Projects in Kenya, Peru, Sri Lanka and Brazil have been announced as the winners of the first Travel2change idea challenge. Since its launch late April 2011, over 500 members joined the travel2change online community, and submitted around 60 innovative project proposals. The submitted ideas were evaluated based on creativity, effectiveness, impact, feasibility and sustainability. The four winning projects were awarded on July 17, 2011 by a jury of experts and will be realized in the coming months, thanks to the support of the travel partner Kuoni.

Inkaterra develops and implements, through the NGO Inkaterra Association, various projects to help preserve the local environment and manage economic development in a sustainable manner. These projects take place at the bank of Madre de Dios River in the rainforest – where Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica lodge is located – and at the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, in the Machu Picchu cloud forest.

Boasting a species list of over 1,800, including over 120 endemic species, Peru either is or should be on anybody’s destination list who is even vaguely interested in birds. From coastal deserts to high Andes mountains, to the cloud forest, to the extensive lowland Amazon that covers 60% of the country, the range of habitats is immense. Each ecozone in Peru is home to unique birds, and nowhere are the numbers of birds greater than in the lowland Amazon rainforests.

Located on the banks of the majestic Amazon river in Yanamono’s Communal Reserve (80km/50 miles away from Iquitos City), Amazon River Expeditions’ Heliconia Amazon River Lodge is surrounded by an amazing collection of brilliant flowers such as heliconias, bromelias, and orchids. The nearby streams and lagoons full of wildlife make the lodge a wonderful place to relax, as well as enjoy exciting nature adventures. Heliconia Lodge, in association with the Rotary Club of Iquitos, has successfully coordinated the establishment of a new secondary school.

La Selva Jungle Lodge, located in the heart of the pristine Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador has created what they call The Indigenous Spa, offering rejuvenating treatment by two native Quichua Indigenous women. This unique 1 hour and 20 minute spa treatment features native plant-based “rainforest spa” products and is a spiritual and educational experience. The treatment, for instance, includes a magical dusting away of evil spirits with special leaves, a foot massage with special scented plants from the forest..

The mythical Amazon can only be described in superlatives. It covers an area of 5 million square kilometers of which 80% is on Brazilian territory. It is the largest and most intact rainforest region in the world. Through it flows an extensive drainage system of more than a thousand rivers and in the skies over the rainforest, you have the flying rivers that flow in the opposite direction from the ocean to the Andes. It is estimated that water is recycled as vapour and rain 5 times on this journey.