London Zoo exhibits S American rainforest life

The Guardian reports on London Zoo's South American rainforest exhibit.

David Field, zoological director of London zoo, said: "Rainforest Life will transport people to other corners of the world by coming through the gates of London zoo. It is a dynamic, living ecosystem and you won't see the same exhibit twice. It will give people a real taste of these priceless forests that are disappearing fast."

The zoo hopes [the exhibit] will become a breeding centre for the endangered species it houses. Visitors to the exhibit will have the chance to experience the heat and humidity of the jungle from elevated walkways where they can view the canopy teeming with wildlife.

Read the full story: London zoo exhibit recreates living South American rainforest

Photo from London Zoo

Discover undiscovered Chilean Patagonia

CNN reports on the natural beauty and relatively untouristed area of Chilean Patagonia.

Many say Torres del Paine National Park is the most beautiful in South America and it is heart-stoppingly gorgeous -- turquoise-blue lakes, soaring snow-covered peaks, glaciers, fields dotted with red grasses and green-and-yellow shrubs called "mother-in-law's chair," because of their thorns.

Read the full story: Wilds of Patagonia a pristine retreat

Photo from Hotel Remota

Wildlife areas in Venezuela to be farmland

Global Post reports that Venezuela is converting wildlife areas that are popular ecotourist spots into farms.

Los Llanos — home to hundreds of birds and animal species — is shrinking. Over the past two years, President Hugo Chavez has ordered the nationalization of three of Venezuela’s largest ecotourism ranches: Hato Pinero, Hato El Cedral and Hato El Frio.

Authorities now plan to convert a small portion of their combined area — roughly 2,000 square kilometers — into farmland. Chavez announced the move as part of a sweeping government land reform that has, since 2005, aimed to boost food production and reduce reliance on imports.

Read the full story: Venezuela converts tourist destinations into farmland

Photo by Rachel Jones / Global Post

Bad weather leaves thousands stuck in Machu Picchu

The Seattle Times reports on the 2,000 stranded visitors in Peru's Machu Picchu ruins.

Heavy rains and mudslides this week blocked the critical train track in Machu Picchu Puebla (the village near the ruins) to nearby town Cuzco.

Perurail spokeswoman Soledad Caparo told the AP that train company crews were working nonstop to clear rock and mud covering the tracks, but she said flooding of the adjacent Urubamba River had slowed the cleanup.

Rains stopped Monday night and Perurail said in a statement that service could resume Tuesday, "weather permitting." It added that military helicopters delivered food and water to the village and would return Tuesday to continue evacuations.

Read the full story: Rains strand 2,000 tourists at Machu Picchu ruins

Photo by Danny Catt

Brazil's Pantanal animal kingdom

The Daily Green has a nice slideshow of the diverse wildlife of Brazil's Pantanal region. Animals shown include the giant anteater (picture right).

This region is a tropical wetland in the Mato Grosso do Sul state in the southwest of the country and extends into neighboring Bolivia and Paraguay according to Wikipedia.

There are also links to ecotourism options.

See the full slideshow: Discover Brazil's most spectacular wildlife

Photo by Brian Clark Howard

Green spaces in Sao Paulo

Mother Nature Network (MNN) reports on the green spaces worth visiting in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Its public transit system, though crowded, is an easy way to get around and there has been a city-level movement to increase the number of green spaces and to build an extensive network of bicycle paths. Add a vibrant organic eating scene that supports small farms to the list and the Sao Paulo (often referred to as Sampa in local slang) becomes an impressive destination for environmentally conscious travelers.

Read the full story: Destination of the week Sao Paulo

Photo by Fernando Podolski / iStockphoto

Camp at gorgeous global sites

Treehugger reports on 10 beautiful camping sites around the world.

Among the sites listed are New Zealand's Abel Tasman National Park (picture right), Colombia's Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona, and Croatia's Glavotok Camp.

Read the full story: 10 breathtaking waterfront campgrounds

Photo by Jennifer Hattam

Global warming's dire effects

Reuters video reports on the trickle-down effects of global warming from melting glaciers to drought.

Lima, Peru is the driest city on earth because of the rapid decline of the glaciers that supplied rivers and other water sources, according to the report.

Australia is also experiencing a seven-year drought, the longest on record and no end in sight.

Watch below:

Deforestation caused Peruvian natives decline; study

Reuters reports that deforestation caused the decline of Peruvian natives called the Nasca according to a new study.

The Nasca people, famed for the lines that depict animals or geometric shapes most clearly visible from the air, became unable to grow enough food in nearby valleys because the lack of trees made the climate too dry, scientists said.

The report, led by Cambridge University in England, said that the findings showed a need for more action now to protect the world's arid lands.

Read the full story: Deforestation sped demise of Nasca in Peru: study

Photo from Thomson Reuters

Saving Ecuador's condors

Reuters video reports on Ecuador's efforts to save their endangered condor.

Indigenous to the country, the scavenger birds are being bred in captivity because their native habitat is now occupied by people. Ecuadorian conservationists hope to revive the birds that have already been wiped out in neighboring Venezuela.

Watch the report below:

Biking "world's most dangerous road" Boliva

Bolivia is a mountainous country that boasts the "world's most dangerous road." Of course now there are many adventure bike tours over that road.

Watch an interesting video about this:

100-year-old Galapagos tortoise could be father

Reuters video reports that Lonesome George, the only surviving Galapagos giant tortoise, could finally be a father at the age of almost 100.

Eggs were found in George's habitat in July, transferred to an incubation center, but have a four-month wait before scientists will know if they are fertile or not.

Giant tortoises dwindled to extinction on the northern Galapagos island of Pinta in the 1960s and their habitat was destroyed by goats. George was found in 1972 and brought to the Charles Darwin research station where scientists have tried to mate him with females of a subspecies.

Eggs were discovered last year but were infertile.

Watch the report below:


For more on Galapagos read our previous post on the islands' overpopulation problems

Did global warming help Incas?

Reuters video reports on the new theory that South America's Inca population was helped by a warming planet.

Scientists now believe that the Incas were able to expand their food crops to higher altitudes when the temperature went up and thus able to sustain their growing population.

Watch the full report below:

Galapagos Islands overpopulation problem

Ecotourists like to visit natural sites like the Galapagos Islands, and now the surrounding area is suffering from overpopulation directly related to this industry.

Global Post's Pailin Wedel reports on this below:


View the full story here: Overpopulating paradise

Photo by Guillermo Granja/Reuters

Ecuador volcano eruption could hurt Galapagos specie

Reuters video reports on the Galapagos Island volcano eruption and lava flow that could be hurting the native species made famous by Charles Darwin.

Watch below:

Community-based tourism in Peru

USA Today reports on the growing trend of travelers to Peru getting away from tourist traps and living like local villagers.

Peru tourism has exploded in the past six years and more visitors are seeking out a unique cultural immersion that community-based tourism can provide.

"In the late 1990s, a group of enterprising [Vicos] villagers founded a community tourism project to promote sustainable tourism in the popular trekking area, while sharing their customs with travelers."

The back-to-basics approach also gives tourists hands-on experience tending the villagers' organic farms.

Read the full story: Tourists step off the beaten path to experience Peru's culture

Machu Picchu porters overworked and underpaid

USA Today reports how the exploding popularity of Peru's Inca Trail trek is also overtaxing and underpaying the porters who tote tourists' luggage.

All tourists who want to make the historic hike must now go with a guided tour that can cost hundreds of dollars - and to lure in budget travelers some companies cheapen their prices by paying their porters less but requiring them to haul more weight.

Although a law in 2003 made it mandatory for porters to make $15 a day and only carry 57 pounds - it's easy for companies to dismiss and porters happy to make any money still work for less:

"Victor, 22, [said he was carrying over-regulation weight — 66 pounds — for $9 dollars a day and complained bitterly about not getting enough food,] as he labored alone on the final ascent to Warmiwanusca, Quechua for "Dead Woman's Pass," the grisly name for the trail's highest point at 13,779 feet.

Unlike porters with other agencies, Victor didn't have a water bottle and his dry, cracked toes jutted out from the end of worn-down sandals, covered in dust from the trail.

Jorge Villasante, Peru's vice labor minister, acknowledges that enforcing the 2003 law is a problem."

Read the full story: Machu Picchu tourism boom puts extra burden on Inca Trail porters

Bolivia's model rainforest protection scheme

The Christian Science Monitor reports on the Bolivian rainforest conservancy project that could be a world-wide model for fighting deforestation and global warming.

The Bolivian government along with conservancy groups and energy companies came together to save the rainforest in a first-of-its-kind plan called Noel Kempff Climate Action Project.

This venture sparked a carbon-reducing initiative called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, or REDD, which environmentalists criticized:

"But REDD is now seen as a leading solution to deforestation, which accounts for 20 percent of the world’s annual greenhouse-gas emissions – more than the transportation sector, according to the Center for International Forestry Research...

In Bolivia, the idea has been tested at the widest scale: The project bought out four timber concessions, nearly doubled the national park’s boundaries, and set up a carbon-monitoring system by which offsets are awarded to three participating energy companies (American Electric Power, BP, and PacifiCorp.) and the Bolivian government – offsets that could be traded on the voluntary carbon-trading market, and (in the case of the Bolivian government) the money reinvested in the communities affected."

Read the full story: Bolivia gets clean by staying green

For-profit ecotourism in Peru reaps many rewards

The Economist magazine highlights how a for-profit ecotourism outfit in Peru has the best interests of the Amazonian rain forest in mind... something that NGOs or non-profits have struggled with.

The area of the Amazon in Peru is fast becoming an eco-tourist destination with a reported 20-times increase in the past 15 years.

Rainforest Expeditions operates Posada Amazonas the largest tourism outfit in the area. Its goal has always been conservation through tourism, which has been successful, but it has also enriched the local families in the area as well. RE has actively involved the local community in the tourism projects, the locals get most of the profits and eventually will take over entire control. The peoples literacy, health and nutrition levels have benefited greatly while the forest has remained intact.

But the future of Peru's rain forest is still up in the air because of a newly paved road straight through it leading directly to Brazil. Past statistics of paved roads leading into Brazil's Amazon have shown that an increase in damaging development has occurred.

Read the full story: Rumble in the jungle