Great things happening to save Kenya’s fragile environment

Since the Blog Action Day came up, I’ve been looking about to see what I should write about on this day. Of course, growing up and living in Kenya means that it I am passionate about the place, and I’d really like to be able to share that in some small way with the rest of the world. I picked on tourism as it is one of the top four foreign exchange earners in this country and it is vital that we conserve our tourism and that we encourage visitors to come to Kenya and see our beautiful country but also have respect for it too.

Statistics show that spending by tourists makes up 12% of our economy and about half a million Kenyans depend on the travel industry for a living so it is absolutely vital that we take care of it.
Kenyans are generally well aware of this fact and are most definitely making more of an effort with regards to sustainable tourism development and promoting practices that will conserve Kenya’s natural environment and improve livelihoods of associated communities.

Ecotourism Kenya is a civil society organization that is now doing exactly that and pursues its vision of making Kenya’s tourism sustainable by:-

• Managing the Eco-rating Scheme, a certification system for tourism accommodation facilities in Kenya
• Managing the Eco-warrior Award, an annual award that recognizes outstanding tour operators, accommodation providers and community groups in Kenya
• Conducting educational and training programs for stakeholders in the tourism industry, with an emphasis on community groups
• Conducting surveys and research on ecotourism and sustainable tourism
• Providing advisory and consultancy services in areas of research, planning, management and policy development on issues relating to ecotourism
• Supporting communities implementing community based tourism initiatives
• Maintaining a database of ecotourism initiatives in Kenya

So now you’ve all got a taste for the great things that we are trying to do for our country please come and visit us and put in your contribution to saving our beautiful environment.

For the most eco-friendly safaris, go to www.ecotourism.org and search through the tourism accommodation facilities on their site that have been certified in the Eco-rating scheme.