Trekking up crowded Mount Sinai

The Miami Herald reports on the crowded trek up Mount Sinai.

In the bible this is the mountain that Moses climbed and received the 10 Commandments. Now it is an overrun tourist spectacle.

Reporter Charmaine Noronha recounts her trip:

I would retrace Moses' footsteps on a hike to witness the sunrise from the summit. If Moses could do it, why couldn't I?

We followed in step with our guide as he led us through the darkness, up the winding trail, over granite crags and slippery rocks. I'm not religious, but the irony of the moment hit me: I'd literally put all my faith in this man I'd just met.

For others on the hike, the expedition had deep religious significance. The Bible says this is where God gave Moses two stone tablets inscribed with the commandments. Moses received these laws after leading the Jews out of slavery in Egypt, a story that is retold during the Jewish holiday of Passover. But Sinai is an important site for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, and every night, hundreds of pilgrims make the climb.

Read the full story: Climb to the top of Mount Sinai

Photo from Bible Probe

Egypt desert tourism: eco or not?

Global Post reports on the effects of "ecotourism" to Egypt's western desert region near the town of Bawati.

Desert ecotourism is becoming a popular alternative to the usual Pyramids and Red Sea lures of this North African nation. But the country's economic dependence on tourism is leading to a need to balance out development versus the overrun of ecosystems.

The White Desert - that features otherworldly landscapes (picture right) - is a prime tourist spot that fills up at sunset with snap happy foreigners.

The Bahariya Oasis just north of the White Desert has also seen a rise in visitors to the extent where one-third of the residents now work in tourism.

But the industry isn't regulated well and environmentalists say the economic interests outweigh minimizing impact on the environment. Others in the tourism industry welcome the rise in tourists and want more to come.

Read the full story: Desert ecotourism, what's in it for Egypt?

Photo from A-1 Safari Egypt

Reviving tourism in Afghanistan

CNN reports on the difficult development of tourism in Afghanistan. Ecotravel News has previously reported on eco-tourism development in the country in July 2008.

One of the safest provinces in this war-torn country is Bamiyan; infamous for giant Buddha statues that were blown up by the Taliban in 2001.

"The natural resources and cultural resources here are probably the single best place for economic development to happen, around revitalizing the tourism industry here," says Bob Thelen, the representative for the Aga Khan Development Network in Bamiyan. The nonprofit organization has been working with the government of New Zealand to distribute $1.2 million over a three-year period to develop eco-tourism as an industry in Bamiyan.

Read the full story: Afghanistan's Bamiyan province struggles to build tourism

Photo by B. Praxenthaler / ICOMOS Germany

International protection for Dubai desert

United Arab Emirates' Gulf News reports on the globally recognized protection status of the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR).

Started as a nature reserve surrounding a luxury hotel, the DDCR was recognized as an important natural area for native flora and fauna and given protected status this month by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"The achievement marks the DDCR as the first wildlife and conservation area in the UAE to be formally declared by IUCN as a Protected Area, one of the few in the [Gulf coast countries].

The DDCR now joins some of the world's greatest conservation areas including Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks in the US, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and Africa's largest National Parks and wildlife reserves."

Read the full story: Dubai desert reserve gets protection

Afghanistan ecotourism

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the ecotourism efforts in Afghanistan.

The Aga Khan Foundation, an Afghan NGO, says that the Bamiyan area (known for the giant Buddhas that the Taliban infamously blew up in 2001) in the center of the country is safe. The Foundation created the Bamiyan Ecotourism Project (BEP) to "raise awareness of the region's natural attractions."

Afghanistan isn't on most tourist itineraries because most of the country is in the midst of instability and civil war making it unsafe for travelers. The U.S. State Department advises against travel to the country.

But despite this the BEP says tourists looking for nature can enjoy "Afghanistan's first national park, a 220-square-mile zone around Band-i-Amir [that has] six sapphire-blue lakes set amid barren sandstone badlands."

Read the full story: Tough sell: touring audacious Afghanistan

Campaign for camel health

Cameron Oliver, an 11-year-old South African boy living in Abu Dhabi, wants to save camels from the unnatural death of ingesting plastic bag litter.

Reuters recently produced a video report about the young man's campaign that tells people they are directly responsible for killing camels by littering and what they can do to prevent it.



For more on this please visit the website: cameronscamelcampaign.com

Yemeni goats eating tree to extinction

The New York Times reports on a disappearing tree on a Yemeni island. The Dracaena cinnabari, or dragon's blood tree, is especially vulnerable to goats on which Socotra island's economy depends. Goats are infamous for eating anything in their path and they find the young tree shoots especially tasty. So much so that they are eating the tree to its extinction. The tree's only stable area is in the high mountains where the goats can't reach.

Read the full story: Off Yemen, a storied stand is vulnerable