Author: Megan O'Beirne

ocean blue channel between two islands flows into shallow mangrove area

Climate Adaptation as a Benefit of Community-Based Tourism

Written by Megan O'Beirne on . Posted in Blog, Uncategorized.

Climate adaptation is just one benefit of community-based tourism. Let’s learn why. Anyone who has worked in development or conservation knows that securing funding is one of the biggest, most time-consuming challenges. Tourism is one way to generate and channel funds toward local organizations fighting the climate crisis. This is especially true for community-based and regenerative tourism. Destinations with assets that attract tourists, such as rich cultural heritage and biologically diverse natural resources, are often on the front lines, requiring financing to adapt to climatic threats, from rising sea levels to increased droughts and flooding.

What is Climate Adaptation?

Climate adaptation means adjusting to the current and future consequences of climate change. Consequences include sea-level rise, reduced food security, and increased storm surges. Adaptation focuses on climate justice. This means ensuring those most negatively affected by climate change have the resources necessary to adjust. Global mitigation efforts are also necessary to cut emissions and keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. But local adaptation measures are crucial to ensuring the most vulnerable populations are safe and secure. Now let’s learn how community-based tourism can support climate adaptation. 

What is Community-Based Tourism?

According to Planterra, community-based tourism is rooted in social and environmental justice. Where enterprises are locally owned, income stays in the community, and profits are invested in local development and environmental projects. Tourism can positively impact communities worldwide by creating jobs and training opportunities. Community-based tourism is also one of many essential tools for climate adaptation because it:

  • Channels finance towards local communities and organizations
  • Supports local economies and reduces emissions from imports
  • Drives environmental conservation and ecosystem restoration efforts
small, remote island with lush vegetation and white foam waves crashing on all sides
Although Maldives has contributed little to the climate crisis, the country is on the front lines of its imminent impacts, including rising sea levels, beach erosion, and increased storms.

  1. Channeling International Finance Toward Local Communities… A Benefit Of Community-Based Tourism

orange flower shaped diagram with ‘10 business climate action investments’ in the center
CAP’s Ten Business Climate Action Investments highlight specific nature-based solutions that can help businesses adapt to climate change.

Much of the control of finance and decision-making surrounding climate adaptation is held at the national and international levels, often failing to support local actors to be active agents of change. A 2021 review found that only 46% of finance committed from international sources for climate adaptation was intended to give agency to local actors. Solimar is working on USAID’s Climate Adaptation Project (CAP) in the Maldives to scale innovative climate change adaptation solutions and enhance the climate-adaptive capacities of community organizations, local governments, and the private sector. The project, co-financed by USAID, aims to drive sustainable and inclusive growth by engaging local businesses to invest in nature-based solutions to climate change. By investing in climate adaptation, community-based tourism businesses benefit from the triple bottom line: improving revenue, enhancing community resilience, and protecting and restoring nature. 

 

Local women in B.Goidhoo, Maldives collect beach almonds from under the trees after bats have eaten the fruits and spit out the seed. They are sun-dried and cracked open with a customized axe, then sold to Island Zephyr Guesthouse.

  1. Supporting Local Economies and Reducing Emissions from Imports… A Benefit Of Community-Based Tourism

Local economies produce fewer emissions, as their products and services travel shorter distances to arrive to the consumer. Spending money with locally-owned businesses also supports the network of other local suppliers that may need more access to international markets. Island Zephyr Guesthouse in Baa, Goidhoo in the Maldives was constructed with thatch roofs made from coconut leaves and coir rope woven by local women, and its beds were built from breadfruit trees that were cut down to build nearby houses. Bread, flowers, and seasonal produce are also sourced from local growers and producers, creating synergistic experiences for tourists to see where their food is coming from. Tourists can also participate in farm tours and cooking classes. Not only are these products more authentic, but they also have a lower carbon footprint and distribute benefits from tourism throughout local communities.

  1.  Driving Environmental Conservation and Ecosystem Restoration… A Benefit Of Community-Based Tourism

By developing community-based tourism, destinations can conserve and restore the biodiverse ecosystems on which their businesses rely. Marine ecosystems in the Maldives, such as seagrass beds, coral reefs, and mangrove forests, are essential for resilience to climate impacts as well as cultural heritage preservation. If locals, businesses, and visitors alike celebrate these ecosystems, it will raise awareness about their contributions to climate adaptation. The marine biologists of Maldives Underwater Initiative (MUI) at Six Senses Laamu began collecting data on marine life in 2011. Just ten years later, the entire atoll was designated as a Hope Spot by Mission Blue.

Visitors can experience these unique environments through various tours and experiences and participate firsthand in MUI’s research activities and community outreach. Six Senses also allocates a portion of its revenues to local conservation and community development projects. So, just by visiting the resort, guests directly fund these projects, which are crucial for climate adaptation.

ocean blue channel between two islands flows into shallow mangrove area
The mangroves, seagrass, and coral reefs of Hithadhoo, an island in Laamu Atoll’s Hope Spot, provide crucial cultural and ecosystem services.

How to Support Community-Based Tourism Businesses

The best way to support community-based tourism is by choosing locally-owned, regenerative businesses when deciding where to stay on vacation. One way to find them is by searching for sustainable tourism certifications or within membership networks with criteria for hotels, holding them accountable for environmental, social, financial, and operational standards. Some of these include:

By supporting community-based tourism, we can directly support organizations working on the ground for local climate adaptation. Channeling funds into local economies puts critical finances in the hands of organizations that can have the most significant direct impact on conservation, restoration, and other nature-based solutions to climate change.

Are you interested in learning more about how community-based tourism is an essential tool for climate adaptation? Are you a tourism business that wants to take a more active role in climate adaptation in your region? Visit Solimar’s Institute for Sustainable Destinations website today and enroll in one of our courses.

How to eat sustainably while traveling

How to Eat Sustainably While Traveling

Written by Megan O'Beirne on . Posted in Blog, Uncategorized.

Fall intern Megan O’Beirne has worked as a sustainability professional in the luxury hospitality industry, first in Laamu Atoll, Maldives and then in Cartagena, Colombia. Given her vast international experience and passion for the environment, she has adopted what she calls her “food philosophy” in regards to food on the road. Read on to find out her thoughts on how to eat sustainably while traveling:

We all grapple with the question of what to eat while traveling. Do you maintain a healthy diet or indulge? Do you try unfamiliar flavors or crave comfort food? Is my next destination vegan/vegetarian friendly? Throughout my time living, working, and traveling abroad, I have developed what I have come to call my food philosophy. It guides my efforts to make sustainable choices when it comes to dining on vacation.

Fisherman shucking oysters and urchins by hand on the beach
Eating fresh oysters and urchins on the beach in Cartagena, Colombia can support local, artisanal fishermen.

Putting my Vegetarian Diet on Hold

When I first started studying environmental science, I decided that if I was going to practice what I preach as an environmentalist, I was going to eat a vegetarian diet. Upon further realization that animals still need to be raised to produce their byproducts, and therefore still have the same environmental impact, I thought I had to become vegan. This lasted about six months until I left the United States for the first time and studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. With my first solo steps into the world came the desire to experience every part of the new culture I was immersed in, and a huge part of that is food. I put my veganism on hold while I lived in the land of smoked herring, crispy pork, and Danish street hotdogs.

Various foods and breads on a board
Denmark is one of the world’s largest pork producers, accounting for half of the country’s agricultural exports.

Shifting from Vegetarian to Locavore

When I started working as the Sustainability Manager at Six Senses Laamu, a luxury eco-resort in the Maldives, I was once again faced with a vegetarian’s dilemma. Maldives is a low-lying nation in the Indian Ocean whose 1,200 islands make up only 1% of the country’s territory, while the other 99% is sea. Staples include tuna, chili, and coconut in various forms for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Here is where I came to terms with two important distinctions between cooking for myself at home and eating out in the world. The first is that Maldives has limited land area for crop production. The vegetables that are imported by ship or plane from abroad are not nearly as environmentally friendly as the tuna that was caught yesterday by pole-and-line fisherman with one of the most sustainable fishing methods in the world. 

Secondly, when someone invites me into their home for a meal, I find it difficult to ask for something special to be prepared for me if meat is being served. Sharing food is a universal language that connects people from different cultures, and I revel in trying new cuisines if that means sitting down at the table with someone new. With these sentiments in mind, I began shifting from vegetarian to locavore, or someone who eats locally and seasonally whenever possible.

Tuna, onion, chili, coconut, and banana on banana leaves
Tuna, chili, and coconut are staples of the Maldivian diet.

Do Your Research on What is Locally Sustainable

A few years later, I visited my brother in New Zealand and learned that deer were introduced for sport hunting. The population of the invasive species grew out of control, eventually contributing to deforestation. The deer would eat the pine tree saplings before they had a chance to grow into full-size trees. Hunters were given the task of culling the population, while some were captured for deer farming. Thus, venison chops, sliders, and pies popped up on menus across the country. 

I would never order a deer burger anywhere else in the world, but in New Zealand it made sense because of two more realizations that now contribute to my philosophy. Eating based on where you are is the way to eat fresh ingredients, with a low carbon footprint, that are culturally appropriate, and made by people who have practiced the preparation methods for generations. That deer burger also helped combat deforestation, which seemed like a worthy cause for me to break the environmentalists’ code of conduct and eat meat. There are endless examples of other ways our food systems can be climate positive through reforestation, restoration, and regeneration. Finding these is the key to how to eat sustainably while traveling.

Deer in a field with telephone poles and wires
Deer farming began in New Zealand and the country remains the world’s largest producer and exporter.

The Most Sustainable Diet is the One that is Right for You

Venison in New Zealand, tuna in Maldives, and pork in Denmark made their way into my diet during my travels, but did not reserve a permanent place in my home kitchen. These foods brought me authentic experiences that were closer to the people, religions, economies, and social structures of the communities I visited than if I had stuck to my principles as a strict vegetarian. I now avoid the vegetarian label, even though I cook plant-based meals for myself at home. Instead, I eat based on what is local, fresh, seasonal, culturally appropriate, and on special occasions — whatever the chef or grandmother in the kitchen says is the house specialty. How to eat sustainably while traveling is what works best for you.

We all know we should be eating less meat, buying less junk food, and using less plastic. But at the end of the day, we should all make decisions around what goes on our plate based on what makes the most sense for our own bodies, minds, and hearts. You can learn more about how to travel sustainably from these useful links, or by following Solimar International on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Bon appétit, buen provecho, and itadakimasu!

Two female chefs serving a bowl of soup and smiling
Words of wisdom: always make friends with the cooks and say yes to the chef’s special.
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