Green travel

Ode's annual special report explores new trends for socially responsible tourists who still just want to have fun - and shows them how to check in to an exotic eco-lodge, kick back and join the "slow travel" movement or get their hands dirty at a cozy agritourism destination.

Ode Editors | March 2008 issue

Ecolodges

One of ecotourism’s upsides is that it benefits host communities. At the Cree Village Ecolodge in Ontario, Canada, locals even own the place. The Cree MoCreebec Council designed the ecolodge to reflect the Cree Nation’s history and values. The centerpiece is the A-frame reception area, a large cedar-and-pine great hall overlooking the Moose River, decorated with hickory-and-bark furniture. Natural products—such as organic mattresses, wool blankets and organic toiletries—fill the 20 guest rooms, a few of which have composting toilets. The menu at the 66-seat restaurant, visited by tourists and locals, often includes Aboriginal specialties such as maple peppercorn smoked trout and buffalo ragout, as well as the more standard fare favoured by residents—burgers and fries.

Reaching the lodge on Moose Factory Island in subarctic Canada isn’t easy. In the summer, you arrive by water taxi; in the winter, over a temporary ice road. The travelling pays off when you slip into a canoe or snowshoes, join a sunset boat tour, watch the northern lights or spend time with a Cree elder.

Reality tours

Costa Rica is synonymous with ecotourism, and indeed the country does many things right. But not everything is perfect. Under its trademark “Reality Tour” program, San Francisco-based activist organization Global Exchange takes travellers behind the green scene to examine the successes and failures of ecotourism development in this tourism-based economy.

Through meetings with local activists, Global Exchange gives travellers the opportunity to witness how the development of natural areas for tourism has affected ecosystems and displaced local people, and how foreign investors have promoted unrestrained development of beach resorts and real estate. But it’s not all doom and gloom. During the 10-day trips, led by Costa Ricans, visitors are treated to the country’s sunnier sides too. Canopy tours, beach time, rainforest hikes, kayaking and dolphin-watching are all on the agenda.

Carbon offsetting

Of course, the mere act of flying to a pristine environment makes the environment less pristine. Some major airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, are offering passengers the chance to buy carbon offsets to help mitigate part of the damage done. Costa Rican airline NatureAir has taken things one leg further.

Granted, the airline, with about 75 flights a day from its fleet of 20-passenger propeller planes, isn’t a major player. But it has managed to become the first carbon-neutral airline in the world by paying farmers to grow and protect enough trees to compensate for the emissions of its entire fleet. NatureAir reports that since 2004, it has compensated for roughly 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide through the protection of more than 200 hectares (495 acres) of tropical forest on the Osa Pensinsula. And that makes the carbon footprint of NatureAir passengers a little bit lighter.

Find out more:

Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: ecotourismcesd.org
Intrepid Travel: intrepidtravel.com
The Intrepid Foundation: theintrepidfoundation.org
Intrepid Challenges: intrepidchallenges.com
Cree Village Ecolodge: creevillage.com
Global Exchange: globalexchange.org
NatureAir: natureair.com

Diane Daniel, travel correspondent for The Boston Globe, writes about journeys that preserve communities and land.

<< PREVIOUS 1 2 3 4 5 NEXT >>
view as a single page