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Lease deal boosts Mara conservation Basecamp Explorer, awarded Kenya’s prestigious Gold Ecotourism medal for three years in a row, has signed a unique long-term lease agreement with the Maasai community on the eastern border of Masai Mara. The establishment of the 50,000-acre Naboisho conservancy, with Basecamp Explorer as the chosen lead tourism partner, is an important step towards sustainable community development and wildlife tourism in the Masai Mara. In what’s described as a holistic approach to wildlife conservation, the land includes areas for cattle grazing as well as a buffer zone for wildlife, whose density is growing fast in this region. The pioneering partnership involves a direct agreement (ie no middlemen!) with almost 500 Maasai landowners whose future income from wildlife tourism is secured in the agreement. Fees will be paid regardless of tourist numbers in the Naboisho. More than ever, close cooperation and consultations with the Maasai community
Wet and wild! Twenty five destinations across Europe have been awarded European Destination of Excellence awards in Aquatic Tourism by The European Commission. The aim of the awards is ‘to draw attention to the value, diversity and shared characteristics of European tourist destinations’ and ‘to encourage tourists to see these emerging locations as not dissimilar from well-loved destinations but with their own equally valuable charm’. Among the chosen 25 are: The Biebrza Valley and Wetlands, Poland: the floodplains of Biebrza are among the last untamed rivers in Europe. The meandering Biebrza River
are of pivotal importance to protect what has been called The Seventh Wonder of the World, the annual migration of animals between Tanzania’s Serengeti and Masai Mara. The migration is one of the world’s truly great spectacles, made up of more than one million wildebeest, hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles in perpetual motion. Following the grazers are the hunters – lions, cheetah, hyenas and leopards. The long-term future of the Mara is threatened not only by water shortages, but also the expansion of agricultural lands (wheatfields), population growth combined with poverty, and the splitting up of former communal land. The agreement was in part made possible by Basecamp Explorer’s conservation-minded network and through its new innovative partnership with Norfund, Norway’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries. Basecamp Explorer Kenya operates three ecolodges on the savannah of Masai Mara, in close partnership with the Maasai communities.
floods in spring, turning large meadows into lakes. Apart from picturesque scenes, Biebrza is home to a large bird population, which represents one of the major bird clusters in Central Europe. The Grand Site du Marais Poitevin, France: the Green Venice of France – chosen for having the ‘largest woodland marshland on the Atlantic coast’ and ‘one of the richest natural habitats in France.’ Loop Head Peninsula in Co. Clare – Kilkee, Ireland: has an ‘incredible diversity of marine and bird life’ with great white cliffs and large stretches of open sea. WaterReijk Weerribben Wieden – Giethoorn & the Wetlands, The Netherlands: described as the Venice of the Netherlands because of its natural beauty and tranquil boat rides.
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29/10/2010 14:43