters.

The waters of whale watching in Mexico Mediterranean Sea are home for around nine whale species from around the globe: Gray, humpback, blue, fin, sei, Bryde’s, minke and sperm whales. Furthermore, Baja Mexico stands as a crown jewel for comes via the northern and southern currents aiding the whales in enhancing a strong ecosystem.

Baja California and Oaxaca stand in the South not only representing Mexico, but also their Pacific coast commence from here. This region has exemplary sights from Oaxaca until California and provide an utmost diversity.

The Extraordinary Sea of Cortez

Jacques Cousteau famously called the Sea of Cortez the "world's aquarium" for its remarkable biodiversity. This 700-mile-long gulf separating mainland Mexico from the Baja Peninsula hosts an astonishing variety of marine life, including blue whales—Earth's largest animals.

From January through March, blue whale enthusiasts gather in Loreto Bay National Marine Park to witness these colossal creatures, which can reach lengths of up to 100 feet. Unlike more acrobatic species, blue whales reveal their massive presence through tall, columnar blows visible from great distances.

Beyond Whale Watching

Mexico Whale watching marine ecosystem offers wildlife experiences extending beyond whale observation. Many tour operators provide comprehensive ocean safaris that might include encounters with:

Massive whale sharks feeding near La Paz and Isla Holbox

Playful dolphin pods that frequently accompany boats

Elephant seals and sea lions lounging on rocky outcrops

Manta rays gracefully gliding through clear waters

Sea turtles navigating coastal currents

Community-Based Conservation

Many coastal communities in Mexico have transitioned from traditional fishing to sustainable ecotourism, creating positive economic incentives for marine conservation. Former fishermen now serve as knowledgeable guides, sharing generations of local wisdom about the ocean and its inhabitants.

Mexican authorities have established comprehensive regulations to protect marine mammals, including restrictions on boat numbers, approach distances, and interaction times. These measures ensure that tourism supports rather than threatens whale populations.

Planning Your Mexican Whale Safari

The optimal season for whale watching in Mexico spans December through April, with January and February typically offering peak activity. Visitors can choose experiences ranging from half-day excursions from major tourist destinations to immersive multi-day expeditions at specialized camps in remote locations.

For those seeking authentic connections with nature, Mexico's whale watching opportunities provide unforgettable encounters with some of our planet's most magnificent creatures—intelligent, gentle giants that have captivated human imagination throughout history. The chance to make eye contact with a curious gray whale mother or witness the power of a humpback's breach creates memories that last a lifetime while fostering appreciation for marine conservation efforts worldwide. https://graywhalewatching.com/mexico-whale-watching/

[laraehrlich-blog]

Original content owned & copyrighted by Green Global Travel.

I was a voracious reader when I was growing up, typically reading two books a week on average.

My lower-middle class family didn’t have the money to do much in the way of traveling, outside of the occasional camping trip in North Georgia. Both my parents worked, and my dad worked multiple jobs to support his family of five.

The furthest we ever traveled was a trip to visit my godparents in Treasure Island and Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Books to Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.

It was through Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, John Muir’s Our National Parks, and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s  that I developed a passion for the environment. Without them, who knows if I would’ve become the advocate for Jon Krakauer, Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux greatly influenced the way I did it.

But the first classic quote I remember having a significant impact on me came in the form of a Robert Frost poem: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.” This idea influenced many of my choices, setting me on the path to becoming a full-time READ MORE: The Best Travel Books to Inspire A Love of Adventure

  Travel

about Adventure Travel

Travel

Travel

Travel

Travel  

Travel

Travel

Travel

Travel

  Travel

1. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” –Marcel Proust

2. “Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” –Pat Conroy

3. “Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made more clear. Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour and meaning of art.” –Freya Stark

4. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” –Mark Twain

5. “Travel is more than the seeing of sights. It is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” –Miriam Beard

6.  “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” –Paul Theroux

7. “One of the gladdest moments of human life, me thinks, is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of habit, the leaden weight of routine, the cloak of many cares and the slavery of home, man feels once more happy.” –Sir Richard Burton

8.  “I travel around the world in a way that tries to open my mind and give me empathy and inspire me to come home and make this world a better place.” –READ MORE: Why Responsible Travel Matters (& Greenwashing Sucks)

About Adventure Travel

11.  “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” –Andre Gide

12.  “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” –Jawaharial Nehru

13. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” –H. Jackson Brown Jr.

14.  “To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote, To travel is to live.” –Hans Christian Andersen

15.  “In the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn

16.  “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal.” –Paulo Coelho

17.  “Adventure isn’t hanging on a rope off the side of a READ MORE: Water Wonders (A Father-Daughter Story of Adventure)

Travel

21.  “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” –Anonymous

22.  “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” –Helen Keller

23.  “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” –Saint Augustine

24.  “Travel brings power and love back into your life.” –Rumi

25.  “Only one who wanders finds new paths.” –Norwegian Proverb

26.  “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” –Lao Tzu

27.  “Make voyages! Attempt them… there’s nothing else.” –Tennesee Williams

28.  “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” –Anais Nin

29.  “Your feet will take you where your heart is.” –Irish proverb

30.  “Until you step into the unknown, you don’t know what you’re made of.” –Roy T. Bennett

READ MORE: NatGeo’s Don George on Travel Writing & Blogging

Travel

31.  “To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a

36. “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children” –Chief Seattle

37. “We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.” –John Hope Franklin

38. “Two of the greatest gifts we can give our children are roots and wings.” –Hodding Carter

39. “When you travel with children you are giving something that can never be taken away… experience, exposure, and a way of life.” –Pamela T. Chandler

40. “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” –Tim Cahill

READ MORE: 7 Important Life Lessons I Learned in the Galapagos Islands

Travel

41.  “The further I go, the closer to me I get.” –Roman Payne, The Wanderess

43 “I am convinced that the jealous, the angry, the bitter and the egotistical are the first to race to the top of mountains. A confident person enjoys the journey, the people they meet along the way and sees life not as a competition. They reach the summit last because they know God isn’t at the top waiting for them. He is down below helping his followers to understand that the view is glorious where ever you stand.” –Shannon L. Alder

44.  “A person susceptible to ‘wanderlust’ is not so much addicted to movement as committed to transformation.” — Pico Iyer

45. “How will I know who I can become if I don’t give myself the chance to try new things, to push myself beyond my normal boundaries? Who might I be if I am away from the things that I currently use to define myself?” ― Eileen Cook, With Malice

46.  “Two roads diverged in a wood and I– I took the one less traveled by… And that has made all the difference.” –Robert Frost

47. “To get away from one’s working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one’s self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.” – Charles Horton Cooley

48.  “Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it.” – Eudora Welty

49.  “Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone.” — The Dhammapada

50.  “All I wanted was to live a life where I could be me, and be okay with that. I had no need for material possessions, money, or even close friends with me on my journey. I never understood people very well anyway, and they never seemed to understand me very well either. All I wanted was my Empty Roads & Broken Bottles: In Search For The Great Perhaps

READ MORE: 45 Pieces of Advice I’d Include in a Letter to My Younger Self

Travel

51. “As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was about to happen.”—A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

52.  “Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.” —Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

53.  “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck

54.  “And if travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, in dimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” — Pico Iyer

55.  “The more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” — Shirley MacLaine

56.  “Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.”– Lewis Carroll

57.  “Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, “I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.” — Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

58. “What we find in a soulmate is not something wild to tame, but something wild to run with.” — Robert Brault

59.  “Love is the food of life, travel is dessert.” – Anonymous

60.  “To lose yourself: a voluptuous surrender, lost in your arms, lost to the world, utterly immersed in what is present so that its surroundings fade away. In Benjamin’s terms, to be lost is to be fully present, and to be fully present is to be capable of being in uncertainty and mystery.” — Rebecca Solnit (A Field Guide to Getting Lost)

READ MORE: Bret & Mary, A Story About Love (& How GGT Was Born)

Travel

61.  “Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” -Alan Keightley

62.  “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow! What a Ride!'” — Hunter S. Thompson (The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967)

63. “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might better stay home.” – James Michener

64.  “What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do — especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you.  No yesterdays on the road.” -William Least Heat Moon

65.  “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all the familiar comforts of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things– air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky– all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

66.  “READ MORE: The Country of Jordan, the Middle East & Our Culture of Fear

Travel

71.  “It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” -Henry David Thoreau

72.  “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

73.  “Not all those who wander are lost.” –J.R.R. Tolkien

74.  “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” –Neale Donald Walsch

75.  “Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when there are footsteps on the moon.” – Paul Brandt

76.  “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw

77.  “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the Universe.” –Anatole France

78.  “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” –St. Augustine

79.  “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” —H. Jackson Brown, Jr. in P.S. I Love You

80.  “I find the great thing in this world is not so much about where we stand, as in what direction we are moving… We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, – but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes

READ MORE: The World’s Best Small Ship Cruises

Travel

81.  “Stop creating a life that you need a vacation from. Instead, move to where you want to live, do what you want to do, start what you want to start, and create the life you want today. This isn’t rehearsal, people. This is YOUR life.” –Dale Partridge

82.  “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” –Bill Bryson

83. “Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.” ―Judith Thurman

84.  “Travel is the antidote to fear. It makes you see the similarities and differences that exist around the world, and it opens your eyes– and mind– to new and different approaches.” –Julia Cosgrove

85.  “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

86.  “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

87. “The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” —Christopher McCandless

88.  “Travel while you are young and able. Don’t worry about the money, just make it work. Experience is far more valuable than money will ever be.” — Anonymous

89. “If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.” –READ MORE: How to Start a Travel Blog (& Build a Successful Business)

Travel

91. “Look deeper into John Muir, The Mountains of California

95.  “When the blood in your veins returns to the sea, and the earth in your bones returns to the ground, perhaps then you will remember that this land does not belong to you– it is YOU who belongs to this land.” –Native American proverb

96.  “Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” –Cree Indian Proverb

97.   “I went to the

The post The 100 Best Travel to Spark Your Next Adventure appeared first on Green Global Travel.

[phgq]

Senate pays homage to late NegOcc guv Marañon

#PHnews: Senate pays homage to late NegOcc guv Marañon

BACOLOD CITY – The Senate of the Philippines has paid homage to the late Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., who passed away last Oct. 1 due to complications associated with his cardiac health.

In a virtual session on Tuesday, Senate Resolution 544 authored by Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri was adopted and co-sponsored by all senators present.

Zubiri, who traces his roots on his father’s side in Negros Occidental, called Marañon a “visionary and brilliant governor,” who served the province for three terms from 2010 to 2019.

“We will miss him deeply and are very proud of his stint. We are sure that the province feels this lost deeply as well,” he added.

The senator said that Marañon “was able to unite Negros for a very long time which was a key to the development of the province”.

“His environmental and agriculture initiatives in the province were groundbreaking. Under his leadership, there was a substantial growth in organic agriculture across the province, providing livelihood to thousands of farmers,” he added.

Zubiri also highlighted Marañon’s strong position against coal and efforts in converting the province into renewable energy producer, making Negros Occidental the solar power capital of the Philippines under his watch.

In the 11th Congress, Zubiri and Marañon served together as representatives of the third district of Bukidnon and the second district of Negros Occidental, respectively.

“As a young environmentalist, I really looked up to him. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with him in our time as congressmen,” he said.

Zubiri recognized as well the effort of the former governor to turn Negros Occidental into an ecotourism site, particularly with the protection of the Sagay Marine Reserve in Sagay City.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon, Senator Richard Gordon said that Marañon “was a good father and his example of leadership and public service will continue in his family and to the country”.

“Governor Marañon catapulted Negros Occidental as food sufficient agricultural province fueled by his passion in agricultural development and organic farming,” he added.

Marañon, who would have turned 85 in December, had also served as a councilor, vice mayor, mayor, and assemblyman in a political career that spanned 55 years.

He was laid to rest on Oct. 4 at the family mausoleum in his hometown, Sagay City. (PNA)

  ***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "Senate pays homage to late NegOcc guv Marañon." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1118479 (accessed October 14, 2020 at 11:07PM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "Senate pays homage to late NegOcc guv Marañon." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1118479 (archived).

[davehodgetts-blog]

Leaving Sipalay was heartbreaking. We could have stayed longer if time permitted. Due to the uncooperative weather condition, we missed some of its priced natural attractions, which made us feel that the trip was incomplete.

Also, I will surely miss the acquaintance I made, especially the staff of Easy Diving and Beach Resort, who had been very helpful.

The receiving hall and restaurant in Moray Lagoon

To negate the sadness, I thought of good memories and better pictures of what lies ahead of our adventure. Danjugan Island was our next stop. The stunning photographs of its lagoons and surrounding beaches started to populate my brain.

Moray Lagoon

Through the efforts of Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation, Inc. (PRRCFI), the island was designated as a protected marine reserve and wildlife sanctuary. Its sustainable programs on conservation, environmental education, livelihood, and research made the island an esteemed ecotourism destination.

Today, the island serves as an outdoor classroom for students, a research area for conservationists, and a haven for tourist eager to experience nature at its purest. Please visit us with and open heart and open mind

-PRRCFI

Sipalay like us, you can take a bus for Bacolod, and then disembark at the same crossing. Travel time is just 20 minutes and the fare is ‎₱30.

A PRRCFI staff will greet you at Crossing Remollos to arrange your onward transfers. Make sure that you have already booked your visit and communicated your estimated time of arrival.

The mud house in Danjugan Island

Here are the tour packages you can avail:

Overnight Stay at Typhoon Beach – ‎₱3,950/pax

You and your friends can choose a bed from their mud house and dolphin house to spend the night. The mud house has 1 room with four beds and an en-suite toilet and bath. On the other hand, the dolphin house has two rooms each with 4 beds and with comfort room.

The overnight stay package also includes full-board meals with 2 snacks, boat transfers, use of snorkeling gear and kayak, guided tour, and conservation fees.

Mud house interior

Overnight Stay at Moray Lagoon Camp – ‎₱2,950/pax

The inclusions for this package is the same with the inclusions of the Typhoon beach package. The mere difference is the type and the location of the accommodation. At Moray Camp, you’ll share a cabana with other guests, but you will be provided with your own bed, pillow, and mosquito net. Shower rooms and toilets are also shared.

The check in time for the overnight stays is 12:00 noon while the check-out is 10:30AM the following day. Note that on bed counts, a queen bed is counted as two.

Day Trip – ‎₱1,950/pax

The day trip package is an 8-hour immersion and tour around the island. The activity will start at 08:00AM. It includes boat transfers, guided tour, use of snorkel and kayak, and lunch with 2 snacks. The payment is already inclusive of the conservation fee and accident insurance policy.

Danjugan Island

Eco-Tour – ‎₱950/pax

The eco-tour is only a 3-hour guided tour. But if you still have time, you can do snorkeling and kayaking, yet on separate fees. The 950-peso bill only includes your boat transfers, conservation fees, and insurance. If your group does not meet the 7-person minimum requirement, you have to shell out an additional ₱600 for the group.

All guests are allowed to bring food and drinks.

Discounts are also available. Senior citizens with ID can enjoy 20 percent off. Children with ages six to 12 years old will only need to pay half the price, while children ages 5 years old and below are free of charge.

To book your trip, email experience@danjuganisland.ph. Make sure that you indicated your date of visit.

Our guide, Tikyo, briefed us about the island and the advocacy

Trekking and Nature Walk – the guided tour will bring guests to different places of interest within the island. Guests are toured around, visiting beaches, lagoons, mangroves, limestone forests, rock formations, caves, and makeshift view decks.

The make-shift bamboo bridge

Tabon Beach is a nesting ground of the Philippine megapod or scrubfowl, also known as Tabon. So make sure to minimize your excitement when you happen to visit the beach to avoid disturbing them. By the way, Tabon Beach is one of the perfect places in Danjugan to grace the sundown.

Turtle Beach, Danjugan Island

Turtle Beach is an unadulterated white strip that faces the west. And when we say west, it is perfect vantage point to watch the sunset. Remember, sea turtles regularly lay eggs along beach, so listen to your guide before you go frolicking.

On the background is the mouth of the bat cave

Snorkeling is an activity that you should not miss in Danjugan. The island is surrounded with beautiful coral gardens that host a variety of colorful marine organisms. Feed your senses with the amazing wonders of the deep.

PRRCFI also offers marine and wildlife camps which provides training, workshops, retreats, and even volunteer programs. Participating one of those is truly fulfilling.

Enjoying the fresh air and the awesome view

www.prrcf.org | www.danjuganisland.ph Contact numbers: +63 915 234 7145 | +63 908 525 4108 | +63 (34) 441 6010 Email address: experience@danjuganisland.ph Facebook page: Facebook.com/DanjuganIsland

If you have no time to visit, you can also help through their “adopt-a-camper” program or via small donations.

Bank: Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Account name: Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation, Inc. Account number: 1393-1583-08

Danjugan Island Travel Guide: More Than a Wildlife Sanctuary appeared first on Freedom Wall.

[laraehrlich-blog]

Original content owned & copyrighted by Green Global Travel.

When dreaming about Europe, most travelers imagine sipping READ MORE: How Mass Tourism is Destroying Destinations Travelers Love

  THE LEAST VISITED NATIONAL PARKS IN EUROPE

Sipoo National Park

Sipoonkorpi National Park (Finland)

Considering the fact that it’s a relatively small country,there an incredible number of national parks in Finland (39, and soon to be 40).

The easiest to access from Helsinki is Nuuksio National Park, which is famous for its Sipoonkorpi National Park, a wild stretch of pine and birch READ MORE: Winter Adventures in Finnish Lapland

Marloes Peninsula, Pembrokeshire by Donar Reiskoffer  GFDL

Pembrokshire Coast National Park (Wales)

Wales is famous for its castles, hills, and sheep. But did you know that the Welsh coastline is also home to dramatic Pembrokshire Coast Path. 

The path is mostly at cliff-height, affording stunning views over the incredible rock formations dotted around the coast. Think arches, stacks, and sea READ MORE: 10 Eco-Friendly European Islands (World Travel Bucket List)

Slovenský raj, © Matej Kohút

Slovenski Raj National Park (Slovakia)

If you like adventure and you’re not afraid to clamber up and down a slippery ladder over a waterfall, this is the place for you! Slovenski Raj means “Slovak Paradise.”

It’s one of Slovakia’s nine national parks, located in the Eastern part of the country, not far from Poprad and Tatra Mountains.

The area is rich in rivers and streams, which have carved the surrounding mountains over the centuries to create gorges and canyons with beautiful waterfalls.

READ MORE: The European Green Capital of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Calanques National Park By Vincent, Public Domain

Calanques National Park (France)

Though it’s not as well known as Cévennes National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), climbers from all over Europe have been flocking to the mountains of Calanques National Park since the 1970s.

Located relatively close to the city of Marseille, the park’s dramatic limestone cliffs overlook the sea, and offer perfect climbing conditions year round.

But fear not– you don’t need to be a rock climber to enjoy this national park. There are also miles of well-marked hiking trails, several caves, and opportunities forREAD MORE: 

Wolf in Abruzzo National Park By Guido Mastrobono-Lupo Appenninico, CC

Abruzzo National Park (Italy)

The Abruzzo region is located in central-eastern READ MORE: A Local’s Favorite PLaces to Visit in Le Marche, Italy

Kornati National Park (Croatia)

The Kornati archipelago has been called “a sailing paradise” by those in the yachting world. It easily ranks as our favorite national park in Croatia, and among the most beautiful national parks in Europe

Located not far from the coast of Zadar, Kornati National Park includes 140 islands in an area that is only 35 kilometers long, making this the densest archipelago in the world.

The best way to explore the archipelago is by chartering your own sailboat. That way you can spend as many days as you want hopping from one island to the other, sampling delicious seafood at local konoba, and swimming in the clear Adriatic waters.

If your budget doesn’t stretch that far, you can always join a group boat tour from Zadar. Either way, it’s a great, uncrowded place to add to your national parks checklist. 

READ MORE: Overtourism at Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Narrowest part of Samaria Gorge, Crete by Japo Public Domain

Samaria National Park (Greece)

A hike across the Samaria Gorge (one of our kri-kri, an endemic Cretan goat, which can sometimes be seen munching on grass along the cliffs. –Margherita Ragg; photos by Nick Burns unless otherwise noted

  If you enjoy reading about the world’s best National Parks, you might also like: 

Pitch Your Park! Rangers Plug Six of the Best US National Parks

The Crowded Planet with her husband Nick Burns, an Australian  photographer. Margherita has an MA in Travel and Nature Writing from Bath Spa University, and was runner-up to the 2012 Guardian Travel Writer of the Year competition. Her other passions are rock climbing, skiing, homebrewing and her cat, Tappo. Follow Margherita on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

  The post The Least Visited National Parks in Europe appeared first on Green Global Travel.

[laraehrlich-blog]

Original content owned & copyrighted by Green Global Travel.

Cruises have gotten a bad rap lately: One recent scientific study found that air quality on a cruise ship deck was “worse than the world’s most polluted cities.”

But not all cruise companies feature gigantic cruise ships carrying 5000+ passengers. In our eyes, small ship cruises are much better for travelers, locals, and the environment alike.

The best small ship cruise lines typically have less than 300 passengers, a lower guide-to-passenger ratio, and expert local guides. These small luxury cruise ships have become increasingly popular in recent years, offering a more intimate and immersive travel experience.

Some small luxury cruises focus squarely on nature and wildlife, while others focus more on the history and culture of a destination. But in general, small cruises are less about the amenities of the ship itself and more about exciting shore-based adventures.

Whether you’re taking a river cruise in READ MORE: The Importance of Community-Based Tourism

  WHY SMALL SHIP CRUISES ARE SUPERIOR

Galapagos Islands Cruise Ship – The Eric by Ecoventura

More Personal Space

With the  On a luxury cruise ship packed with several thousand people, you often feel like a nameless face among the huddled masses. But on a smaller ship with 20-50 people, you feel more like a treasured guest,  with ample room to roam.

This makes it much easier to find your own personal space away from the crowd, to have quiet time or special moments as a couple or family.

READ MORE: 0 Romantic Places for Your World Travel Bucket List

Drinking curacao on the island of Curacao

Better Personal Service

When you’re just one of the 5,000 cruisers packed into a huge floating city, it’s unreasonable to expect the attention to detail that comes with four-star service.

For travelers willing to sacrifice luxury in exchange for rock-bottom prices, the affordability and But there’s also a lot to be said for the value of the experiences you get on small boat cruises. There, all the staff (including the cruise director) knows your name and preferences, and can provide more personalized recommendations.

Having a bartender who knows you want a Blue Hawaiian with your Happy Hour appetizers may not make or break your trip. But traveling with a company who makes you feel like more than just a number-coded wristband goes a long way towards making your trip feel special.

READ MORE: The Top 0 Things to Do in Curaçao

Peruvian Amazon River Cruise excursion – swimming in the Amazon River

Connect with Like-Minded People

When you’re on a small ship with just 20-50 passengers for a week to 0 days, you tend to get to know everyone on board to some degree.

Instead of being sat at the same table with the same people night after night, on small cruises there seems to be an unspoken agreement that passengers will swap dining tables nightly.

It’s like a game of musical chairs, giving you plenty of opportunity to find out who you click with.

Inevitably, you’re bound to meet a handful of folks that share your same ideals. Especially when you take a nature/wildlife or history/culture-focused cruise, which each tends to attract a certain type of traveler.

Going on life-changing adventures with perfect strangers can create some surprisingly strong bonds. Perhaps you’ll even meet your future travel buddies!

READ MORE: Small Ship Cruising the Peruvian Amazon

Peruvian Amazon River Cruise Boat docks on the river bank

Small Ships Go Where Big Ships Can’t

You’ve heard the old saying, “Size doesn’t matter”? Well, in the case of cruise ships, it does. And in this case, bigger is very rarely better.

Small ships are simply more nimble than large ships. Unless you’re going to a mega port, big cruise ships often have to ferry their entire passenger load back and forth via small boats or Zodiac rafts.

We have great memories of our small ship cruise through the Greek Islands. Although our boat docked in When you’re cruising in places like the rivers of Europe or the READ MORE: Happy Accidents on Aegina Island, Greece

  Galapagos Islands Cruise gives you intimate experiences with Galapagos wildlife

Exclusive Experiences

One of our favorite things about travel is getting a chance to learn first-hand about the history, culture, nature, and wildlife of a destination.

While other travel bloggers may prefer to explore places on their own, we love the knowledge we gain by traveling with local experts.

 As a longtime professional writer, I’m continually asking our guides questions, taking notes, and interviewing local people. We ultimately use a lot of this information to make our posts more in-depth and authoritative.

Because the number of people on small ship cruises is limited, there is usually at least one guide for every 8 to 2 passengers. With such intimate access to an expert, you’re virtually guaranteed to have once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

READ MORE: NatGeo’s Don George on Travel Writing

  THE WORLD’S BEST SMALL SHIP CRUISES

Africa Cruises: Nile River Cruise, Seychelles Cruise, Botswana Cruise

Antarctica Cruises: Antarctica Cruise, New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic Islands Cruise

Asia Cruises: India Cruise, Philippines islands Cruise

Caribbean Cruises: Coastal Cuba Cruise, Lesser Antilles Cruise

European Cruises: Greek Islands, European Christmas Markets Cruise, Black Sea Cruise

North America Cruises: Northwest Passage, Alaska Inside Passage Cruise

South America Cruises: Chilean Fjords Cruise, Galapagos Islands Cruise, Peruvian Amazon Cruise

South Pacific Cruises: Great Barrier Reef Cruise, Micronesia Cruise, Polynesia Cruise

CRUISES

Elephants along the Chobe River (Botswana) Image by hbieser from Pixabay

Chobe River Cruise (Botswana)

Botswana is currently on our African safari bucket list, primarily because of the country’s forward-thinking approach to READ MORE: 55 Interesting Facts About Elephants

Nile River Cruise, photo via Pixabay

NILE RIVER CRUISE

If you’re interested in ancient history, READ MORE: 20 Longest Rivers in the World

Seychelles Cruise via Pixabay License

Seychelles Cruise

Located nearly ,000 miles off the coast of mainland Africa east of important marine areas. Together, these marine reserves cover more than 8,000 square miles.

The Seychelles are collectively very small, with a total population of around 94,000 people spread across 77 square miles of land. But their natural beauty makes them a favorite on lists of the world’s most beloved islands, with some visitors describing it as like “a garden of Eden.”

Highlights include the Seychelles National Botanical Gardens, Curieuse Marine National Park, Veuve Nature Reserve, and Morne Seychellois National Park. About 42% of the archipelago is set aside for conservation, protecting wildlife such as the rare Seychelles Black Parrot, Seychelles Giant Tortoises, and some of the world’s largest seabird colonies.

A Seychelles cruise is the best way to explore the islands’ myriad attractions. These range from idyllic READ MORE: The World’s 30 Best Exotic Islands to Visit

CRUISES

Antarctic Cruise

There’s a lot of very good reasons why taking a cruise to The Antarctic peninsula is also one of the world’s best places for watching wildlife. We saw everything from pods of Orcas and READ MORE: 30 Antarctic Animals You Can See on an Antarctic Cruise

Rockhopper Penguin image by Michael Frankenstein from Pixabay

Cruising New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic Islands

You may know that New Zealand is divided into a North and South island. But did you know that the country also boasts remote archipelagos of islands, which have been collectively named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their pristine wilderness and READ MORE: Ecotourism in New Zealand (Top 0 Things to Do for Nature Lovers)

CRUISES

Brahmaputra River, photo via Pixabay

Brahmaputra River Cruise (India)

The northeast Indian state of Assam, which shares its border with Bhutan and Bangladesh, has emerged in recent years as a bright spot in Asian ecotourism

.

This is thanks in large part to Kaziranga National Park, which is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A luxurious cruise down the mighty Brahmaputra River is arguably the best way to explore the region, offering amazing opportunities to see some of the region’s Elephants to Sloth Bears, the endangered South Asian River Dolphin, and thousands of bird species. In short, it’s a must-see for animal lovers! 

READ MORE: Indian Animals: A Guide to 40 Incredible Indian Wildlife Species

Philippines Islands Cruise image by Guy Goddard from Pixabay

Cruising the Philippines islands

Located in Southeast Asia near READ MORE: Top 5 Things to Do in Coron, Palawan (Philippines)

CRUISES

Cuba Mountains, photo via Pixabay

Costal Cuba Cruise

President Obama loosened the decades-long restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba

several years ago, causing a dramatic surge of interest in traveling to the Caribbean island.

With Donald Trump actively working to reverse these improved diplomatic relations, there’s never been a better time to explore mass tourism.

Lesser Antilles Cruise

When most Americans think of the Caribbean, they tend to think of perennial sun/surf/sand hotspots such as the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and Jamaica.

But the more remote islands of the Lesser Antilles (which form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean) are generally less over-developed and more pristine than those crowded mass tourism destinations.

Included among the Lesser Antilles islands are Martinique, St. Lucia, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Grenada, which has recently emerged as a haven for ecotourism. Popular activities in the region range from bird watching and snorkeling/Dominica. From the gorgeous waterfall and diving READ MORE: 20 Best Caribbean Islands to Visit

  CRUISES

The Swallow’s Nest on the Black Sea in Crimea image by Irina Rassvetnaja from Pixabay

Black Sea Cruise

As bodies of water go, the Black Sea is pretty strange. On the map, this inland sea looks more like a giant lake, connected to the Aegean Sea (and the Mediterranean) by the narrow Bosphorus Strait.

But, with 68,500 square miles of surface area and a maximum depth of 7,257 feet, the Black Sea is considerably bigger than the ancient archaeological sites.

Must-see sites you can visit while cruising the Black Sea include Instanbul’s Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, Romania’s Danube River Delta, the Ukranian city of Odessa, and Sochi Olympic Park, the first theme park in all of Russia. 

READ MORE: 40 Fascinating Facts About Russia’s Amur Leopard

Christmas Market in Hamburg, Germany via Pixabay license

European Christmas Market Cruise

Although we’re not at all religious, our family goes bonkers for Christmas, especially anything to do with READ MORE: 75 Christmas Traditions Around the World

Greek Islands Cruise

From to the ancient history of Athens

 to Meteora’s majestic mountains, mainland Greece has plenty to offer travelers with an interest in nature, culture and history.

But for a true taste of Greek tradition, it’s hard to beat small ship cruises through the countless s are tiny (7.4 to 59 square miles) and quaint: Many mainland residents have vacation homes there, so it’s a great place to catch locals in a celebratory mood. They’re also considerably less crowded with tourists than some of the more famous islands.

The Cyclades, with around 220 islands, is the densest and most popular grouping in Aegean archipelago thanks to Delos, Mykonos, and Santorini. For ancient history, the Dodecanese Islands (especially Rhodes) and Crete are hard to beat.

READ MORE: 40 Photos Of Greece That Will Make You Want To Go

AMERICA CRUISES

Northwest Passage Cruise

The Arctic Circle is considered to be one of the planet’s last truly wild places.

The Arctic region encompasses northern Alaska and A small ship cruise of the historic Northwest Passage is arguably the best way to explore the Arctic. It offers unique opportunities to see explorer’s bucket list.

READ MORE: Polar Bears Photo Gallery

Cruising in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Alaska Inside Passage Cruise

Stretching from Washington State’s Puget Sound north to the Alaska Panhandle, the Inside Passage is a coastal route in the Pacific Northwest. Popularized during the Klondike Gold Rush, the route allows ships to avoid the bad weather and often rough waters of the open ocean. 

Today, around 36,000 boats navigate portions of this route each year, from massive cruise ships and freighters to smaller AdventureSmith and Alaskan Dream Cruises. The Alaskan portion encompasses ,000 READ MORE: Visiting the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

AMERICA CRUISES

Caguach Island, Chiloé Archipelago, photo by Robert Gould CC BY-SA 3.0

Chilean Fjords Cruise

When it comes to Chilean travel, the wine region around Santiago and the dynamic landscapes of Torres del Paine National Park in READ MORE: Exploring Grytviken, South Georgia Island

Swimming with Galapagos Penguins

Galapagos Islands Cruise

A small ship is vital if you want to really explore the The Voyage of the Beagle,  Thanks to its remote location and UNESCO/National Park protection, the wildlife of the Galapagos is plentiful.

Endemic species such as READ MORE: 30 Amazing Galapagos Island Animals

Peruvian Amazon River Cruise

Amazon rainforest

’s total area of 2,00,000 square miles. Unfortunately, that country’s unsustainable exploitation of its natural resources has damaged this once-pristine ecosystem, perhaps irreparably.

For a better taste of the Amazon rainforest’s world-famous biodiversity, you’ll want to take a READ MORE: Cruising the Peruvian Amazon

PACIFIC CRUISES

Great Barrier Reef, photo via Pixabay

Great Barrier Reef Cruise

Don’t believe the hype! Click-bait headlines claimed Australia’s Great Barrier Reef dead in 206 after a cheeky column by Rowan Jacobson appeared in Outside. But news of the demise of the place UNESCO called “the most impressive marine area in the world” was greatly exaggerated.

Yes, the reef suffered READ MORE: 0 Awesome Australian Road Trips

Manta Ray in Micronesia, photo via Pixabay

Micronesia Cruise

Spread across the western Pacific northeast of Papua New Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia is comprised of more than 600 islands.

The country is made up of four island states– Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk, and Yap– and known for its palm-shaded beaches, ancient ruins, and thriving indigenous cultures. If you want to see the best of them in one trip, a cruise is really the only way.

The islands are widely ranked among the READ MORE: 5 Rare Sharks Worth Saving

Polynesian Islands Cruise

There are so many beautiful Polynesian Islands, it would be impossible to pick just one favorite.

But, with less than 2,000 miles separating tropical hotspots such as Tahiti and Fiji, a small-ship cruise offers the perfect way to explore numerous gorgeous getaways in just a few weeks.

From pearl diving in Bora Bora and birdwatching in the Cook Islands to READ MORE: 2 Photos of Tahiti To Fuel Your Fantasies

  The post 20 Best Small Ship Cruises for Your World Travel Bucket List appeared first on Green Global Travel.

[laraehrlich-blog]

Original content owned & copyrighted by Green Global Travel.

As the world nears the climate change tipping point, learning how to reduce carbon footprint is becoming increasingly important on both a personal and collective level.

While politicians wrestle with the question “ is climate change?” and debate the causes of climate change, most people can clearly see the harmful impact these changes are already having on the environment and seek out sensible solutions.

In the meantime, while we each strive to find ways to reduce our carbon footprint, the planet is getting hotter, its storms more severe, its record-breaking floods, devastating hurricanes, and brutally intense heat waves that drain the water supply and change insect life cycles.

Unless you’re a head-in-the-sand climate change denier, the impacts of climate change are pretty obvious. At this point, all you really need to do to see them is watch the weather report or note how global temperatures have risen dramatically in recent years.

Our search for climate change solutions leads us to two important questions: is carbon footprint, and how can you reduce your carbon footprint? Here we’ll help to answer both questions, providing actionable steps ranging from basic lifestyle changes to buying carbon offsets and creating a more READ MORE: Can the Maritime Forest Survive Climate Change? 

HOW TO REDUCE CARBON FOOTPRINT (1 WAYS)

is Carbon Footprint?

to Reduce Carbon Footprint With Lifestyle Changes

Ways to Reduce Carbon Footprint at Home

to Use Carbon Offsets & Carbon Credits

is Carbon Footprint?

Calculating carbon footprint is a way of measuring the mark an event, organization, person, or product leaves on the environment. You do this by examining how much carbon each action releases, and quantifying it in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent. 

Some scientists define carbon footprint as “the measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions of a defined population, system or activity, considering all relevant sources, sinks, and storage… Calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent using the relevant 100-year global warming potential (GWP100).”

Calculating this number (originally known as ecological footprint) is decidedly complex. For instance, when you

From the READ MORE: Ted Turner on Saving the World With Alternative Energy

  to Reduce Carbon Footprint With Lifestyle Changes

“Plant-Based Dishes, Raw Food” by ella.o, licensed under CC BY 2.0

1. Reduce Your Food Carbon Footprint

The way we eat is having a dramatic impact on the climate. One of the worst offenders is mass-produced meat. Not only does keeping animals in factory farms make their lives miserable, but it has a horrendous effect on the environment.

When animals can’t roam freely, they’re unable to eat naturally by grazing. We now grow millions upon millions of acres of animal feed in order to raise these caged animals.

Even worse, we’re using water to grow the feed, water for the animals, gasoline to power CO2-emitting machines that plow and harvest the fields, and more gasoline to move the feed from the field to the factory farm.

Unfortunately, the list of negative environmental issues associated with factory farms grows longer. Forced into ridiculously close quarters, animals are more prone to disease, so they require antibiotics and other medications. Their waste, which carries all those drugs, is concentrated and ultimately READ MORE: A Guide to Ethical Eating When You Travel

2. Reduce Your Waste Footprint

Nearly a third of the greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from resource extraction, manufacturing, transportation, and disposal. This statistic includes packaging. When we lakes

, as well as using incredible amounts of fossil fuels to mine metals and minerals.

With each product we dispose of, we increase the amount of garbage, which inevitably finds its way to landfills that are releasing greenhouse gases. Then the new products we replace them with require packaging and shipping, thus using another collection of resources.

So in order to reduce our CO2 footprint, we must learn to value the things we buy. We have to buy READ MORE: 1 Ways to Reduce Waste

Consignment Shop by Hebi B. from Pixabay

3. Lower Carbon Footprint By Buying Secondhand

Once you learn to reduce waste in your own home, you can also work towards a lower carbon footprint for others.

Many people look at online shopping as an opportunity to get whatever they want whenever they want. But smart shoppers know it’s also a great way to buy things secondhand.

Secondhand products are a sensible choice for our budget as well as our carbon footprints. Not only does buying secondhand mean that we aren’t having to tap the planet for more resources, but we’re also avoiding the need for more packaging. That spells responsible shopping.

Many items are easy to find secondhand, at reduced prices and often higher quality than new products. FreeCycle. They’re also easy to find at thrift stores.

Shopping secondhand is a great way become more CO2 neutral. In times when everything is so easy to get with the click of a button, it’s easy to forget the price the planet pays for convenience. Learn to shop smarter, be patient, and find what you want without getting it brand new.

READ MORE: to Save Money for Travel by Buying Secondhand Gear

Electric Car by MikesPhotos from Pixabay

4. Reduce CO2 Emissions by Driving Smarter

In an ideal world, we’d all have access to reliable, affordable public transportation. But the fact is that most of us in the USA don’t. Unless we live in a large city, odds are we need a car for every adult in the house. That’s just the sad state of our national infrastructure.

Nevertheless, we still can reduce CO2 emissions by traveling more responsibly in and around town. Even if we can’t READ MORE: The World’s Best Road Trips

. Buy Carbon Offsets & Consider Slow Travel

If there’s one thing we understand here at Green Global Travel, it’s the insatiable urge to get out and see the world.

Of course there are countless ways we can air travel has an abysmal carbon footprint: Aviation accounts for 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. One round-trip flight from 4.3 billion people traveled by air in 2018– an increase of 38 million over 2017– which caused the overall demand for jet fuel to rise by 3% at a time when we’re desperately working on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

In other words, READ MORE:  is Ecotourism? The History/Principles of Responsible Travel

  Ways to Reduce Carbon Footprint at Home

Bret & Mary’s Permaculture Garden

1. Grow Your Own Vegetables & Fruit

Growing food in your own home garden is as locally-sourced as it gets. When you plant and nurture your own herbs, fruits, and vegetables, you get affordable, organic, non-home garden has to be some sort of complicated or time-consuming thing.

We can grow fresh herbs on the kitchen windowsill. We can grow salad greens in pots on the patio. We can plant climate-appropriate fruit trees in the backyard. We can cultivate berry hedges along fences and, yes, we can READ MORE: Permaculture Design Principles (12 Steps to a Productive Garden)

Rain Barrel by ramboldheiner from Pixabay

2. Reduce Your Water Footprint

If you remember your high school chemistry, you know that water does not contain carbon. It’s H2O: two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. But getting water to our homes takes a tremendous amount of energy, and dealing with gray- and black-water requires even more.

When we turn on the tap and water flows effortlessly, it’s easy to forget how much effort went into getting it there. Water has to be sourced from somewhere, pumped to somewhere, filtered and sanitized, then moved along to our homes. Hot water on demand requires energy to heat.

Reducing our water footprint has been a common goal for decades. As a child in the ’80s, I was urged to turn off the tap while brushing my teeth. We knew back then what our rampant water waste was doing, and we know even better now that the planet is facing an increasingly urgent water crisis.

The real culprit behind the majority of home water waste isn’t dental cleansing. Toilets account for about a quarter of our household water consumption. Grass lawns are notably as bad, requiring copious irrigation to keep them green and growing. The plethora of appliances we now rely on (dishwashers, washing machines, etc.) account for a lot of waste as well.

Water conservation solutions are totally realistic. It’s a matter of buying low-flow taps and toilets, growing home gardens instead of lawns, choosing water-efficient appliances and using them responsibly, and making use of gray water—not fresh water—for things like irrigation. The trick lies in actually doing it!

READ MORE: Water.org Fights the Global Water Crisis

“Joe’s DIY Solar Panel Install Taken by Joe” by Dave Dugdale is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

3. Reduce Your Energy Footprint with Renewable Energy

As with water, we’ve become accustomed to flicking light switches, plugging in laptops, and having instant power. It’s been this way for so long now that we as a society have forgotten that electricity was a rare luxury less than 100 years ago.

Fossil fuels—coal, disastrous environmental impacts, and even cheaper  than fossil fuels, and it’s a great way to do our part in fighting climate change.

The last couple of centuries have been a guiltless grab for power, but the next century is going to find us running out of fossil fuels and having done irreparable damage to the planet. So do us all a favor and switch to renewable energy however you can, as soon as you can.

READ MORE: Al Gore on Climate Change & Renewable Energy

Passive Cooling by Lars Eriksson from Pixabay

4. Use Passive Heating & Passive Cooling

First-world households (even “green” ones) often forego minimizing the amount of energy we need. In fact, heating and cooling our homes accounts for around 0% of the energy we use.

In truth, depending on where you live, the ambient temperature outside is generally comfortable for at least half the year. ever, we’ve become accustomed to controlling our indoor temperatures with extreme precision. Many of us no longer take advantage of pleasant days.

We don’t wear appropriate READ MORE: Arctic Activist Sebastian Copeland on Global Warming

Clothesline by Alina Kuptsova from Pixabay

. Create a More Energy Efficient Home

Many of us already own homes that we’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to make them more energy-efficient.

There are many simple solutions for retrofitting homes that were not designed to be environmentally friendly, which can both conserve energy and save us money long-term.

Many of these fixes don’t even require major construction. Adding better insulation around leaky houses will keep the cool in during summer and out during winter. Installing Energy Star appliances (particularly water heaters) can also make a huge difference.

Many little inexpensive changes can compile to make a notable difference as well. Putting up a clothesline instead of using an energy-hogging dryer is good. Switching to energy-efficient LED light bulbs saves a lot of energy and money in the long run, particularly for an entire household.

Of course, we can also add solar panels where appropriate. There are a variety of programs that allow us to feed energy into the grid and get discounts, rather than trying to power the entire house with solar.

READ MORE: to Audit Your Home for Energy Efficiency

  to Use Carbon Offsets & Carbon Credits

Farmer’s Market by Alina Kuptsova from Pixabay

1. Use an Ecological Footprint Calculator

The first step towards going carbon neutral is to use an ecological footprint calculator (a.k.a. carbon footprint calculator), which is available for free from numerous sources online.

These calculators take users through a series of questions that help them determine the approximate number of pounds of carbon they use each year. It’s both an eye-opening process as well as a means of getting a firm grasp on where to work on improving your personal efforts.

The questions typically cover several facets of life we’ve discussed here, including your automobiles, air travel, home energy use, waste production, and dietary habits.

Each of your answers helps provide the program with a rough guesstimate of the carbon emissions you create each year. Most of us who live in the industrialized world lead lifestyles that would require several Earths to support them.

Here are 10 different online ecological footprint calculators to try: Global Footprint Network, Terrapass, CarbonFootprint.com, EPA, The Nature Conservancy, Carbon Fund, Ecological Footprint, Earth Day, and READ MORE:

Carbon Offsets Infographic courtesy of Terrapass

2. Buy Carbon Offsets

Once they learn their carbon footprint, some people like to buy carbon offsets to balance out the amount of carbon they put into the atmosphere.

While it’s vitally important to take the aforementioned steps to reduce our individual carbon footprints, buying carbon offsets (or carbon credit, in the case of corporations) is way to ensure you’re truly living a carbon neutral life.

So what is carbon credit? Carbon credit is a consolidated way to make monetary investments to help with the reduction of carbon emissions on a global scale.

Carbon offset programs allow individuals, companies, and governments to purchase offsets that invest in renewable energies, energy efficiency, reforestation, and similar ventures in order to counteract their own carbon emissions.

It’s important to understand that a carbon tax is not the same thing. Carbon taxes are levied on companies that create an abundance of carbon, and are not optional. But, like carbon offsets, they help to thwart climate change by financing READ MORE: Eco-Friendly Initiatives That Will Change the World

3. Do Business with Eco Friendly Companies

Often we aren’t given green options when choosing the companies with which we do business. Large power companies in particular seem to have a monopoly, leaving little to no eco-friendly choices in the areas in which we live. 

ever, that isn’t to say that we can’t make the effort. READ MORE: to Choose An Eco Hotel

4. Support Passionate NGOs

Finding NGOs focused on protecting the environment is easy, but narrowing down the ones you’d like to support can be hard.

Along with making changes at home, you can reduce your carbon footprint by supporting these organizations, whether it be with time, money, or promotion.

NGOs are working for the same reductions we’ve discussed here, but with a larger, collective ecological footprint. Supporting that work is almost as important as doing our own part at home.

If those of us who can afford the time and/or money each chose just one NGO to support, these organizations could do their work much faster and with more resources at their disposal. This work affects the entire planet, and time is increasingly of the essenece.

Here’s a list of 10 environmentally-focused NGOs to check out: The Climate Reality Project, Global Footprint Network, EarthShare, Environmental Defense Fund, Carbon Trust, Ceres, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and GreenBlue.  

READ MORE: The 20 Best Environmental Charities & Animal Charities

. Live Carbon Neutral

Ultimately, with all of the information we have co;lected here, it’s possible to begin living carbon neutral today.

We can buy carbon credit to offset our less-than-green lifestyles as we transition ourselves into more responsible homes, cars, appliances, and energy production. We can invest in our future, both through direct action and through donations to envioronmental NGOs.

In other words, we already have the power to use less power.

We have the power to start making individual changes now. We have the power to set examples for our out-of-whack governments. We have the power to support companies that care about the planet as much as profit. We have the power (and tools) to hold ourselves accountable.

And it all starts at home, with the way each of uses power! –Jonathon Engels; video by Simpleshow via CC BY 3.0 license

The post to Reduce Carbon Footprint With Carbon Offsets, Carbon Credit, & More appeared first on Green Global Travel.

[laraehrlich-blog]

Original content owned & copyrighted by Green Global Travel.

Underground caves are mysterious and mesmerizing places to explore.

From marble caves,  glow worms caves and those formed from glacial lagoons, to a cave of crystals, prehistoric rock art and ancient Mayan burial sites, natural caverns come in an incredible range of attractions.

From the Rio Secreto cave in Mexico to 10 BEST UNDERGROUND CAVES

Cave or Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave (Belize)

Glowworm (New Zealand)

Ice Cave (Iceland)

Marble (Chile)

Mountain River Cave, or Son Doong (Vietnam)

Cave (Scotland)

Mine or Cave of the Crystals (Mexico)

Cave (France)

(Australia)

Cave in Belize, photo by Peter Andersen via Creative Commons

Cave

is full of skeletons, pottery and other ceremonial objects left by the Maya. The cave’s most famous skeleton, “The Crystal Maiden,” features bones cemented into the floor by natural processes, leaving them with a sparkling appearance.

Through Get Your Guide 

READ MORE: The 16 Best Mayan Ruins To Explore

New Zealand’s Glowworm , photo photo by Kristina D.C. Hoeppner via Creative Commons

glowworm caves, wherein thousands of magical glowworms illuminate a series of caves with their unmistakable light.

The glow worm, Arachnocampa luminosa, is a unique species only found in New Zealand, and makes these famous caves some of the world’s most unique.

Visitors can take a guided tour which explores three different levels of the caves including the catacombs, or opt to take a boat ride under the glowworms and witness a myriad of tiny bright lights dotting the cave ceilings – the lights of a thousand glowworms. Get more info about guided tours and read reviews at Get Your Guide.

READ MORE: Top 5 Ecotourism Attractions in New Zealand

Mogao , photo by intothegreen via Creative Commons

Mogao are known as the of the Thousand Buddhas– 492 cave temples near the city of Dunhuang, China, of which 30 are open to the public. These are the most famous Buddhist grottoes in China, carved into the sandstone cliffs of the Singing Sand (Mingsha) Mountains.

Originally dug out in 366 CE as places of Buddhist meditation and worship, the underground caves now contain religious artwork, murals, Buddhist sculptures and stone carvings which span across 10 dynasties, from the 4th to the 14th century.

There are over 2,000 color statues and 45,000 paintings throughout the caves, making this the greatest shrine of Buddhist art treasures in the world. Get more info on tours and read reviews at Get Your Guide.

READ MORE: Top 7 Things to Do in China for Nature Lovers

Ice Cave, photo by Orvar Thorgeirsson via Creative Commons

, Iceland, Ice Cave is one of the most unique natural wonders in the world. Travelers fortunate enough to step inside the ice cave are transported into a mesmerizing realm of blue glacial ice.

Blue ice is formed from the compression of pure snow, which develops into glacial ice over centuries of extreme pressure. This process eliminates the air originally caught in the ice when the snow fell, leaving very little reflective surface for the light from the sun. 

bears more resemblance to an ice tunnel than a cave, and indirect daylight into the cave gives the ice its luminescent blue glow. To get more info on a Ice Cave tour and read reviews, check out Get Your Guide

READ MORE: 10 Incredible Iceland Waterfalls 

Marble by Katrin Schulz from Pixabay

Lake General Carrera. These caves are only accessible via boat.

The caves are known for their propensity for constantly changing their appearance. The swirling patterns of the cavern walls are a reflection of the lake’s blue waters, which change in shade and intensity depending on the water levels, which are affected by weather and season.

READ MORE: The 20 Best Things to Do in (South America)

Mountain River Cave, photo by John Spies via Creative Commons

Son Doong Cave (or Mountain River Cave in English) is the largest cave in the world, formed around 2.5 million years ago. Over the years the river water eroded the limestone underneath the mountain, causing the ceiling of the cave to collapse and form what are now huge skylights.

The READ MORE: 20 Longest Rivers in the World (for Your World Travel Bucket List)

Fingals Cave, photo by Graeme Pow via Creative Commons

Cave is a sea cave constructed completely of hexagonal basalt columns and pillars (much like the Giant’s Causeway in Get Your Guide.

READ MORE: Top 10 Things To Do on the Isle of Skye (& How To Avoid Crowds)

Mine (Cave of the Crystals), photo by Paul Williams via Creative Commons

Mine is known as the Cave of Crystals because the main chamber is home to the world’s largest crystals on earth. The big crystal measures 39 feet (12m) in length, 13 feet (4m) in diameter and weighs about 55 tons.

The READ MORE: Top 20 Things to Do in Cancun (for Nature & History Lovers)

Etologic Horse Study in Cave, photo by Thomas T via Creative Commons

Cave is considered one of the world’s most significant sites of READ MORE: 5 Weird Foods the French Consider Delicacies

Cave, photo by Mike Jerrard

are home to the largest dolomite cave in Australia open to tourists, with chambers which started forming tens of millions of years ago.

One of the few caves in Australia formed from dolomite rather than limestone, the underground caves are beautifully illuminated throughout, and also home to a number of strange and fascinating animals.

Over 40 species have been discovered within the caves, many of which remain undescribed and are so used to living underground that they are unable to survive on the surface. To read more about Hasting Tours, check out Get Your Guide. –Meg Jerrard

READ MORE: 10 Awesome Australian Road Trips (for Your World Travel Bucket List)

  Megan Jerrard

Megan Jerrard is an Australian journalist, and the founder and Senior Editor of Mapping Megan, an award-winning blog bringing you the latest in adventure travel from all over the globe.  With the main aim of inspiring others to embark on their own worldwide adventure, Megan and her photographer husband Mike believe travel has the potential to inspire change in people, and in turn inspire change in the world. They embraced travel as a lifestyle in 2007, and are dedicated to documenting their journey through entertaining, candid articles and brilliant photography. Follow their journey on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram.

  If you enjoyed our Amazing for Your World Travel Bucket List, you might also like:

10 Ancient Archaeological Sites For Your World Travel Bucket List 

10 Great Lakes For Your World Travel Bucket List 

10 Wonderful Waterfalls For Your World Travel Bucket List 

10 Exotic Islands For Your World Travel Bucket List 

The Best Coffee in the World: A Gourmet’s Guide

The post 10 Famous Underground for Your World Travel Bucket List appeared first on Green Global Travel.

[laraehrlich-blog]

Original content owned & copyrighted by Green Global Travel.

Underground caves are mysterious and mesmerizing places to explore.

From marble caves,  glow worms caves and those formed from glacial lagoons, to a cave of crystals, prehistoric rock art and ancient Mayan burial sites, natural caverns come in an incredible range of attractions.

From the Rio Secreto cave in Mexico to 10 BEST UNDERGROUND CAVES

Cave or Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave (Belize)

Glowworm (New Zealand)

Ice Cave (Iceland)

Marble (Chile)

Mountain River Cave, or Son Doong (Vietnam)

Cave (Scotland)

Mine or Cave of the Crystals (Mexico)

Cave (France)

(Australia)

Cave in Belize, photo by Peter Andersen via Creative Commons

Cave

is full of skeletons, pottery and other ceremonial objects left by the Maya. The cave’s most famous skeleton, “The Crystal Maiden,” features bones cemented into the floor by natural processes, leaving them with a sparkling appearance.

Through Get Your Guide 

READ MORE: The 16 Best Mayan Ruins To Explore

New Zealand’s Glowworm , photo photo by Kristina D.C. Hoeppner via Creative Commons

glowworm caves, wherein thousands of magical glowworms illuminate a series of caves with their unmistakable light.

The glow worm, Arachnocampa luminosa, is a unique species only found in New Zealand, and makes these famous caves some of the world’s most unique.

Visitors can take a guided tour which explores three different levels of the caves including the catacombs, or opt to take a boat ride under the glowworms and witness a myriad of tiny bright lights dotting the cave ceilings – the lights of a thousand glowworms. Get more info about guided tours and read reviews at Get Your Guide.

READ MORE: Top 5 Ecotourism Attractions in New Zealand

Mogao , photo by intothegreen via Creative Commons

Mogao are known as the of the Thousand Buddhas– 492 cave temples near the city of Dunhuang, China, of which 30 are open to the public. These are the most famous Buddhist grottoes in China, carved into the sandstone cliffs of the Singing Sand (Mingsha) Mountains.

Originally dug out in 366 CE as places of Buddhist meditation and worship, the underground caves now contain religious artwork, murals, Buddhist sculptures and stone carvings which span across 10 dynasties, from the 4th to the 14th century.

There are over 2,000 color statues and 45,000 paintings throughout the caves, making this the greatest shrine of Buddhist art treasures in the world. Get more info on tours and read reviews at Get Your Guide.

READ MORE: Top 7 Things to Do in China for Nature Lovers

Ice Cave, photo by Orvar Thorgeirsson via Creative Commons

, Iceland, Ice Cave is one of the most unique natural wonders in the world. Travelers fortunate enough to step inside the ice cave are transported into a mesmerizing realm of blue glacial ice.

Blue ice is formed from the compression of pure snow, which develops into glacial ice over centuries of extreme pressure. This process eliminates the air originally caught in the ice when the snow fell, leaving very little reflective surface for the light from the sun. 

bears more resemblance to an ice tunnel than a cave, and indirect daylight into the cave gives the ice its luminescent blue glow. To get more info on a Ice Cave tour and read reviews, check out Get Your Guide

READ MORE: 10 Incredible Iceland Waterfalls 

Marble by Katrin Schulz from Pixabay

Lake General Carrera. These caves are only accessible via boat.

The caves are known for their propensity for constantly changing their appearance. The swirling patterns of the cavern walls are a reflection of the lake’s blue waters, which change in shade and intensity depending on the water levels, which are affected by weather and season.

READ MORE: The 20 Best Things to Do in (South America)

Mountain River Cave, photo by John Spies via Creative Commons

Son Doong Cave (or Mountain River Cave in English) is the largest cave in the world, formed around 2.5 million years ago. Over the years the river water eroded the limestone underneath the mountain, causing the ceiling of the cave to collapse and form what are now huge skylights.

The READ MORE: 20 Longest Rivers in the World (for Your World Travel Bucket List)

Fingals Cave, photo by Graeme Pow via Creative Commons

Cave is a sea cave constructed completely of hexagonal basalt columns and pillars (much like the Giant’s Causeway in Get Your Guide.

READ MORE: Top 10 Things To Do on the Isle of Skye (& How To Avoid Crowds)

Mine (Cave of the Crystals), photo by Paul Williams via Creative Commons

Mine is known as the Cave of Crystals because the main chamber is home to the world’s largest crystals on earth. The big crystal measures 39 feet (12m) in length, 13 feet (4m) in diameter and weighs about 55 tons.

The READ MORE: Top 20 Things to Do in Cancun (for Nature & History Lovers)

Etologic Horse Study in Cave, photo by Thomas T via Creative Commons

Cave is considered one of the world’s most significant sites of READ MORE: 5 Weird Foods the French Consider Delicacies

Cave, photo by Mike Jerrard

are home to the largest dolomite cave in Australia open to tourists, with chambers which started forming tens of millions of years ago.

One of the few caves in Australia formed from dolomite rather than limestone, the underground caves are beautifully illuminated throughout, and also home to a number of strange and fascinating animals.

Over 40 species have been discovered within the caves, many of which remain undescribed and are so used to living underground that they are unable to survive on the surface. To read more about Hasting Tours, check out Get Your Guide. –Meg Jerrard

READ MORE: 10 Awesome Australian Road Trips (for Your World Travel Bucket List)

  Megan Jerrard

Megan Jerrard is an Australian journalist, and the founder and Senior Editor of Mapping Megan, an award-winning blog bringing you the latest in adventure travel from all over the globe.  With the main aim of inspiring others to embark on their own worldwide adventure, Megan and her photographer husband Mike believe travel has the potential to inspire change in people, and in turn inspire change in the world. They embraced travel as a lifestyle in 2007, and are dedicated to documenting their journey through entertaining, candid articles and brilliant photography. Follow their journey on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram.

  If you enjoyed our Amazing for Your World Travel Bucket List, you might also like:

10 Ancient Archaeological Sites For Your World Travel Bucket List 

10 Great Lakes For Your World Travel Bucket List 

10 Wonderful Waterfalls For Your World Travel Bucket List 

10 Exotic Islands For Your World Travel Bucket List 

The Best Coffee in the World: A Gourmet’s Guide

The post 10 Famous Underground for Your World Travel Bucket List appeared first on Green Global Travel.

[phgq]

DENR eyes int’l partnership for migratory bird conservation

#PHnews: DENR eyes int’l partnership for migratory bird conservation

BACOLOD CITY -- Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu has pushed for international collaboration on the conservation of migratory water birds in the Philippines. 

“The Philippines, as part of the EAAF (East Asian-Australian Flyway), believes in the importance of international collaboration as impetus for conservation of migratory birds,” Cimatu said in his message delivered by Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Jim Sampulna during the 2nd EAAF Congress on Research and Development for Wetlands and Migratory Water Birds, held at the L’ Fisher Hotel here Thursday.

The three-day gathering, led by the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), ended Thursday.

On Friday, participants from various countries visited the Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area (NOCWCA), the seventh Ramsar site of the Philippines, located in southern Negros.

In his message, Cimatu noted that as migratory strong birds endure strong winds, harsh weather, and numerous predators to fly thousands of miles, it is also imperative that countries come together as one body for a flyway-wide collaboration.

The EAAF, a route that supports migratory birds in their migration, is home to more than 50 million water birds from more than 250 different populations, including 32 globally threatened species and 19 near threatened species.

The Philippines, which has seven sites designated as wetlands of international importance or Ramsar sites, is habitat to thousands of migratory birds from more than 80 species, which visit the country every year.

Cimatu said that more than 70 other wetlands of international importance in the country continuously serve as a haven to more than 300,000 birds during the southward bird migration season.

The six other sites in the country that have been declared as “wetlands of international importance” are the Tubattaha Reefs Natural Park and Puerto Princesa Subterranean River Natural Park, both in Palawan; Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Agusan del Norte; Naujan Lake National Park in Oriental Mindoro; Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Cebu; and Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area.

In Negros Occidental, the NOCWCA spans an almost 110-km. stretch of coastline along nine municipalities and one city.

It is habitat to some 72 species of water birds, including the globally-threatened Far Eastern Curlew, the Nordmann’s Greenshank, and the critically-endangered Spoonbilled Piper.

Cimatu added that as climate change plays a huge and adverse role in bird migration, catastrophic events, such as storms or typhoons, modify the habitats of migratory water birds and eventually affect the biodiversity.

“Because of climate change, it is really hard to avoid its numerous impacts on birds and bird migration. We can reduce and accommodate some of its effects by modifying our approaches to wildlife conservation and natural resources management amid the challenges posed by climate change,” he added.

The 2nd EAAF Congress drew some 200 delegates from countries such as Russia, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, the United States of America, Cambodia, Japan, and Pakistan. (PNA)

***

References:

* Philippine News Agency. "DENR eyes int’l partnership for migratory bird conservation ." Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1082906 (accessed October 12, 2019 at 12:53AM UTC+14).

* Philippine News Agency. "DENR eyes int’l partnership for migratory bird conservation ." Archive Today. https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1082906 (archived).