Eco Tourism

At the southern tip of the world’s longest barrier island, South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center is a spectacular introduction to a world-class destination, and a doorway to all this vibrant sand, sun, and surf hotspot has to offer. A slender thread of land between the shallow Laguna Madre and the rolling Gulf of Mexico, South Padre Island anchors the World Birding Center with nature adventures in every season.

Welcome to the southern tip of Africa. Here, two great oceans meet, warm weather lasts most of the year, and big game roams just beyond the city lights. This is where humanity began: our ancestors' traces are still evident in fossilised footprints 80 000 years old, and in the world's oldest rock paintings. Today, South Africa is the powerhouse of Africa, the most advanced, broad-based economy on the continent, with infrastructure to match any first-world country. You can drive on wide, tarred highways all 2 000 kilometres from Messina at the very top of the country to Cape Town at the bottom. Or join over seven million international travellers who disembark at our airports every year. Two-thirds of Africa's electricity is generated here. Forty percent of the phones are here. Twenty percent of the world's gold is mined here. And almost everyone who visits is astonished at how far a dollar, euro or pound will stretch.

The SNEA is the new name for the Ecotourism Society of Saskatchewan (ESS). The ESS was established in1998 and grew out of the Saskatchewan Watchable Wildlife Association, founded in1992. The SNEA's updated name and accompanying changes to the constitution reflect the member's interests to broaden the scope of the association.

Let MEA be your expert ecotourism guide to this enchanted land. We have been operating safe, organized ecotours for families, groups and individuals since 2000 and have developed a number of unique itineraries, some of which include the most remote areas in Southern Mexico and Central America. When you travel with MEA you can raft the white water of the Rio Platano, trek rain and cloud forests, explore Tikal and Copan with local guides, snorkel turquoise Caribbean waters rich with parrot fish, do serious birding with local experts, chase rare butterflies, ride a mountain bike through Guatemala, and relax and reflect in one of our world class lodges at the end of your day. MEA ecotours provide direct benefits to the environment and people of Mesoamerica. Our local partnerships facilitate unique adventures and provide you with an opportunity to experience a deep connection with the flora, fauna and people of this amazing area.

The Kazakhs are an extremely hospitable people. If you come to a Kazakh home unexpected you will be received as if you had been invited. Traditionally every guest is offered national Kazakh cuisine at the dastarkhan (the low table) in the yurt. Principles of respect towards guests and older people are taught to every child as well as peacefulness and tolerance. These are the national features of Kazakh culture and tradition and are evident in everyday life.

This is the inaugural Global Ecotourism Conference, which TIES, in partnership with a national or regional ecotourism association, will be organizing every five years starting in 2007, in the co-organizer’s country. As the first major global conference on ecotourism since the UN’s International Year of Ecotourism in 2002, the Global Ecotourism Conference 2007 will review and celebrate the achievements in the ecotourism field, as well as assessing challenges facing the industry. This conference brings together national and regional ecotourism associations and networks from around the world, along with other interested organizations and individuals, to discuss common issues and to help strengthen the collective voice of the ecotourism community.