Eco Holidays

posted by Catherine on May 14

Rather than recite facts to your kids out on a walk – let them find it out themselves.

Why not spend a while at home creating a wildlife, tree or plant id guide yourself – specific to your local woods, park or open downland. Maybe even specific to the season!

Most field guides contain ‘all the plants in Britain’ or the ‘Birds of Europe’ – when all you need is the small number of common plants or animals living near to you at that time.

When searching through a field guide, you will have to sift through hundreds of species that will never grow where you live, or in winter – but they are still hindering you in the book – taking up valuable pages.

photo credit: kasthor

Also, you might think you have seen a certain species, only to find out that it is only found in the remote snowy highlands or on volcanic rock only – and you are in a city park!

Be Specific – But Not Fussy:
Find the most common species to where you are and focus on them – there is nothing more dissapointing to an amateur wildlife detective than not finding in your guide – the very thing you are looking at on the ground.

I have done it many times myself, only to then have to resort to reading about all the most likely alternatives to see if they ‘could’ be the one – or taking a photo to show someone more in the know than me! Very frustrating!

So, save the kids the trouble of being stumped by another yellow flower or brown bird and only show those you know are found here – or settle for the family or genus rather than the actual species. For example knowing that a plant is a violet is good enough for the kids – they don’t want to get bogged down with the fact that there are actually around 500 species of it around the world!

And a ‘warbler’ is good enough for basic bird id – considering even regualr bird-watchers can’t always tell them apart without scopes, songs and the bird to sit still for about 30 minutes on a noticable branch with the sun shining on it!

Make It Special:
Also, rather than prattling on about it’s distribution, egg size and mating ritual; focus on its benefits to the environment or the landscape.

Why is it there, not somewhere else? Did we plant it or are we trying to get rid of it? Is it edible or useful around the home? Do butterflies feed on it, does it attract bees or is it poisonous!

All of these things are far more interesting to a child who is new to the world of wildlife and nature. You don’t want to bore them with charts and maps – you want to inspire them with ideas and let them feel like they have achieved something in the process.

You never know where it might lead them in the future!

posted by Catherine on Apr 27

Would you know what to do if you found an unconscious person while out on a walk?

How about if a friend of yours just suddenly fainted, cut themselves, feels unwell, or had a burn? If you said no – or aren’t sure, then you should think about going on an Emergency First Aid course.

Many people only do a First Aid course because they ‘have to’ for work or volunteering – but why should we be forced to do it? Why haven’t you thought about saving your family and friends in an emergency rather than having to help a random person who happened to visit your shop or office?

Why do we wait to be asked to learn such and important skill – we should be climbing over each other to get on a course!

And it isn’t about what to do with the casualty either – it is about assessing your needs as well as those of the patient. And your actions also affect the emergency services and complete strangers who could be 30 miles away from you.

How? Well think of the larger picture as well as just your little part in it.

Just You:
Before helping anyone in an emergency situation – you should check that you are safe to help in the first place – there is no point you getting injured, electrocuted, trapped, burned or drowned as well as the casualty! And if you do get hurt – who will be there to help you?

Don’t forget that 999/911/122 calls will get routed through to the emergency services even if you are in an area with no mobile coverage – so if in doubt about your safety – call them first for advice.

The Casualty:
If you can get to them safely – then you need to assess them before you call the emergency services – as you will need to know a bit more about them. For example, if they are not breathing at all – then those first few minutes could be vital to their survival, so don’t waste them trying to make a phone call!

And you might find that they are not that seriously hurt or were just sleeping! Needless to say that if you do call out a helicopter or ambulance for someone who ends up telling you that they were just sleeping or drunk – you have wasted a lot of peoples time and resources.

photo credit: Artotem

The Complete Stranger:
He was just in his garden at home when he started getting chest pains – they didn’t go away when he laid down so he struggled to the phone to call an ambulance as he thought he was having a heart attack.

He speaks to the emergency staff and they tell him that they will be there as soon as they can – but they know that their last ambulance is on its way to that collapsed casualty in the woods 15 miles away.

Your casualty turns out to be hung-over while that complete stranger is getting worse! There are a limited number of emergency vehicles in any one area – so make sure that you don’t waste their resources by calling them for a non-emergency.

The Emergency Services:
Obviously if you find an unconscious person anywhere who is not responding to your loud voice or a firm shoulder pat (as they could be deaf) – then you should clear their airways and make sure that they are breathing and then call the emergency services for advice.

However, you must assess their situation first to be of most help to them. They have been trained to save lives and have the equipment to do so – but if they are 20 miles away from the casualty then they can’t do their job.

There are also alternative emergency advice solutions – particularly if the casualty is conscious and not in a life-threatening situation. Taking them to one of the many minor injuries or illness clinics is a great first option, calling NHS Direct (UK only) can answer many of your questions and advise you of the best course of action.

But nothing beats getting your own skills in Emergency First Aid – that way you can help your friends and family immediately – and offer the correct help to others in need.

You’ll never regret taking the course – only not taking it.

posted by Catherine on Mar 17

If you are taking a long eco holiday – why travel alone?

When heading off on an eco adventure anywhere around the globe – there is no need for you to spend the whole time travelling on your own – why not meet up with other singles along the way?

If you are planning an epic journey or a working holiday covering large distances overland – then where is the harm in finding like-minded people to travel with – or to meet at destinations for a week or 2 along the way.

Infact, I find that this is the best way to meet people with similar ideas and outlooks to yourself. I mean if you are signed up to 6 weeks humanitarian work in Africa and you meet someone there – you know the type of person they are.

Same goes for people helping wildlife, raising money for certain charities, or just teaching overseas. These types of people are the same as you – so why not search them out and make friends?

Where Can I Find Them?
There are many websites, blogs and social network sites which allow you to talk to other people with similar interests, experiences or plans – and you can hop on board with them and their ideas.

You can also find many more companies simply offering great holidays for singles along the same lines – to introduce people and to share travel experiences.

Such companies offer to help match up people on the road, in resorts or during charity work or wildlife expeditions. Maybe after 8 weeks trekking, you want to put your feet up in a beachside bothy or rainforest retreat – and you want to take that time to meet others.

There are plenty of opportunities to find out about these types of organisations and chat to people who have been there already.

photo credit: [casey]

Why A Singles Holiday?
Well, for a start – there won’t be a single supplement for these places – they won’t expect you to pay extra money for an empty bed!

There are also many people who want to travel but are a bit worried about getting on alone – and these holidays can be just the thing needed to kick start your confidence – a great place to start off from.

All the other travellers at these locations are single travellers too, and so are more likely to chat to you too – so instant conversations can spark up – and maybe even long-term friendships.

Alternatively, you might be a seasoned traveller who just wants to be in great company for a few days at a time inbetween long solitary stints. A nice place to relax where you know you will be welcomed – and won’t be feeling the odd one out with other couples or family groups.

Whatever age, whichever country you are in or from and for however long you want to visit – there will always be something for everyone.

posted by Catherine on Jan 23

Nothing beats actually doing something – so book yourself on a course.

If you are one of those people who says ‘oh, I’ve always wanted to do that…’ then you need to start doing them!

Sometimes they are such simple things, like going to a local castle, walking along a certain coast, climbing a certain mountain – all of which are usually free, but we never seem to fit them in, even though they are so simple to do.

Other things people might not get round to are new skills – or improving existing skills – where courses can be free, or the cost going to a great cause.

You will never learn how to identify fungi unless you get out there and actually search for them; learning bird calls is impossible without listening to the birds themselves and you certainly can’t learn how to manage a woodland, divert a stream or grow your own food from just reading a book!

Local Courses:
So, by booking yourself on to a course with a local agency, charity or organisation, you will finally get around to achieving something outdoorsy and eco friendly – and have a great time learning!

Build You Own Bug House

Here I have listed some courses and talks that I have found available in local advertisings – things that you could easily do:

Sustainable Building Talk – Local Permaculture Group:
Spend the morning listening to a talk by a leading local expert with a Q&A session – and then have a tour of an existing sustainably built and run eco house and get to see what is working where inside and outside.

Make Your Landscape Photography Come Alive – Local Wildlife Trust:
An intensive 1-day course for landscape photography for beginners and improvers. A few hours in the class room first thing to cover the basic settings, composition and equipment – then out in the field to experiment with emotion, light and adding your own style.

Basic Bushkraft – Local Independant Adult Ed Centre
Covering an array of outdoor skills – you will spend the day with adults all experimenting with basic survival skills. These skills include; green wood-working, shelter building, fire lighting, knots and cooking.

A Weekend With A View – Local Youth Hostels
Stay for 2 days at a local Youth Hostel in a picturesque location – with activites and walks planned throughout. Explore the local area and landscapes with your guide before settling down for group dinner and stories in the evening. Wake up to fresh air and a great breakfast and then head off on more adventures till hometime!

There Is Something For Everyone:
Even if none of those sound like your kettle of fish, then hunt around for other adventures to get you outside and exploring – and hopefully learning a new skill along the way.

Whether its an evening with badgers or bats, woodland or heathland ecology, an introduction to beekeeping or butterflies, or maybe rock pools, painting, basketry and bryophytes! You can always find something you like.

So, no more excuses – do what you have always wanted to do!

posted by Catherine on Dec 20

You can get so much more out of your travels if you are learning along the way!

Say you are volunteering at an animal sanctuary in Brazil, and wetland habitat in India or underwater in Fiji – what could be a better use of your evening than learning more about it all online?

I’m sure that you will get plenty of on-the-job training once you arrive – but you could make that 10 times more effective by studying a related course at the same time – in your own language – and possibly with a qualification at the end of it.

So not only would you come home with 3 or 6 months hands-on active experience under your belt, but also a certificate, a diploma or even a foundation degree under there too!

Why Study?
Many people have their ‘career’ qualifications and experience on the one side to pay the bills - but they often don’t get qualifications or certified experience in their passion.  That’s where short course and diplomas, etc, come in – they boost up your ‘hobby’ into an active skill.

I mean, if you love wildlife – and spend many hours reading about it and wandering through woodlands, mountains and open countryside with your binoculars - this doesn’t translate into any quantifiable experience or application of that passion.

So, if you were to apply for a job in this field - you couldn’t really use “20 years of walking outside looking at wildlife” as a qualification could you?

This is where these short courses online could come in really handy for you.  You could get an actual certificate to prove that you have the knowledge and experience in the field – which could hopefully open up a whole new window of opportunity for you.

Add this new qualification to a few months active volunteering in the field with a well-known college, institute or tour company and you could well have found yourself a new vocational path.

Extra Curricular Activity:
Many courses can also require a certain amount of practical experience and may even have many units based purely on hands-on activities like animal care, people skills or habitat management.  And no doubt you will have plenty of things to use a mini projects if you are actively working in the field.

Rather than the usual things like reporting on a local cat rescue centre, or new supermarket near you, your project could be ‘how building a school in a remote village empowers women and children’ or ‘discovering new species of reptile in the pristine forests of Papua’.

Rather than thinking of ways to add extra information to bulk your projects up to 5000 words of whatever – with all the action around you – you may have a hard job deciding what to cut out instead!

posted by Catherine on Oct 22

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Spring is in the air – and you might not ever have to be again!

One of the largest and most comprehensive adventure travel shows is back on the schedule – and gives you plenty of time to start your own research into your next eco adventure!

If you are thinking about a volunteer Gap Year, a few months independent green travel, starting a career in travel writing or just trying something totally different – then the Outdoor Adventure Travel Show 2011 in London is the place you should really be planning for.

Not only are there travel companies galore to visit, but there are also writing and photography seminars, travel clinics and discount clothing and equipment all waiting in 1 place for you.

Who Can You Ask?
If you are thinking about trying something a little bit ‘new’ or stepping out into the wide world for the first time, then you should really get several opinions on locations, projects and transport from experts.

Not just a travel agent – as they tend to sell package deals and flights only – if you want a real eco adventure or to try out some green travel packages, then you need to speak to the people who specialise in that.

In the same way that a car salesman can’t give you the best advice to drive around the world and an estate agent can only give you a few general tips on how to spot an eco home - a high street travel agent can’t really offer green advice based on experience.

You need to weed out the ‘generalists’ and look for the specialists.

The Plan:
Needless to say – if you just turn up to this event on a whim you will still have a great time and gets lots of great information – but you won’t really be gleaming the best of the best.

As the show isn’t until January 2011 – you have 3 months to get researching yourself.  Find out what possible dates are for travel; which countries or regions you are hoping to travel to – and how you plan to get there.

That way you have a rough plan in mind before you come face to face with the experts!  What if there is a great deal on a trip to Asia – but you hadn’t looked into opportunities in that area before – you might go away feeling like you have to start all over again.

What if you had been thinking about travelling from A to B to C – but then find out that you had the seasons all wrong and it will be the rainy season in the tropics - or the dry season when you arrive at fjords or great waterfalls!

If you have your plan already set out in your head, then you can bend and twist that plan once you have discussed a few things.  If you have no plan at all when you arrive then you could be quite overwhelmed – maybe even coming away from the show with 15 years worth of travel ideas rather than the 6-month trip you were hoping for!

The Dates:
Well, the show isn’t until the end of January, so you have plenty of time to get some of your basics together.

Whether it’s toying with a new language, thinking about a route across the globe or worrying about your carbon footprint – start putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and get some sort of structure to your plan.

Check on the Adventure Show website and see what’s on offer and which lectures or workshops might be of use to you in advance and start to give your eco holiday a backbone.  Maybe even set out a budget in advance and plan to buy the things you need at bargain show prices!

posted by Catherine on Jun 13

That just means taking part in a butterfly counting survey to assess the surrounding environment!

A few months ago there was a nighttime lepidoptera survey taking account of local moths – but now the daytime equivalent is approaching – and a lot more people can join in!

All you have to do is go sit in your garden, a local park, national park or nearby woodland and watch the butterflies passing by!  You can even do this on a walk in the countryside or along a riverbank and count the butterflies that you pass by!  Sir David Attenborough will be taking part too – as will Alan Titchmarsh!

It takes place in the height of summer (24th July – 1st August) as most of the native butterflies are in their adult form at that time – and the bright sunshine is what makes them active!  This gives you plenty of time to learn to id British butterflies before the survey…..

Step 1:
So to get prepared – go to their website and download yourself a butterfly identification sheet to show the most common butterflies that you will encounter on the count.

By learning these few, it will help you to better participate in the count as many butterflies look very similar to others unless they land closeby to you and hold their wings open until you have a good look!

By looking out for these species in advance of the count you will have learnt to identify some of the more common types in advance, so you can focus on learning many more species.  If you just turn up on the day with the id sheet, you won’t be able to give as good results as if you had put in a bit of advance research!

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Step 2:
Read the Butterfly Conservation website for great advice about butterflies, moths and our environment.  They believe that these creatures react very quickly to environmental changes and so can be seen as a great indicator or environmental change – hence the survey.

Butterflies are plant specific in that the adults feed (mainly) on one plant species, and their young will feed (mainly) on another single species – and this is where they lay their eggs.  Therefore if certain plants are becoming rarer or more abundant in response to changing habitats, industrial pollution or the effects of changing climate - these species will have to move from one region to another.

By mapping these movements and general trends over time, they will be able to monitor such national changes and try to see if there are any changes we could make to reverse or encourage such trends.

Step 3:
The count itself takes place between the given dates and you can do as many counts you want in that time and in as many different locations as well. 

This means that you can not only help out with the research by submitting more than 1 set of results, but that you can take your new found identification skills out to new habitats to see – and identify – as many different butterfly species as possible.

For example; sitting in my mum’s garden I mainly see speckled woods, in my sisters garden it is large whites and on the South Downs it is peacocks and small tortoiseshells!  It all depends on the proximity of their food and egg plants in the main – and by finding an established sallow plantation (and a lot of luck I am told) I saw my first purple emperor!

Anyway – record your sightings during just a 15 minute period at any time throughout the survey week following the guidelines on the website, and then you have up until the end of August 2010 to submit your results on the website form online.

Step 4:
Now you know how to identify some common butterfly species – why not take part in other surveys in your area for the Butterfly Conservation Trust or other local or national groups?

Any by finding their associated plants you could then learn more about their habitats and start to become involved at a local nature reserve surveying plants as well.  It take time to get to learn identification skills – so you need to get lots of practice.

And once you have the skills – why not put them to good use?

posted by Catherine on Jun 2

If I raise enough money for charity – will it off-set the cost of the flight to get there?

A friend of mine is going to be taking part in a Charity Trek across Patagonia later in the year - but it made me think of the eco side of things – not just the ethical part.

Don’t forget that ethical holidays are all about the people – so raising money for a humanitarian charity and supporting the local population as guides and hosts along the way fit’s the bill perfectly.

But what about the eco friendly side?  Flying a group of up to 70 charity trekkers and all their equipment across the globe to the very south of South America isn’t really carbon-friendly is it?

So, can we justify these as Eco Holidays or Eco Adventures at all? They are for charity – and they all have responsible travel codes of ethics – but the flight is a bit of a sore point.

The Eco Side: 
Well, they certainly offer the particient something to remember – and the experience of another culture and meeting like-minded people in their group.  And no doubt, a large percentage of these people will be taking a holiday anyway – so why not make it count?

Added to this, they will have worked hard to raise the money, sharing experiences with other people and opening other peoples eye’s up to the charity they are raising money for and for the culture and country that they are going to be visiting. 

It’s not like they are going to be a drain on the country either.  There is no chance of my friend just sitting around the pool, eating all inclusive burgers and ice cream!  They will be out taking advantage of the natural world and eating local food cooked by local people – maybe even learning the language too!

Not So Eco:
Firstly, think of a group of up to 70 people all turning up in the same place at the same time.  This is certainly something that is avoided on very ethical tours. And for good reason.

Another friend went to Machu Picchu a few years back with a group of 75 people, and a second group of charity trekkers overlapped them in the same hotel – so that’s over 100 people all blundering around Cuzco at the same time, wanting the same things at the same time! 

All those people booking on to the same plane, creating all that waste – and possibly bringing foreign products into the local stores, just through demand.  And could it create a market for child beggars and child salesmen – taking time off school to make money in the markets?

And – what are you raising the money for in the first place?  If it is for an eco charity like WWF -  should you be using all those resources on your journey – including a flight – to raise money to help reduce the effects of carbon in the atmosphere.  I mean flying to the other side of the world to raise money for a company that is spending their donations on trying to reduce carbon emissions couldn’t be more ironic.

But - I fancy a long horse riding ’holiday’ across the Mongolian plains, living in local homes and eating yak butter - and that would be a great eco holiday if I went there by train.  Now, wouldn’t it be a good idea to raise money for a charity at the same time rather than just save the whole experience all for myself?

What do you think?

posted by Catherine on May 13

There is a very unusual evening event taking place across the UK – but are you too squeamish?

This event focuses on those sometimes scary and often unwanted nighttime moths – but if you read more about them, you will find that they have much to offer your garden and the environment.  And you may even get to like them after this!

The event has been running since 1999, and takes place on a date where the conditions should be best for moths to be out hunting.  This year is falls on the night of May 15th – and there are events all over the country that you could become a part of.

The Event:
Run by the Butterfly Conservation Trust (BCT), this annual event allows you experience the world of moths when they are at their best, and to help the trust to identify species distribution and any new arrivals in the country – for example in 2008 a species was found in Ireland that hadn’t been seen in the UK ever before!

However 62 moth species became extinct in Britain during the 20th century – so it’s not always good news!

This year though, is the first time that the BCT are teaming up with the Bat Conservation Trust (confusingly also the BCT – so BatCT for this article).  As bats are also found hunting at night (mainly the moths you are trying to record!), it seemed the best use of resources to get the people who were already out at dusk counting moths to record and bat activity they saw at the same time.

This extends the nighttime adventures you could have!  Whether you are aiming to just watch from inside you home at the creatures who fly up to your lights, whether you want to head out into the woods and set overnight (live) traps or whether you want to join a group bat watch and get to use their specialised equipment to hear their communications.  It’s up to you!

There are 16 species of bat to be found in Britain – and they all feed on moths!

Habitat Change:
However, as the bats feed on the moths and other insects, they are just as much at threat to land use changes.  This includes your gardens and local parks and woodlands. 

If plants are cleared for driveways and decking replaces grass, there is less food for the insects and less nesting sites for their young – like caterpillars.  Caterpillars need to eat plants when they are growing – and they eat a lot, so rather than only having delightfully ornamental plants in your garden for your own pleasure – make sure there are some local plants still around that they can use to grow and breed.

That way, when they start to eat through young plants, you won’t be tempted to use chemical to keep them away.  And their prefered plants are often fast-growing native plants that can be planted away from your favourites!

The same goes for ponds and other waterways.  Bats are commonly associated with water as well, as many insects lay their eggs in or around water and as they hatch – along come the bats for a feast!

Counting Them:
Take a look at the event website for details on local events or how to make your observations count – and how to download your photos of the event.

You don’t need to buy any special equipment to take part – unless you are very enthusiastic – but there are some easy home-made ways to trap moths of all sizes.  And some are truly beautiful to look at – not all of them are brown or grey!  Take the Elephant Hawk Moth – it’s pink and lime green and a good size!

photo credit: Wm Jas

There are obviously many tips on how to make the night a success – and you never know, you may well find a new species along the way!

posted by Catherine on Apr 24

Should we visit somewhere degraded but in desperate need of tourist dollars – or leave it to recover?

I was talking with a friend about the need to show (financial) support for locations that are in danger of being destroyed by construction or farming, etc – and that the best way to show that an area is worth money as it is, would be to take a vacation there and spend money on local services.

But then I thought, if the location is very fragile or in an area that is highly volitile - would it be better to stay away and let it recover before demanding tours and accomodation to be found (or built)?

Add to this as well, the fact that if you choose not to visit one of your favourite destinations or to see an endangered animal – it might have been your last chance before it is lost forever.

What I Want:

I myself am torn between visiting certain locations around the world as I am worried that my trip there and intrusion in the area could actually be supporting the very things that are destroying it.  But if I don’t go, I will have missed my chance to see something truly wonderful. 

Whether it is to experience the march of thousands of penguins in the frozen landscapes of Antartica, to marvel at the giant tortoises and marine iguanas in the Galapagos or the chance to see thousands of bats at dusk flying from a cave in Borneo – the very act of my ‘eco’ trip could put stresses on the wildlife or habitat itself by changing their behaviour. 

It could also help sustain or even create a market for hoards of others to follow afterwards or even affect the culture of the people who have lived there for centuries.

However, my needs I suppose are only for my own pleasure, unlike the people and the wildlife involved.  Just because ‘I want’ to do something, should I do it – even if the trip is ‘eco friendly’ and ‘responsible’?

The Alternatives?

If I decide not to go myself – how else could I help?  Well, finding a charity or NGO which was working in the area would be a great start, then donating money or time to them will be of endless help.

Don’t forget you don’t need to offer them directly for that specific location or creature, as all their time and funds are intricately linked.  So offering your spare time to them in your local town will ultimately help them spend money to work in the area you are rooting for abroad!  I mean if they are able to spend less money in 1 country, they can spend more in another.

And by creating other demands at home you can affect change.  Examples include the more obvious ones like choosing not to buy certain products, or products made in certain countries, or by subscribing to eco magazines.  Investing in certain energy suppliers or financial companies is another powerful way of showing businesses where you want to spend money and where you don’t.

Even creating a demand for cuddly toys might change future plans for charities and larger companies.  How?  Well, if more and more people start buying toys and products linked to rainforests for example, then it will be picked up as a national trend and things will eventually happen.

Take for example, the current demand for eco friendly cars.  They wouldn’t be making them if nobody was buying them would they?  If people were not so interested in the environment these days – the cars just wouldn’t sell – and as result, they wouldn’t make any more. 

Imagine if in the 60′s before we knew what ‘climate change’ was, they started making hybrid cars that cost more than ‘normal’ cars – would you buy one?  Do you think there would have been a successful business in the 40′s selling carbon credits?  What if someone today set up a charity to help save seagulls or raccoons – would you donate money to them?

Everything you do today, has a huge effect for tomorrow – so don’t rush into anything to quickly.