In 2008, Rios Tropicales, led by co-founder Rafael Gallo, moved into international sustainable community development collaboration by winning a South-South grant for a rural tourism project between Bhutan and Costa Rica. Rios Tropicales has historically kept a low profile about its sustainable tourism practices and philosophy within its company operations and across its local Costa Rican communities.

Until not that long ago – only about 100 years – the whole of Montenegro was still a tribal society with groups of families united by clan and living in regions called nahijas. The oldest historical part of Montenegro, today referred to as Old Royal Montenegro, which was independent for centuries, was split into four such nahijas: Crmnička, Katunska, Riječka and Lješanska nahija. Sadly, today, despite its incredible cultural and historical importance, its proximity to other major attraction (like the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kotor and its famous bay, Skadar Lake National Park and the Ostrog Monastery) and its beautifully preserved environment, the Old Royal Monetenegro district is disused

By Ed Thompson, Ooh.com – Whether information gathering, or physically participating, there has never been a time when we’ve been so widely involved in a collective awakening about our impact on the environment. There’s also never been so much fun to be had from it. There are now more courses, classes, tours, and travel opportunities for the eco-conscious than ever. Have you always wanted to get some practical experience with sustainable living? Or considered building your own yurt? We’ll here’s how!

By Rafael Gallo, Co-Founder, Rios Tropicales – In 1985 Jimmy, Fernando and I started Rios Tropicales because we loved running rivers, we knew our small country of Costa Rica had some of the world’s best paddling in the world, and we wanted to share these rivers with others. It was natural to us to protect the rivers we were running, help the communities we were visiting and train fellow Costa Ricans to do what we were doing. From our years of international paddling experience we knew guide school best practices and started our own guide school right away.

By Carmelina Ricciardello, Sicilian Experience – On the geographical map of Italy, at the bottom of the peninsula, lies the island of Sicily which looks like a football being kicked away by the boot of the Italian peninsula. This might be the heartfelt wish of some Italians, mainly because of the island’s historic link with the mafia. I live in a quiet little village of Sant’Ambrogio, just 5 kms from a bustling tourist town. Founder of Sicilian Experience, I’m a firm believer that Sicily can become known as a haven for ecotourism and sustainable tourism opportunities, rather than for its “Il Padrino” (The Godfather) reputation.