By Mary Kuhner

Celebrating 35 years of research and education at the edge of the Arctic, the Churchill Northern Studies Centre (CNSC) recently cut the tape on its state-of-the-art 27,000 square-foot facility. In keeping with its mission to understand and sustain the North and to live sustainably on the fragile tundra, the new building is on track to obtain Manitoba’s northernmost LEED Gold certification. The CNSC reduces both the high cost of operating in the North and reliance on outside services and utilities.

Join Restoration Expeditions in New Zealand February 5-11, 2012 for its Pure New Zealand Study Tour. Experience one of the world’s most remarkable landscapes and best organized travel destinations with other sustainable recreation and tourism development professionals. Dig out your passport and leave your car behind! The tour will include the opportunities to tramp, paddle, bike, sample wine, get your hands dirty with a restoration project, and stay at some of the most unique overnight accommodations

Association “Neni E” (meaning “Neni, Yes!”) was founded in 2004 by two French brothers, who had lived with an African family for four months and observed the tourist flow passing by the village of Neni. The Association aims to provide a different way to discover the Dogon Country: in a humane, ecologically responsible and ethical manner, giving the travelers a real insight into the life in an African village.

Ecoventura has announced a 2012 scholarship program for local students from the islands of Isabela, San Cristobal and Santa Cruz to study conservation and ecology-related issues. The company has pledged up to $4,800 to cover the cost of 12 scholarships for one course/module for 2012. Guests aboard Ecoventura’s fleet will be invited to donate to the scholarship fund that is dedicated to training young people to become leaders in society and contribute to the sustainable development of the Galapagos islands, a World Heritage Site.

“Green trends among large corporations have to mean more than simply replacing traditional light bulbs with CFLs or LEDs. In order to enact a culture of change throughout the “mass tourism industry,” green trends must embrace the soul of sustainability, and environmental health must go hand in hand with fair/living wages and reinvestment in communities.” – Jerusha Greenwood, Assistant Professor, California Polytechnic State University

Islands are the most vulnerable and fragile of tourism destinations and will experience even more pressure as the combined impacts of economic, social and environmental change accelerate in the future. In order to understand the process of island tourism development, response to change and challenges and their journey to sustainability, the 2011 CABI book “Island Tourism – Sustainable Perspectives” provides insights and instruction on topics including social, cultural, environmental and economic aspects of island tourism.

The symbiotic relationship between coastal tourism and amenable climates has become a paradox with climate change now threatening the very nature of tourism that it has so successfully encouraged in the past. The U.S. coastline along the Gulf of Mexico (i.e. Louisiana and Florida) represents a good example of this ongoing dynamic relationship. Similarly, many of the island archipelagos of South and South East Asia demonstrate vulnerabilities in this context.

In the past decade, Pakistan has continued to face significant challenges and barriers to healthy development of the country’s tourism industry: the great tragedy of 9/11 in 2001; the horrific earthquake in 2005; the devastating floods that once again wreaked havoc on most of the country in 2010. As the nation struggles to recover from these catastrophic events, Pakistan has now lost its Tourism Ministry, halting the country’s efforts to re-develop its tourism sector before it has even had a chance to begin.

By Chris Barclay

I first came to Yangshuo, China in 1996 on a rock climbing trip with some expat friends from Guangzhou, where I was living at the time. Back then Yangshuo was a sleepy western backpacker’s hangout, with only a few local guesthouses, and cafes serving strong coffee and banana pancakes. What drew my friends and I to Yangshuo were the dramatic limestone karst towers, perfect for climbing, and the unspoiled countryside, with its fresh air and river water so clean you could swim in it.

One of the world’s first ecotourism destinations will be forced to close its doors next year unless supporters can find a way to save it. Maho Bay Camps, a legendary U.S. Virgin Islands eco-resort whose owner helped pioneer the sustainable lodging industry in the 1970s, will find itself at the mercy of new landlords when its 36-year lease expires in July 2012. The 13.8-acre expanse of coastal forest on the island of St. John is a private inholding inside Virgin Islands National Park.