Why a blog about my work?

Product development for Community Based
Ecotourism Pu Luong Nature Reserve
Northern Vietnam

How do you reply when people ask "what do you do for a living?".  Can you answer with a job title or profession, or does it take a long description?

To simplify, I tend to say either "Conservation, Protected Areas Management, Environmental Education, Tourism or Sustainable Livelihoods Consultant", depending upon project, but to be accurate, perhaps the following would be more appropriate:

"I am a consultant who specialises in tourism resource planning; sustainable rural livelihoods; ecotourism; sustainable tourism; community based tourism; pro-poor tourism; wildlife tourism; visitor access management; environmental education training and delivery; curriculum development; capacity building, tour guide training, health & safety and risk assessment analysis and training; development of interpretation plans and materials, visitor's centre design and management; composing grant applications; value chain analysis; project design, and from time to time, national and international staff recruitment...

...I work with rural communities; protected area management authorities; rangers; forest and marine guards; commune, district, provincial and national government departments and ministries; local and international NGOs; school, college and university groups; the tourism private sector as well as the occasional tourist!..

...I work in national parks, nature reserves, marine protected areas, world heritage sites, countryside recreation areas, rural communities, local and international schools, colleges and universities...

...and then there's the cross cutting themes like climate change, gender issues, HIV/AIDS and so on".

But that is quite a mouthful... I have just decided to call myself a "Heritage Management Consultant", as finally "Heritage" is becoming a word that is being increasingly used and understood in tourism/development media.  I hope the posts on this blog will provide some detail of my work and achievements over the years.  I've written chronologically, with my most current work first... I've tried not to present all my work as huge successes, nor as pessimistic tales of doom, but some sort of balance in between.  Click on some of the links on the left column, under "about me" for more projects and work.... Click on pictures in the blog, or the link at the end of each post for more photos.

1er Forum Eco-Citoyen des Enfants de Phnom Penh

450 Students from 15 Schools attended

Working with Phnom Penh French School, I supported the organisation and development of Phnom Penh's first Eco-Citizen forum.  Working over six months of preparation that included developing partnerships with schools, NGOs and charitable foundations, the forum spread the concept of Sustainable Development and Eco-Citizenship beyond the simple and often misunderstood concepts of environment, and expanded into cultural participation and so on.  

A key goal was to provide young people living in Phnom Penh an opportunity to participate in the City's sustainable development and decision making process, which was warmly supported and accepted by His Excellency Kep Chuktem, the governor of Phnom Penh, as well as the French overseas development agency and the Embassy of France in Cambodia.  Schools included two private schools, three charitable school foundations with the remainder state schools. 

Student representatives with the Governor

The forum's objectives were: 

• Educate children about the issues of sustainable development in Phnom Penh.

• Provide activities that promote the development of Eco-Citizen attitudes both individually and within the wider community.

• Offer an environment for young people to express, debate and reflect on ideas of sustainable development.

• To facilitate the implementation of joint actions for young people and sustainable development.

450 students from 15 Phnom Penh Schools, along with a another 200 teaching, NGO, foundation and support staff attended the main forum day on 12th May 2012.  The day was split into three main components:  Stands, Workshops and Discussion Groups, using the following themes:

Theme 1:  Living in a safe and quality environment (ensuring sustainable human development):
Theme 2:  Managing and sharing resources for the future (inter-generational solidarity):
Theme 3: Produce and consume differently (to make choices for sustainable development)   

Discussion groups were facilitated to allow young people provide their opinions on the following topics:

• What can we do with our

  

  Student reps in the
  Governor's office

  waste? How to produce less waste?
• Where to play? Where to go? Where to meet in town?
• How to eat healthily in Phnom Penh?
• How can we improve our safety on the road?
• How can we live with new technologies safely? 
• How can my family help me “grow” as a person?
• Where can we play sports in the city ?
• What does the notion of "solidarity" mean?

On 13th June, students presented the results of the discussion to the Governor, which were warmly received.  For more details, please visit the forum blog here (in French).

PATA Adventure and Responsible Tourism Conference, Paro, Bhutan February 2012

The Tigers Nest monastery, Paro Valley

Bhutan, the land of the Thunder Dragon.  Thanks to PATA, The Pacific Asia Travel Association and the Tourism Council of Bhutan, I was able to attend the Kingdom's first international Responsible Tourism Conference in February 2012.  To many Bhutan has almost mythical status as both a tourism and spiritual destination.

From a tourism industry perspective, it is one of the few countries in the world that does not seek to massively increase its tourism industry, and one that actively manages most of its tourism through a rigorously enforced "minimum daily spend", and thorough per-organization of all visits.

My hotel - the Ugyen Phendeyling

Tourists, with the exception of Indian, Bangladeshi, Maldivian and Sri Lankan must pre-organize their visit with an approved and registered Bhutanese operator and pay a minimum spend of $250 per day, per person ($280 if in a group of four or less), making budget travel virtually impossible.

The fee is broken into two components, a $65 royalty that goes directly to healthcare projects, the remainder being used for trips... you pay the same whether in a tent or up to 3 star hotel... but you can upgrade to a variety of higher star accommodations, and of course pay significantly more.

 

Capped Langurs by the Tiger's Nest

Currently Bhutan receives around 33,000 fee paying tourists, with another 11,000 or so mostly Indian visitors.  The full fee includes all transport and is fully guided.  As conference guests we were except from the fee, which also gave us the relatively unusual benefit of being free to do what we wanted without a guide, on top of conference activities and tours.  Just walking around the valley, it was clear that few locals had met with any foreigners before, even in Paro valley, where most tourists will visit at least once.  Something amazing being invited into someone's house who's never met a foreigner before for tea!

Prayer flags are ubiquitous in Bhutan

So what is Bhutan like?  In short, amazing.  Visiting in February where the nights reach minus 15 but with daytime temperatures of plus 15 and stunning blue skies, visible wildlife and a strong Bhutanese culture and identity, it is different.  People are well educated and support their cultural identities and want to maintain this, on the whole.  Pristine environment, windy roads, monasteries, prayer flags, shrines, and some of the most distinctive food ever... the main staple is the chilli pepper, spiced up with even more spicy chillies, served with melted cheese and red rice.  Its the hottest food by far I've ever tasted.

The conference itself was different, probably because of location, and that Bhutan is considered a specialist market.  The opening was by Anna Pollok, a leader in promoting industry wide responsible tourism, and not just a marketable niche product.

 

With the guides in Thimphu

Is Bhutan worth the fee?  Well, that depends whether you've the money or not!  But one thing's certain, they won't be scrapping it in the foreseeable future.  

For Bhutan, Gross National Happiness is the economic system that governs the country's development, it will be interesting to see if this model is exported to other countries in the future and indeed can be maintained in Bhutan long term.  For more pictures click here