News Bulletin: Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award http://planeta.wikispaces.com/itbw
2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity . In September the winners -- Sweden's Nutti Sami Siida <http://www.nutti.se> and New Zealand's TIME Unlimited Tours <http://www.newzealandtours.travel> -- and finalists -- Te Urewera Treks <http://www.teureweratreks.co.nz> (also from New Zealand) and Chalalan Ecolodge <http://www.chalalan.com> (Bolivia) -- of the 2010 Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award will attend the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference <http://planeta.wikispaces.com/oregonecotourism> in Portland, Oregon and the Biodiversity Workshop: New Information and Web-based Technologies <http://planeta.wikispaces.com/itbw2> on September 11. The one-day Biodiversity Workshop: New Information and Web-based Technologies features innovative work of indigenous tourism operators and promotes a conversation about the conservation of cultural and environmental diversity with trusted colleagues around the world. About the 2010 Award The Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award is a collaborative effort between Planeta.com <http://www.planeta.com> and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity/UNEP (CBD) <http://www.cbd.int> with the generous support of the Heidehof Foundation <http://www.heidehof-stiftung.de> . The award is aimed at private tourism services, owned and operated by indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles, and its main objectives are to motivate candidates to improve their online communication on biological and cultural diversity, to highlight their best practices in managing tourism and to raise operators and public¹s awareness on biodiversity <http://planeta.wikispaces.com/biodiversity> . Winners will receive the award in September 2010 at the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference in Portland, Oregon. Winners will participate in a September 11 workshop on innovative Web-based tools for marketing and communications, facilitated by webmaster Ron Mader <http://planeta.wikispaces.com/ronmader> . The competition highlights the contribution of indigenous operators to biological and cultural diversity, and in 2010 comprised applicants from ten countries around the world (Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mexico, Micronesia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sweden). More than 400 people cast their vote, carefully examining all 14 websites that fit the ambitious criteria set on Planeta.com's wiki site <http://planeta.wikispaces.com/itbw> . Additionally, a jury composed of six internationally recognized experts in indigenous and sustainable tourism picked their choice using the same criteria. The winner of the judged 2010 ITBW Award is Sweden's Nutti Sami Siida <http://www.nutti.se> , which features reindeer sled trips. Owners Nils Torbjörn Nutti and Carina Pingi are Sami from Saarivuoma and Gabna Sameby. The winner of the popular count 2010 ITBW Award is New Zealand's TIME Unlimited Tours <http://www.newzealandtours.travel> from New Zealand, operated by the Maori-European couple Ceillhe Tewhare Teneti Hema Sperath and Néill Sperath, and providing personalised and interactive Auckland and Maori Indigenous Cultural Tours. Finalists: Brambuk National Park and Cultural Centre <http://brambuk.com.au> introduces visitors to the Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) in Victoria, Australia. Kakadu Culture Camp <http://kakaduculturecamp.com> is owned and operated by Fred and Jenny Hunter, Aboriginal people from Australia's Kakadu National Park, a World Heritage Area. The camp offers the opportunity to live with an Aboriginal family and to learn traditional skills including spear throwing, basket weaving and didgeridoo. Chalalan Ecolodge <http://www.chalalan.com> is 100% run and owned by the indigenous community in Bolivia. Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre <http://www.slcc.ca> shares the cultures of two distinct indigenous cultures in a visionary partnership on shared traditional territories in Canada. Te Urewera Treks <http://www.teureweratreks.co.nz> strives to operate in a sustainable manner in accord with Maori principles and values in New Zealand, which are consistent with those of responsible tourism. Xe Pian National Protected Area <http://www.xepian.org> features tours and accommodation owned and managed by local communities in Xe Pian NPA,southern Lao PDR. Contact: Ron Mader Planeta.com >> http://www.planeta.com Web 2.0 >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/planeta >> http://twitter.com/ronmader >> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6554279197 >> http://www.youtube.com/user/ronmader >> http://slideshare.net/planeta >> http://delicious.com/ronmader >> http://www.justin.tv/ronmader
