Green Holidays

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Who is Ramsar - and why does he run our local wetlands?

Small nature reserves in the UK aren’t just for local people to admire or picnic in - some of them are deemed of international importance! Just like the Great Pyramids of Egypt and the Grand Canyon in the States - we have places in the UK that are of interest to everyone in the world and are therefore protected as such!

Such sites have specific names and acronyms to identify them - and here are a few of them to look out for on your holidays:

UNESCO World Heritage Site:
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Heritage Site scheme is known the world over as amazing locations - but did you know we had a few right here?

Heritage Sites are divided up into Natural, Cultural or Mixed and the UK has 28 in total! (Only 6 countries have more sites). These sites can also include just buildings without any surrounding land - but that is why they have split them up into either Natural or Cultural sites to distinguish between them.

They include Hadrians Wall, Giant’s Causeway, Neolithic Orkney as well as Stonehenge and Avebury - and are a mixture of paying and free sites to visit. Imagine; our stone circles being as important as Macchu Pichu and the Grand Canyon!

Avebury World Heritage Site

Geoparks:
These areas are a relatively new scheme of natural sites monitored by UNESCO to preserve the geography of a region.

Whether it’s the oldest rocks in the world in Scotland or a great landscape feature like the Fforest Fawr - it could be included. The UK has 10 Geoparks including the Cotswolds and the Pennines and may well get more in the future.

Biosphere Reserves:
Again by UNESCO, these parks are focusing on the biological side of the natural world and these park are meant to represent the balance between man and nature - basically they are to be managed sustainably by humans.

The UK only has 9 sites out of a worldwide total of 553 - and they include the North Norfolk Coast and Beinn Eighe - but there have been no recent additions to the UK listings.

Ramsar Sites:
These sites are specifically about protecting international wetlands, and so are focused along waterways and estuaries around the world.

The joining parties wished to make sure that other countries do not abuse or destroy their wetlands and so set up criteria in the 1970’s (in a town called Ramsar) for everyone to adhere to.

They now oversee 1,888 sites across the globe covering around 1,850,000km² in total! The UK has the highest actual number of protected Ramsar sites (168 in total) although Canada has the greatest protected wetland area (130,000 square kms).

February the 2nd each year is World Wetlands Day - and is celebrated with events through many of the wetland sites - as well as other similar sites that are not yet classified as Ramsar.

Hope this helps!

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It’s snowing again! Will it ever stop?

Well, welcome back to Green Holidays and to another blog carnival for a great collection of articles.

So, lets start with every travelers tip of what and what not to eat with a useful guide to eating abroad with Should You Order The Hollandaise Sauce?.

And if you are thinking of having a great spring clean in the next few weeks and don’t want to just throw out your stuff, read these tips for passing on your unwanted goods and having a great day out too! So have a peek at Car Boot Sale Tips!.

Here’s a quick article on the importance of the Argentinian Tango: Save The Tango!

And another on green products that you might need in the cold!!!! So, take a look at How The Olympics is Going Green! | Guffly

And if you are thinking of taking the family dog on your green adventures but they suffer from travel sickness, have a look at these tips to make your journey better and your family complete with Do You Have A Travel Sick Dog?

So, enjoy your trips - and enjoy planning them!!!!!

If you are looking for an easy way to take your green holidays, then you want to look for a company that have plenty of experience - and can offer you an amazing experience.

To save all the effort of researching destinations, then resorts, then hotels and all the individual tours through reputable companies, you can take your first green holiday with the relative ease that someone has done all the hard work for you - and you only need to research them!

This is especially a great idea if you are not 100% up to date with all the green issues surrounding travel and don’t want to end up knee-deep in information that you are not quite sure what to do with.

What Makes Them Green:
Well firstly, they are a non-profit organisation which means that they are not just in it for the money, and secondly a nearly all their holidays involve supporting a community or researching wildlife data.

Examples include working to ‘create a UNESCO Seascape reserve’ in Fiji, and working with Maasai and Quechua communities in Tanzania and Ecuador. They don’t just fly you to these places and leave you to it - they teach you the language and cultures, and then support you throughout your stay.

What They Do:
GreenForce work with many organisations around the world to make sure that they are focusing their efforts in the right places, but also to make sure that they follow agreed code of practices for relevant work and expeditions.

They also make sure that you enjoy yourself as well! Included in most of their expeditions (which can be anything from 2 weeks to 12 months) are trips to the famous sights in that country - for example and elephant-back safari in India or a week in Zanzibar or even a trip to the Galapagos Islands.

They are even carbon neutral - with regards to the flights taken to their destinations.

Where Do They Go:
With worldwide destinations including The Bahamas, South Africa, Fiji, India and Nepal there is something for everyone, everywhere. Prices for expeditions range from £850 for 14 days to £2,400 for 10 weeks - usually inclusive of all food, accommodation and training.

Your green holidays or adventures could include:

• Panda Conservation in China
• Marine Conservation in Fiji or The Bahamas
• Working with the Red Cross in the Andes
• Living and working with the Maasai in Africa
• Teaching in Schools across India and Asia
• Surveying Great White Sharks in South Africa

If you were looking for something particular of something long term, this company can put together bespoke trips to almost anywhere doing almost anything.

You can also offer to work abroad in a paid position for up to a year in Australia or Ecuador for example, and they will support you throughout and assist you in finding work and making contacts.

But Flying Isn’t Green!
No it’s not - and you don’t need to travel to the other side of the world to help a charity or support children or adults in a needy community - but helping kids in an after school club in Wales is nothing compared to teaching English to Nepalese children in the Himalayas.

You want adventure, but you want to be a bit environmentally sensitive about it. And this is where you can do it. GreenForce do not include the flights to the expeditions allowing you to decide how to get there - and for how long you stay.

If you were to sail to South America, travel to Africa by Train or get to Australia by coach (the OzBus) then you could add much more to your adventure. Taking a longer holiday increases you enjoyment of the whole experience and will of course lessen the times you need to travel to different places each time.

Flying to Mexico and then travelling through central America on public transport could save you 5 or 6 separate trips to Belize, Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala for example - saving long-haul flights. You will see the people, learn the language and get involved in anything you want along the way.

If you then add on a boat to Ecuador or Peru, you could stay there volunteering or teaching for a year or more all for the ‘green cost’ or that one flight.

Worth a look: try www.greenforce.org