Flor y Canto

Photo courtesy of Planeta.com’s Flickr collection

A couple weeks ago I conducted an interview with professional journalist, photographer, and activist Ron Mader for the Practical Environmentalist website.

Ron is a one of the most vocal proponents of ecotourism in Mexico, and lives and works in Oaxaca. He is also the founder of Planeta.com, an online resource for global ecotourism and responsible travel. Ron founded Planeta.com in 1994.

I decided to follow up the interview with a series of questions specifically about tourism in Mexico to publish here at Flor y Canto.

Here are his responses. Thanks again to Ron for taking the time out of his busy schedule to do these wonderful interviews!
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In my opinion, Mexico is one of the most fascinating countries in the world. The rich history, the dozens of indigenous languages and cultures, the art, and the biodiversity and landscapes are truly amazing. However, so many people in the U.S. have negative stereotypes about Mexico and know so little about our neighboring country. What do you think are some of the ways that we can help to break down these boundaries and misconceptions?

A – First a shout: “Mr. Bush, tear down this wall!” It is ridiculous that the United States proposes to build a wall along the U.S-Mexico border. We should be opening North America, not artificially segmenting it. Those who build walls are pretending.

It is fairly simple to improve relations among neighbors if we have the proper spaces for dialogue. This is where travelers play a massive role – and particularly if there has been some preparation and a willingness to engage in follow-up. On the ground we just need to open our eyes and have the patience to listen.

You mentioned in the interview for the Practical Environmentalist the idea of “Urban Ecotourism.” Can you expand on that idea a little for our readers, and describe your concept of urban ecotourism in Mexico?

Participants in the first International Urban Ecotourism Conference (2004) agreed that ‘urban ecotourism’ provides an ongoing opportunity to conserve biological and social diversity, create new jobs and improve the quality of life.

When I wrote my guidebook Mexico Adventures in Nature, the publisher did not want to include much about Mexico City. I insisted that DF be included as this the center of the nation and also the heart of great innovation.

When Mexico City gets things right, it shows the rest of the country and the world what can be done.

One example are the new bike lanes and rental outfits in Mexico City. You’ll see a lot of great examples on Balam’s Flickr gallery
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26557081@N00

Tell us a little about some of your more recent projects in Mexico, including the 2007 Rural Tourism Fair and the Colibri Ecotourism Achievement Award.

Since 2001 I have lived in Oaxaca, where we have co-hosted a rural tourism fair each year and invite travelers and locals to a roundtable discussion series called Oaxaca Options.

The 2007 Rural Tourism Fair was our most recent event and attracted nearly 200 people. Things have been tough in Oaxaca since last summer and this fair was an opportunity to help get tourism back on track. On a plus, the photo gallery has been viewed more than 600 times, and I believe that we will see more travel planning conducting via photos in the coming year.

The Colibri Award is presented annually to a leading catalyst working toward responsible travel and ecotourism in Mexico. In 2007 the award celebrates its seventh anniversary, making this one of the longest-running ecotourism awards. The award is announced in celebration of World Environment Day (June 5).

The winner receives a trophy, diploma and a cash award of $1,000 from Emilio Kifuri, president of Canyon Travel.

The first recipients were Juan Carlos Ibarra and Antonio Suarez consultants and community activists.

In 2002 Marlene Ehrenberg won the award for her excellent work as a guide. 2003’s winner was Fernando Garcia Aguinaco A Mexican journalist and photographer.

In 2004 we did something different — present two awards! The winner of the fourth annual 2004 Colibri Achievement Award is Jorge Chávez de la Peña, who developed Mexico’s first university-level ecotourism program. The winner of the first Colibri Lifetime Achievement Award is Hector Ceballos-Lascurain who coined the word ecotourism.

In 2005 we presented the fifth annual Colibri Ecotourism Achievement Award to Jennifer Morfín Morgan for her work in making high tech tools useful for those developing ecotourism. The 2006 award was presented to Steve Bridger for his work developing the timely afterwilma.info website which provided unprecedented coverage of recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma.

Mexico seems to be at a difficult point in history as far as their mass tourism industry goes. Several reports I heard recently on National Public Radio talked about increasing pollution and crime in resort communities such as Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta. Other news that reached the U.S. last year was about severe water contamination in several port cities, also major tourist destinations. The social upheaval in Oaxaca has also kept many tourists away from what is ordinarily a major tourist destination. How do you see these situations affecting the future of Mexican tourism as a whole, and specifically eco-tourism in Mexico?

In U.S. media we have an incredible appetite for news about what is going wrong and we have a growing interest in Mexico. The result is an increase in news about what’s going wrong in Mexico. Not to diminish the problems, but frankly much of the journalism is sensationist.

We are all trying to make sense of the headlines, particularly during times of crisis. The challenge that I see is how Mexico responds. When there are problems, will the Visit Mexico Press Room explain what’s taking place? The Oaxaca example is one I paid close attention and not once in 2006 did the Press Room give any notice that there were travel advisories or problems.

Locals and travelers have options and are taking some proactive actions. Kudos to Steve Bridger who summed up the options for improved communication using Web 2.0 technologies in his presentation: Blogging: Consider the Conversation.

Anything we should pay special attention to in 2007?

Keep an eye on the 20th anniversary celebrations for several of Mexico’s UNESCO Heritage sites – including Xochimilco, Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, Mexico City’s Oaxaca City’s and Puebla’s Centro Historicos, Palenque and Sian Ka’an.

This entry was posted Monday, April 23rd, 2007 at 10:18 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.