CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS
Alessandro D'Agostino
Owner/Garifuna Tours
ITALY/HONDURAS
- I own Garifuna Tours, a tour operator running day tours on the
Honduras north coast National Parks. We count on more than 20
employees and we are leading the eco-adventure market in Honduras.
Web: http://www.garifunatours.com
Jerry R. A-Kum
Professor, University of Guyana/Training Consultant
Suriname
- I am currently an academic at the University of Guyana (Tourism
Department) and a Training Consultant, specialized in Sustainable
Tourism and Sustainable Hospitality Management.
Diego Andrade
Executive Director, Ecuadorian Ecotourism Association (ASEC)
Ecuador
- I am the executive director of the Ecuadorian Ecotourism Association
(ASEC), a seventy-seven member private non-profit organization
created in 1991 with a mission "to foment the harmony between
the Society, the Tourism and the Conservation".
Web: http://www.ecoturismo.org.ec
Rodulfo Araujo
Director, IYM2002
Mexico
- I have several roles in the Mexican adventure sports and conservation,
including serving as director of the IYM2002 program for the
Mexican Mountaineering and Climbing Federation. I am also a
member of the Grupo de los Cien (Group of the 100), which is
formed by mountaineers/climbers willing to support high altitude
mountain huts through construction and maintenance.
Web: http://www.xpmexico.com
Victoria Mailhos Auersperg
Rural tourism technical advisor
Uruguay
Walter Bishop
Secretary, Fundacion Vida para el Bosque A.C.
Mexico - Fundacion Vida para el Bosque A. C. is a conservation
organization that was born out of Aventura Pantera, an ecoadventure
operation.
Web: http://www.bosquevibo.org.mx
Graeme Brown
Project Facilitator
Australia/Cambodia
- I facilitate a project teaches English to marginalized indigenous
people so that they have an opportunity to make income from
tourist guiding. The project began in 1999 and is funded by
AusAid, the Australian Government development aid agency.
Erlet Cater
Geographer, University of Reading
UK
- I am an academic based in the Geography Department at The
University of Reading in the UK. I have been researching into
ecotourism for over a decade now, am co-editor of the book Ecotourism:
A Sustainable Option? and was an advisory editor to Dave
Weaver's Encyclopedia of Ecotourism.
Leon Dempers
Operator, Wildlife Travel Service, Wildlife and Environment
Society of South Africa
South Africa
- I operate an ecotourism/nature travel advisory and broking
service in Johannesburg on behalf of the Wildlife & Environment
Society of SA (WESSA) - this country's oldest and largest, non-profit,
environmental conservation NGO.
Web: http://www.wildlifesociety.org.za
Nigel Dudley and Sue Stolton
Consultants, Equilibrium
U.K.
- We run Equilibrium, a small UK-based research group involved
in conservation and sustainable development. Recently we have
been concerned with the links between tourism and protected
areas; a short examination of some of the problems was included
in our book, Squandering Paradise (WWF, 2000), written with
Christine Carey.
Web: http://www.equilibriumconsultants.com
Angelique Fransen
Executive Officer, WAITOC Association
Australia
- I am currently the Executive Officer to the Western Australia
Indigenous Tourism Operators Committee (WAITOC), an autonomous
organization by and for indigenous tourism operators. WAITOC
was formed in October 2000, after the inaugural Indigenous Tourism
Forum in June 2000 in Sydney, and became a formal organization
in May 2002.
Web: http://www.waitoc.com
Miriam Geitz
Tourism Project Officer, WWF Arctic Programme
Norway
- I work for the WWF Arctic Programme which is based in Norway.
Our geographic area is the northern circumpolar area and encompasses
8 national territories. We work with the code of conducts, cooperate
with local people, industry, NGOs, governments and do a lot
of advocacy work for the cause of sustainable tourism.
Web: http://www.grida.no/wwfap
Altaf Hussain
Anthropologist
Pakistan
- I am working with a conservation organization in Pakistan.
By profession, I am an anthropologist working with development
organizations, donors and conservation organizations.
Diane Jukofsky
Rainforest Alliance
Costa Rica
- I work as director of Neotropics Communications and of Communications
and Education for the Rainforest Alliance, an international
conservation organization whose mission is to protect ecosystems
and the people and wildlife that live within them by implementing
better business practices for biodiversity conservation and
sustainability.
Web: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org
Jacqui Knight
CEO, Enterprise Russell Charitable Trust
New Zealand
- I am CEO of a community economic development group (charitable
trust) in romantic Russell, beautiful Bay of Islands, amazing
New Zealand. "Enterprise Russell" is an NGO that interacts a
lot with both local and central government departments.
Web: http://ernz.org
Paap Kolar
Estonian Adventure Tourism Association (EATA)
Estonia
- I am from Estonian Adventure Tourism Association (EATA), an
NGO composed of independent and reputable tourism operators/businesses
with quality products to promote the local economy by tourism.
I have 17 years of practical experience as an adventure tourism
operator.
Web: http://www.paap.ee/eng/index.html
Carlos Libosada
Tourism Project Officer/Author
Phillipines
- In the early 90s, I worked with the national government as
the first appointed ecotourism project officer. I went on to
develop the Philippine Ecotourism Code of Ethics, as well as
various national documents that helped pave the way to make
ecotourism an integral concept in the Philippine tourism sector.
Additionally, I am author of Ecotourism in the Philippines
(1997), which has been used by local governments as well as
a number of national and international NGOs.
Ron Mader
Journalist/Host, Planeta.com
USA/Mexico
- I'm a journalist and public speaker hailing from the United
States of America and working south-of-the-border in Mexico
as the Latin American correspondent for Transitions Abroad
magazine. I'm also the host of Planeta.com.
Web: http://www.planeta.com
Salum A. Maduweka
Chairperson, Mountains Conservation Society of Tanzania
TANZANIA
- We are engaged in Mountain Conservation and Sustainable development.
Our focus is mainly the grassroots mountain communities whereby
we are working with the communities to bring about socio-economic
changes and emphasize on the natural environmental conservation.
Web: http://www.geocities.com/mountainconservers/Tanzania_mountains.html
Jean McNeil
Latin American Bureau
Canada/UK
- Latin American Bureau is a small non-profit NGO mainly dedicated
to book publishing and development education. We raise the profile
of Latin America and the Caribbean in the UK and Europe, and
specifically our work highlights issues of social and economic
justice as well as human rights as they affect the poor majority
of Latin Americans and Caribbean people.
Web: http://www.latinamericabureau.org
Jennifer Morfin
Training Manager, Mexican Conservation Learning Network (IMAC)
Mexico
- I work at than Mexican Nature Conservation Fund (Fondo Mexicano
para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza A.C.-FMCN) in Mexico City.
I have been working specifically on institutional strengthening
of conservation NGOs around the country.
Web: http://www.imacmexico.org
Antonis Petropoulos
Founder and Director, ECOCLUB.com
GREECE
- I am founder and director of ECOCLUB.com, an internet and
membership-based network operating worldwide in the field of
genuine ecotourism. We operate with not for profit principles,
through a members network organized in a loose hierarchy: Ecolodge,
Expert and Ecotourist/Student Members.
Web: http://www.ecoclub.com
Sergio Salazar Salvati
Programme Officer, WWF-Brazil
Brazil
- I'm responsible for the WWF-Brazil's Tourism and Environment
Program. WWF-Brazil works with tourism where there are threats
to the environmental conservation of a region, or where its
implementation may help in the search for better environmental
and social conditions.
Web: http://www.wwf.org.br
Victoria Schlesinger
Freelance writer
USA
- I'm a freelance travel and environmental writer living in
San Francisco, California. I recently published the book Animals
and Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide. I've covered ecotourism
destinations and issues for Living Planet Magazine and
GoNomad.com as well as worked for the World Wildlife Fund's
membership travel program.
Web: http://www.vschlesinger.com
John Shores
Writer/Consultant
USA
- I am a consultant/advisor/researcher/writer based in San Jose,
California, USA. I have been a funder/grant maker, a grant recipient,
an evaluator of other organizations' funding, a volunteer and
a researcher. The largest portion of my time has been focused
on Latin America, but I have also worked on tourism-related
projects in Africa, Central Europe, Asia, and the Pacific.
Web: http://www.geocities.com/shores_system
Ricardo "Fito" Steiner
Board Director, FUPNAPIB-REHDES
Honduras
- I am president of the Pico Bonito National Park Foundation
(FUPNAPIB) Board of Directors. FUPNAPIB is an NGO which, since
1995, has managed the Pico Bonito Park, located on the Caribbean
coast of Honduras. I am also president of the Board of Directors
of the Honduran Ecological Network for Sustainable Development
(REHDES), an umbrella organization working with 6 NGOs managing
13 protected areas in the Caribbean coast of Honduras.
Web: http://www.rds.org.hn/rehdes
Eleni Svoronou
WWF-Greece
Greece
- I work in the capacity-building program of WWF, which since
1991, has worked in Greece. Our role over time has changed from
helping in the start up of ecotourism in selected protected
areas where we worked to offering capacity building on the difficult
aspects of ecotourism such as: carrying capacity measurement,
visitor impact management, marketing techniques, low impact
infrastructures etc.
Web: http://www.wwf.gr
Claudia Townsend
Research Assistant, ELDIS Program
UK
- I studied and worked at the Centre for Responsible Tourism
in the UK on a number of research projects in collaboration
with international NGOs. I also have some experience working
with smaller, community based organizations in the Gambia and
Virgin Islands. I now work for ELDIS, a web site that filters
and disseminates research and practice on a wide range of development
and environment themes.
Douglas Trent
Founder, Focus Tours/Focus Conservation Fund
USA
- I am the founder of Focus Tours and the non-profit Focus Conservation
Fund. I lived in Brazil for ten years, and spend over 100 days
a year there now. For over 20 years I have used natural history
tours to raise money for conservation work in Brazil.
Web: http://www.focusconservation.org
Richard Tuck
Program Director, COMARCA TURS Nicaragua
Canada/Nicaragua
- I am the Director of the Nicaragua program of COMARCA TURS,
which stands for Marketing and Training Company for Sustainable
Tourism in Nicaragua. The program has been developed by MEDA,
a North American NGO with country offices around the world,
which has focused the main part of its over 20 years of existence
in micro-credit and agriculture.
Reng Yu
Founder, Bangladesh Ecotours
Bangladesh
- I founded Bangladesh Ecotours eight years ago and organized
it in a similar to an NGO, working very closely with the indigenous
people. This was largely a reaction to my experience of working
with/for local and international NGOs as a freelance consultant
for over fifteen years.
Web: http://www.bangladeshecotours.com
Sven Zorner
Director, utila-iguana CPUI
GERMANY/HONDURAS
- I am director of the conservation project utila-iguana CPUI.
This project is a joint project of the Senckenberg Nature Research
Institution and the Frankfurt Zoological Society. Our goal is
to preserve the population of the endemic utila-iguana in its
natural habitat, the mangrove forest on the small Caribbean
island Utila, Honduras.
Web: http://www.utila-iguana.de
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