Global search for temp panda handlers

Agence France-Press reports on the Chinese panda center's search for six temporary panda handlers.

The Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base in the southwest of China says it will have a worldwide contest to pick six panda enthusiasts who will then help look after the black and white mammals for a month. The winners will get to blog their experiences and bring awareness to the pandas' plight.

Huang Xiangming, head of the animal management department at the base, says that when it first opened in 1987, the centre only had six pandas, rescued starving from the wild. It now counts 84 permanent residents.

He says panda keepers are especially needed at times of mating in spring and birthing, which starts during the summer. These rituals are vital, as the animals' notoriously low libido has frustrated efforts to boost their numbers.

Details on the search have not yet been released.

Read the full story: China launches global search for panda keepers

Photo from France 24

Volunteer vacations good for the Earth

Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on the appeal of vacationing for the good of the environment:

Volunteer vacations strike a balance between giving and getting, feeding a participant’s sense of adventure as well as a desire to improve the planet and the lives of its inhabitants. This pairing of volunteerism and travel, which the Sierra Club first introduced in 1958 in the form of service trips, is an old concept enjoying new life. More than 3.5 million Americans traveled at least 120 miles to volunteer their services in 2007, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Read the full story: Take a vacation, and help save the planet

Photo by Sarah Stout / Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Volunteer on your next vacation

Travel & Leisure via MSNBC.com reports on voluteer vacations that get travelers involved in conservation and species salvation.

"'Despite the economy, we’re doing really well,' said Calie Yousha, a spokesperson for Global Vision International, which runs programs for conserving the Amazon Rainforest and studying dolphins in the Ligurian Sea, among others. 'We’ve actually seen a pretty significant increase in volunteering.'"

Read the full story: Best save-the-earth tips

Organic farms offer back to basics vacation

The Christian Science Monitor reports on the quietly growing trend of volunteering on small organic farms in return for room and board.

The World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms or WWOOF is a global organic farm network, where you can become a member for a small sign-up fee and have access to volunteer opportunities wherever you and the farm you choose sees fit.

CSM contributor Emily Badger shares her experience as a novice WWOOFer in the french countryside:

"I’ve never been particularly organic, and I had a vague sense that my best qualification for this job was that I like to do yoga, which is something organic people seem to like, too. The movement, though, doesn’t draw the bulk of its WWOOFers from farmers hoping to bring new organic techniques back to their own backyard polytunnels. Rather, the idea appeals to the adventurer, the wandering soul, the liberal who wants to do more than pay for carbon offsets. I felt a little of all that."

Read the full story: WWOOFing in Normandy

Volun-tourism

Volunteering usually involves people who are donating their time to help others in need.

So voluntourism is a growing movement where people can travel somewhere and donate their time there.

MSNBC.com reports on this trend, how it is green and easy to do. Overseas volunteer vacations are becoming increasingly more expensive so this is creating a domestic market making it easier to volunteer closer to home:

"Domestic volunteer vacations, on the other hand, can offer equally rewarding experiences in more familiar surroundings. You can work with Native Americans in Montana or immigrant families in Minnesota with Global Volunteers or help build homes in a dozen different states with Habitat for Humanity."

Read the full story: You don't have to go far to do good

Earth Day ecotravel deals from Budget Travel

Budget Travel magazine has compiled a list of earth-friendly vacation options for Earth Day.

Among the suggestions is a volunteer vacation to clean-up trash from a national forest in Washington State.

In additon there are weblinks to green organizations for people who want to "make every day earth day."

Read the full story: Give back to the Earth