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.

By Adriana Braun

What a great experience it was, returning to Fernando de Noronha and finding that previous obstacles for us wheelchair users no longer existed! When I first visited here ten years ago, I almost went crazy looking for a hotel that would accommodate me. It was beyond difficult just trying to put luggage in a buggy, dealing with a rude taxi driver who did not hide his prejudice for the disabled people, and trying to get through a bathroom door only 0.6m-wide with my wheelchair, let alone participating in any of the activities that the islands offers.

By Adriana Braun and Julio Bin

Ecotourism for people in wheelchairs? You may wonder what that looks like, how it’s done. You’d be pleasantly surprised to learn that in many destinations there are efforts in place to improve tourism infrastructure to better serve people with disabilities. Brazil is one such example. Recently the Brazilian company Accessible – Adapted Tourism has developed a new project featuring an online tour guide for travelers with reduced mobility.

During the month of April, Gap Adventures (TIES business member) is celebrating the International Year of Forests, focusing on rainforest conservation, awareness-building, and fundraising – through the the Planeterra Foundation – for reforestation and sustainable farming education in Brazil. In addition, the team at Gap Adventures Base Camp in Toronto, Canada is joining up with other residents to help tree-planting efforts to contribute to the health of one of Toronto’s biggest urban parks.

By Mikael Castro, TIES Travel Ambassador – “Welcome to the Capital of Ecotourism” read the sign at the entrance of town Bonito, in Brazil’s state of Mato Grosso do Sul. A rather ambitions statement, I thought, confident I would find only a few great ecotourism establishments among a pool of green-washed want-to-be’s. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find an amazingly organized, conservation-driven, municipal-wide, policy-driven, multi-stakeholder system for ecotourism.

The hotel Canto das Aguas (“Song of the Waters”) in Brazil’s beautiful Chapada Diamantina region is the first hotel to be certified under the official Brazilian Sustainable Tourism Standard (ABNT NBR 15.401). The hotel was established more than 20 years ago in the historic diamond town of Lençois in the Chapada Diamantina, one of Brazil’s top outdoor adventure destinations, in the heart of the State of Bahia. The hotel is known for is charm and hospitality and its attention to its socio-environmental responsibilities.

Roteiros de Charme Hotel Association was founded in Rio de Janeiro by five independent hoteliers in 1992, immediately following UNCED, as a private non-profit organization. Recognising the pressure imposed by the growing tourism industry on the maintenance and integrity of ecosystems and biological diversity, its mission is to support actions that encourage environmental conservation where they operate, aiming at promoting the sustainable development of tourism in Brazil. Roteiros de Charme has reaffirmed its commitment to the environment through the development…

The fundamental objective of The Southern Right Whale Project is to guarantee the survival and population recuperation of the Southern Right Whale, an endangered species, in Brazilian Waters. The season for whale watching in the state of Santa Catarina is from July to November, with peak sightings occurring between mid-August and early October. In addition to getting up close and personal with this spectacular species, a journey through Santa Catarina offers great breaks and a shipwreck for surfers, kite and wind surfers, quaint fishing villages, and a true escape.

When travelling through Brazil, you see horses everywhere. According to the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE)’s 2007 data, there are nearly 6 million horses in the country, which means Brazil has the fourth largest herd in the world. Many of these horses are of mixed origin and often used in cattle-ranching. But Brazilians also breed and enjoy riding quality horses in disciplines that range from classical dressage to horseback archery.

With 650 species of birds, 120 of mammals, 80 of reptiles, Pantanal is home to the largest concentration of fauna in the Americas, covering parts of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. In the Wet Season, this area is flooded by waters overflowing from its rivers: this is the time when there is an explosion of color in the rich aquatic flora, with the mammals concentrated on a few mound hills. In the Dry Season, lakes are formed which provide a source of food for an enormous variety of wildlife, including migratory birds from all over the world.