Green Circuit Launched at WTM

Press Release
London, 11th November 2009

Launch of the Green Circuit

“I hope initiatives like this also start in other parts of the world ”, said Fiona Jeffrey, head of World Travel Market, as she launched the official website of the Green Circuit, www.thegreencircuit.net

Raj Gyawali of socialtours.com in Nepal initiated the Green Circuit through a dialogue between specialist tour operators throughout the Indian Sub-continent. The key partners are Socialtours.com in Nepal, Help Tourism in North Eastern India, Grass Routes in Orissa, East India, The Blue Yonder in Kerala and Ecosphere in Spiti Valley, Northern India. Each tour operator, is an expert in their respective region and specialize in deep rooted community based responsible tourism initiatives.

Asit, Sandeep, Fiona, Gopi, Ishita and Raj Photo: Steve Dunlop

Now this is unusual and worthy of attention, because in South Asia most tour operators offer packages all over the country without having even set foot in the places they sell. However with the Green Circuit you have a unique collective of operators dedicated to ethical and sustainable tourism at a grassroots level. The accountability is much higher because they live, breathe and work in the very same communities they conduct their tours. In every instance responsible tourism lies at the core of the companies ethos and is reflected in their initiatives. Responsible Tourism is their reason for being and it’s what unites them to form the Green Circuit.

The Green Circuit is literally an eco-tourism loop that circles the Indian subcontinent. Made up of individual tours with a definitive focus on natural and cultural heritage; each tour (handled on the ground through respective operators) links together to explore the subcontinent's astounding diversity.

This is a really refreshing approach. Rather than competing against each other as traditional tourism businesses often do, the Green Circuit partnership exemplifies an invigorating spirit of collaboration. Each tour operator in the Green Circuit is a committed expert in their chosen field and offer unique tourism product specific to local environmental and cultural conditions. Each tour is the result of years of research and hard work. I’m not talking about long hours in an air-conditioned office here; these guys literally ‘walk the talk’ braving basic infrastructure and mind-boggling bureaucracy to create inclusive eco-tourism initiatives. This willingness to work together on the Green Circuit can only be the result of confident transparent operations and clear focused intentions. For partners of the Green Circuit this and their united approach to responsible tourism is something they share. Drawing strength from individual specialities, it’s only natural they collaborate on the Green Circuit to further develop, share and promote responsible tourism in the region.

And the benefits really are manifold. The Green Circuit creates a great learning opportunity as operators share advice and ground level experience. A lot of theory on responsible tourism already exists, but actual documented accounts and practical tips from the grassroots is rare, at least as far as the Indian Sub-continent is concerned. While each operator will have indigenous solutions for their respective areas, there is always scope for different perspectives to shed light on common problems. The Green Circuit opens a dialogue between operators traditionally isolated by geographic distance and a conscious decision to focus efforts on the field. It provides a perfect platform to share experiences, develop ideas and grow collectively.

Apart from helping each other the Green Circuit was really conceived to present travellers the very best eco-adventures from the Indian Subcontinent. Tapping into the Green Circuit links travellers to a trusted independent network. What impresses me most about the Green Circuit is the recognition granted by one responsible tour operator to another. That each operator finds faith and sincerity in the other’s work is a huge vote of confidence that speaks volumes about the integrity behind the Green Circuit and the circle of trust uniting each responsible tourism partner.



Contacts

info@thegreencircuit.net

www.thegreencircuit.net
www.socialtours.com
www.theblueyonder.com
www.grassroutesjourneys.com
www.helptourism.com
www.spitiecosphere.com

Green Circuit Celebrity Launch in London!

Green Circuit, an idea mooted by socialtours - Nepal is now a partnership between 5 responsible tourism operators in the India Sub continent. Social Tours, Grass Routes, Ecosphere, The Blue Yonder and Help Tourism are coming together to provide a unique network of responsible holidays in the subcontinent.

Green circuit proves the fact that tourism industry can work together and complement each other, rather than competing with each other other. Green circuit features various destinations covering Nepal, Eastern and Western Himalayas, West Bengal and North Eastern India and South India.

We welcome you to join us at the official launch of Green Circuit at World Travel Market - London. Fiona Jeffery - Chairman of WTM and Just a Drop, will launch the initiative on the World Responsible Tourism day on 11th November 2009 at the stand of International Centre for Responsible Tourism - India (AS4600 / 03).

The paradoxes of being Nepalese

I was hoping that I would not write about this incident, but thought it best to record it, while it is still fresh in my mind. Have a previous post also that can be linked to this one, as that also are incidents which bring mixed emotions...

also read: a nation of contrasts

So, we are visited in Ghana by a Nepalese adventurer, Lok Bandhu Karki, who is cycling around the world and is somewhere in the middle of his trip (57 countries in 4.5 years so far). His target is 113 countries in nine years. So when some of our Nepalese friends here decided to call him for dinner and also invited us, we were naturally excited. What an adventurer. Big rush. Nepalese friends got together for the dinner.

Mr. Lok Bandhu comes in the door, in his daura surwal, with a big traditional Namaste and a folder in his hands. All is well so far.

Then expectant ears over drinks and dinner only heard, from this adventurer, a call for financial support, and we realise that the big folder is not a record of his experiences but a record of the letters of appreciation and the money that he has received so far, 40,ooo + dollars in all. He was not here to meet fellow Nepalese, and tell them of his travels and adventures. He had only come here to ask for money and wanted to pressure Nepalese around the world, whereever he went, into 'pushing' him forward financially, as he, according to himself of course, was a messenger of peace and brotherhood, and was distributing leaflets to this effect all around the world.

What a letdown! What does one do in a situation like this? Just another of those situations.

Would not have even written this blog post, but after 'begging' up 1345 USD from the Kofi Annan Center in Accra and the Indian Association, our messenger of peace and harmony wrote us a text message, saying that this was the city where he met the worst Nepalese so far! That after one of us put him up in his house for three days and gave him 160 USD for his visas (not to mention the Red Label bottle he emptied), one brought him to his house for dinner and also contributed about 30 USD, and me (stupid me) in my infinite "useless" wisdom, offered to build his online presence and support him doing that through facebook pages, twitter and blogs, for the next four and half years of his travels. Oh and yes, I did not give him any financial 'push'!

OK, me being me, I also gave him a little piece of my mind! Just told him about this very dilemma in my mind!

So, am still confused, am I proud of him or not?

Cylone Aila Update / Sunderbans

Small gains in the support of victims of Cyclone Aila - Report from Asit Biswas, www.helptourism.com

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Dear Friends,

1.With the initiative of the Sunderbans Affairs Department, repairing of embankment finally began today – especially in Gosaba, Basanti, Satjelia, Mollakhali and Kumirmari area. Our volunteers led by our coordinators Mr.Anil Mistry, Mr.Shambhu Sinha Roy, Mr.Arabinda Biswas, Mr.Subhash Mandal, Mrs.Archana Biswas, Ms.Moyna Poira, Ms.Nibedita Gayen, Mr.Subhashis Mistry, Mr.Chidam Mandal, Mr.Badal Mandal, Mr.Mahadeb Gayen, Mr.Dinabandhu Mandal, Mr.Debashish Mistry are providing supervisory support to speed up the repairing works in Bali. Ms. Madhu Reddy – a film maker who is in Sunderbans now and is trying to document the situation there accompanied our team who visited Dayapur, Pakhiralaya, Satjelia, Mollakhali and Kumirmari today to check the progress. Madhu reports that:

· Repairing of embankment could not be started at Lahiripur, Chargheri, Kankmari, Parashmani, Kalidaspur, Baidyapara area as the villages are still submerged and are inaccessible because of wide breaches in the dike. There lies nothing in between the water and people – not even a single tree. It is impossible to believe or imagine that there ever existed a dike that ran few kilometers before the Cyclone hit – she says!

· The villagers have taken shelter on the highland. They have lost everything and do not even have any utensils to cook food and store drinking water. There is shortage of man power and materials required for the repairing. Many interior villages have not received adequate relief support as yet as they are completely cut off. The fallen trees could not be removed from the village tracts making it impossible for the relief workers to reach these villages even by a motor rickshaw or bicycle.Our team is planning to return to these villages on Monday with appropriate relief materials.

· The only primary health centre at Mollakhali that caters to several villages is getting flooded with Diarrhea patients. There is shortage of medicines and saline. Our team has left 200 bottles of saline there today as an emergency support.


Government of West Bengal is seriously planning to construct concrete dikes for long-term solution to the breaching of clay embankments by tides and storms and is reported to have been in touch with Central Government as well as Government of Japan for financial assistance/ loan as the project requires huge fund.

2.Sunderbans Affairs Department is supplying free cloths and ration to the villagers who are engaged in the repairing of embankments.

3.Mr.D.P.Jana – a retired officer of Indian Administrative Service and former Member Secretary of Sunderbans Development Board carried a truckload of relief items such as cloths, rice, pulses, cooking oil, drinking water, and milk to Bali Island yesterday and handed over the consignment to our team there. Our volunteers have distributed the relief items today to some remote villages in Bali Island where relief support had not reached before. Today they visited few villages in Satjelia, Mollakhali and Kumirmari and distributed relief items there.

4.Mr.Gurudas Kamath – the State Minister for Telecommunications in the Central Government undertook a field visit to Sunderbans day before yesterday. He visited the affected villages of Gosaba and Basanti Islands and stopped for a while in Bali Island and met our teams and took stock of the present situation. He was particularly curious to know as to how the telecommunication and postal departments faired during and after the cyclone. He was accompanied by the officers of the state telecommunication department whose performance deserves special appreciation as the wireless phone system installed by the department was the only functional communication link between the delta and the mainland when the cyclone was at its peak.

5.Nearly 700 contaminated ponds in Bali Island have been totally dewatered as on date with the help of Sunderbans Development Board, local communities and our volunteers working round-the-clock. By Monday we hope to clean another 300 ponds making the number to 1000 and thus benefiting 6000 farmers provided we have a normal monsoon in the delta.

6.Mr. Patrick Francis and Ms.Sangeeta Ganeriwala – two Board Members from Samarpan Foundation visited our health camps in Bali Island yesterday. They carried a consignment of many useful medicines along and confirmed that they would adopt few damaged houses in the village and provide the finance for few new tube wells.

For Cyclone Aila 2009 Support Group
Asit Biswas, Calcutta, India.
13th June 2009.

Small gains, some progress - Aila Update!

Dear Friends,

1. Several villages in Satjelia, Choto Mollakhali, Kumirmari and Patharpratima are still water-logged though pump sets are being used to take out the salt water from the ponds and farm fields. Many villagers here have taken shelter on the boats and are even using their boats for moving inside the Island since the roads are totally washed away and can not be reconstructed until the area remains under water.

2. While the relief operation is more or less organized now, the immediate task would be to clean up the fresh water ponds and pumping out the saline water form the villages and start the rehabilitation process – the people of Sunderbans feels. Another area that needs attention is the housing. No concrete and comprehensive plan has been announced so far. Villagers living in temporary shelters will face great difficulties once the monsoon hits the Islands. It is still not known if the Government is planning any specialized housing scheme keeping in mind that cyclones might hit the delta again in future. Dewatering of farmlands must be completed before the monsoon arrives so that villagers are able to plant crops and can manage to ensure the basic need of food.

3. Most of the inhabited Islands are now affected by Diarrhea. The hungry tide has rolled back its waves away into the sea, but the tide of patients continues to raise everyday with very limited number of doctors available to handle the situation. There is dearth of medicines and mosquito nets. In the absence of qualified medical practitioners quack doctors have been engaged to provide support though they may not be able to take the pressure for a long time. Supplying drinking water to remote villages has not been possible yet although many tube wells have been repaired and new ones are being erected.

4. A medical camp has been set up at the premises of WPSI Conservation Centre-Sunderbans Jungle Camp in Bali Island with a team of Doctors sent by Samarpan Foundation. The team will hold camps until 18th June and so far more than 800 villagers have received treatment. With generous support from WPSI, Kedar Bhide of Sumitomo Chemical Corporation, Samarpan Foundation and Sunderbans Jungle Camp medicines, saline and Olyset mosquito nets are being provided to patients from the camp free of cost.

For Cyclone Aila 2009 Support Group
Asit Biswas, Calcutta, India.