Planeta.com Announces the Winner of the 2007 Colibri Award
On June 5th, 2007 in Oaxaca de Juarez, Mexico, Francisco Verástegui received Planeta.com’s prestigious Colibri award for ecotourism. Francisco created Mexico’s first city map of notable and historic trees for the city of Oaxaca.
Ron Mader, the founder of Planeta.com and the creator of the award says about Mr. Verástegui,
Verástegui’s passion for Oaxaca’s urban parks and gardens has never been stronger and in the spring of 2007 he collaborated with colleagues in producing the map Árboles Históricos y Notables.
Francisco Verástegui receives the Colibri Ecotourism Award for his work in protecting the historic and notable trees of Oaxaca City and raising awareness of the urban environment.
Verástegui was born in Mexico City and is an artist. He has lived in Oaxaca for twenty years. Mader goes on to say about Francisco and the award,
“Ecotourism depends on the leadership of individuals exemplified by Francisco Verástegui who are resourceful when creating new linkages connecting tourism and environmental conservation.”
You can find out more about the Colibri award here. This in an interesting choice as many people associate ecotourism with rural areas, national parks, and protected areas. It is exciting to see the definition of ecotourism expanding to urban areas and the possibilities to protect natural resources within larger cities.