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Minister of Tourism Milinda Moragoda took part in the third annual meeting in connection with the Borobudur Declaration, on the invitation of the Indonesian Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Jero Wacik. The signatories of the Declaration: Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam agreed in 2006 to cooperate on a 5-year plan of action to preserve and promote, through sustainable cultural tourism, a Trail of Civilization, which links prominent Buddhist heritage sites located in these six ASEAN countries. Left: Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda looks on as Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife leave the stage at the end of the cultural performance of The Trail of Civilisation at the Vesak celebrations held at Borobudur, Indonesia. Left: Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda looks on as Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife leave the stage at the end of the cultural performance of The Trail of Civilisation at the Vesak celebrations held at Borobudur, Indonesia. Sri Lanka, although not a signatory to the Declaration, was invited to participate at this event both at a ministerial and technical level. Vidya Jyothi Ashley De Vos, accomplished architect, archeologist and preservationist, assisted Minister Moragoda at the sessions. Through this process, Sri Lanka will seek to link up its prominent Buddhist heritage sites to the Trail of Civilisation initiative and thereby become a bridge between South and East Asia in the promotion of Buddhist cultural tourism and pilgrimages.

The Costa Luminosa is the first ship in Italy and one of the first in the world to be equipped for "cold ironing", whereby vessels are plugged into shoreside electrical power. The ship conducts 100% waste separation, recycling of aluminum, glass and other waste streams such as production of water from desalination plants.

The Costa Luminosa is also cutting-edge ship in terms of environmental compliance, which has always been one of Costa Cruises’ distinguishing features. The Italian Company stands out on account of its environmental excellence and innovation. The Costa Luminosa is in fact the first ship in Italy and one of the first in the world to be equipped for "cold ironing", namely a system whereby vessels are plugged into shoreside electrical power, enabling generators to be shut down during stopovers in port. This is a way of further reducing the environmental impact of ships when they call at ports.

Like the other 12 members of the Costa fleet, the Costa Luminosa and Costa Pacifica are among the most advanced ships in the world in terms of environmental design, management, compliance and energy saving. Costa Cruises is in fact the only cruise company in Italy that has an Environmental Management System developed in accordance with the requirements of UNI EN ISO 14001/2004. Costa’s is the only cruise fleet flying the Italian flag, and therefore the only line whose cruise ships are subject to often more restrictive environmental, safety and social accountability regulations. In any event, Costa Cruises not only operates in accordance with the prevailing laws but also, where possible, seeks to preempt the legislation, setting itself higher standards and more ambitious objectives by means of internal procedures that go beyond the scope of mandatory requirements laid down by (local, national and international) regulations.

The commitment to safeguarding the environment and to corporate social responsibility in general is reflected in particular in Costa Cruises’ Sustainability Report (consultable online at www.costa.it/azienda/costaelaresponsabilitàsociale), a purely voluntary form of reporting designed to provide comprehensive and transparent information on the effects of corporate activity on the environment and the community. The Sustainability Report has its roots in the application of the "B.E.S.T. 4" (Business Excellence Sustainable Task), an integrated management system that encompasses four types of voluntary certification of corporate compliance with the highest standards in the areas of quality (UNI EN ISO 9001, issued in 2000), environment (UNI EN ISO 14001, 2004), safety (OHSAS 18001, 2007) and social accountability (SA 8000, 2008), guaranteeing the measurement of company performance and continuous improvement. Costa obtained the B.E.S.T. 4 from RINA (the Italian Shipping Register) in 2004, thus becoming the first company in the world to do so.

The following are key components of Costa Cruises’ environmental excellence:

• the Green Star notation assigned by RINA;
• 100% waste separation of shipboard solid waste;
• no solid waste is discharged overboard (food waste is processed separately);
• no special waste is ever discharged overboard;
• approximately 400 m3 of aluminum and 2100 m3 of glass from Costa’s ships were sent for recycling in 2007;
• most of the water used on the ships in the Costa fleet is produced directly on board using desalination plants;
• discharge at sea of sewage and gray water only at a distance greater than 12 miles from the nearest land, instead of the 4-mile limit stipulated in the international regulations;
• double bilge (oily water) separator;
• fail-safe "white box" system enabling a further check of the oil content of effluent water;
• sampling and analysis of engine and diesel generator emissions;
• sampling and analysis of incinerator emissions;
• monitoring of electromagnetic emission levels (Guest and crew areas);
• adoption across the fleet of the Ballast Water Management Plan (compulsory only in the US and Brazil);
• regular audits carried out by independent organizations;

In addition, numerous energy- and fuel-saving measures have been introduced or are being piloted on board:

• use of ecological silicone-based coatings for the ship’s hull. These antifouling coatings enhance hydrodynamic performance and reduce the growth of microorganisms on the hull surface without any toxic effects;
• an awareness campaign aimed at Guests and crew and designed to rationalize the consumption of electricity and water on board;
• use of low power consumption LED light bulbs;
• enlargement of reverse osmosis desalination plants to produce potable water on board;
• installation of an automatic lighting control system designed to adjust the ship’s external lighting in accordance with the current sunlight intensity;
• economizer enabling the recycling of hot water produced by the engines for heating in the cabins and public areas;
• optimization of the air conditioning system in the public areas: the airflow adjusts automatically in accordance with the presence of people in the room and the outside temperature.

Costa Cruises believes in and actively promotes responsible tourism: its shoreside excursions are also organized in accordance with this priority. Costa offers various eco-tourism excursions, comprising visits to parks, oases and nature reserves, with programs that minimize the impact on the ecosystem and create economic opportunities for the local communities.

Costa Cruises’ environmental commitment goes beyond its ships. Waste separation is carried out in all the Company’s Italian offices as well as in the Savona Palacrociere, the cruise terminal managed by Costa. Meanwhile, April 17, 2008 marked the official commencement of the innovative "Palazzo Costa" project, an architectural plan to extend and redevelop the Company’s headquarters in Genoa. The new offices will be a perfect blend of creativity, innovation and respect for the environment, with certain features that will be at the cutting edge of Italian architecture. For example it will be one of the country’s first buildings with "zero C02 emissions on site".

Environmental awards and recognition

Throughout its sixty-year history the Company has always paid a great deal of attention to economic, cultural, social and environmental issues, constantly striving in pursuit of the right balance between development and conservation. This is borne out by the many achievements and widespread recognition it has attained in the environmental field.

In 2005 Costa Cruises became the first company in the world to receive the "Green Star" across the fleet from RINA; this prestigious notation certifies that all Costa’s vessels comply with environmental standards for the prevention of pollution of the marine environment and it is actually stricter than the prevailing provisions of the international MARPOL Convention.

Further confirmation comes in the form of the partnership established in 2005 with WWF Italia, which Costa Cruises is supporting in the efforts to safeguard the marine environment. Starting in 2009, this partnership has been devoted to a project protecting the Mediterranean Sea.

In 2007 Costa Cruises endorsed the very first version of the voluntary "Venice Blue Flag" agreement designed to safeguard the environment and heritage of Venice. The initiative, which is promulgated by the local Municipality, Harbor Master’s Office and Port Authority, is designed to reduce air emissions. Under the terms of this major environmental undertaking, Costa Cruises, along with the other signatories to the agreement, adopts standards for all its ships calling in Venice that are actually stricter than the environmental compliance provisions currently in force.

For three editions in a row since 2005, the Swiss branch of the tour operator Kuoni has bestowed on Costa Cruises the Green Planet Award, which is the highest seal of eco-approval in the travel and tourism sector, for the exemplary ecological management and performance of its ships, aimed at minimizing their environmental impact.

Confirming its role as a major player in the field of environmental compliance, in 2007 Costa also entered an agreement with CIAL – the National Consortium for the Recovery and Recycling of Aluminum -for the separate disposal and recycling of aluminum packaging on board its liners, a first for Italian shipping.

Elsewhere, in 2005 Costa launched a project of collaboration with the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission for monitoring climate change in the Mediterranean.

Last but not least, on April 22 2008 Costa Cruises participated in "International Earth Day", through the promotion SEED (Steiner Evergreen Earth Drive) launched by Steiner Leisure, Costa’s partner in the management of its shipboard spas. For every Guest who experienced a treatment that day at one of the wellness centers on board the 12 Costa liners, Steiner Leisure planted a tree (donation of $1) in support of the "Arbor Day Foundation", which is the world’s largest tree-planting organization.

With the House recently passing an energy bill that places large emphasis on forest carbon offsets, it is time for everyday citizens to learn facts about global warming. A new report by Rare Conservation outlines how the developing tropic zones and global deforestation are crucial to mitigating climate change.

From Wild to Web, an ecotourism-based wildlife monitoring project in Guyana’s Yupukari village was announced as a winner of the ECOCLUB.com 2009 Ecotourism Awards. The sixth annual eco-project competition, with a theme of “Their Crisis, Our Communities – Progressive Change through Social Ecotourism,” asked for “innovative projects that meet urgent needs, help create ‘another world’ at the grass roots level and improve life for all in their communities.”

Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd has reached agreements to develop four solar power plants in

China, Reuters reported. Deals were signed with the governments of Shaanxi and Qinghai provinces as well

as the Shizuishan and Panzhihua city authorities. The Shaanxi development will generate 300 megawatts,

while the remaining three projects will be 500MW each.

KAKTOVIK, Alaska — With its passengers bundled against the arctic wind blowing off the Beaufort Sea, the small boat speeds smoothly across the lagoon. We pass the "bone pile" — the place where the unused remains of Native-caught bowhead whales are left — as we arc around a sandy point and into the adjacent lagoon. With temperatures in the 30s and a light wind blowing, we’ve just left the Inupiaq village of Kaktovik. Our destination is Bernard Spit, just off Barter Island.

"I can see two, three, there are four bears," our guide Bruce Inlangasak says above the slap of the water against his 15-foot, open-topped boat. Such are his keen, trained eyes. I struggle to make out shapes among the gray sand and bleached driftwood. Then, what I think are chunks of ice catch my attention, and slowly, as we get closer to shore, four polar bears come into focus.

Inlangasak reduces our speed, and we move slowly toward shore. The bears, naturally curious, look up — one cranes its long neck to the sky, sniffing the wind — but they hardly pay us any mind.

We float and watch. The bears watch back. It’s enough. They don’t have to do anything to be awe-inspiring. Smiling into the wind makes my face colder, but I can’t get rid of my grin. My wife is smiling too. My 4-year-old son, Silas, softly calls, "Here bear, here bear."

Inlangasak nudges the engine and we move down the beach toward two young males. One runs across the sand dunes as we approach. Despite his size, he lacks nothing in speed, and is soon on the ocean side of the spit.

"Most of the bears are used to us coming around now in boats," Inlangasak, a Native Inupiaq, says in reference to the guided boat tours he offers with the help of other villagers. "He must be a recent arrival (to the area). That’s why he ran, but he’ll get used to us."

Farther on we sight a large pile of driftwood, but it isn’t until we are parallel with it that we find a big male "loafing" in a hole. (Yes, loafing is what biologists call it when these creatures just hang out all day.)

"That looks like a good spot to sleep off a belly full of whale meat," Inlangasak says. "The bears gorge at night at the bone pile, then sleep it off on the beach."

Soon, we encounter a sow with two cubs that Inlangasak estimates to be almost 2 years old. One of the cubs plays with a dead bird, tossing it about like a rag. Then Inlangasak spots what becomes the highlight of the ride.

"I see one swimming," he says, scanning the lagoon. "It’s playing with something too."

We move along to check out other bears loafing up and down the beach as the swimming nanook (Inupiaq for polar bear) slowly swims to the beach. Giant paws breach the water as the bear roles partially onto his back, and then raises his head toward us, sniffing. Before his arrival, we briefly beached the boat to watch the sow and cubs. The bear exits the water and sniffs our landing spot, then swims back in our direction. He is obviously curious about us. Inlangasak starts the engine and the bear holds his distance, swimming around us for several minutes before finally heading toward the sow and cubs.

This is how the afternoon passes with us as the latest clients in Kaktovik’s fledgling effort at locally led polar bear tourism. From the sound of it, business is picking up. Warbelow’s Air Ventures has been flying tourists in, and other tour operators are starting to send clients as well. Inglangasuk has a rotating list of Inupiaq residents who take small groups of people out by boat to see the bears. Those looking to go it alone can contact Inlangasak.

Inlangasak explains that 30 people went out on boats the previous weekend to see bears. There were more before that, and Inlangasak says he expects plenty more in the years to come.

It’s not hard to understand the allure of these giant white bears. Regal and majestic, but also somehow cuddly, there is a natural magnetism that draws us. Add the sense that their future is in doubt, and it translates into heightened public interest in seeing bears. Worldwide, there are 19 known polar bear populations, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Two are in Alaska— the other is in the Chukchi Sea on the western coast. In May 2008, the polar bear was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act after research indicated the sea ice vital to the bears’ existence is declining. The decline is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

"Threatened" status means the bear is at risk of becoming endangered or faces possible extinction. Computer models referenced by U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who assigned the threatened status, predict potential extinction in as little as 44 years.

Bear protection also falls under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which "prohibits take and harassment" of polar bears.

Inlangasak, who has guided in the region for three years (2009 is his first by boat) and assisted with the BBC filming of "Blue Planet" and Animal Planet’s Top 10 Predators series, says there has always been an interest in seeing polar bears, but he believes the threatened status means more people now want to see the bears.

"Some say they just want to see the animal in its natural environment. Others say they want to see them before they are extinct," he says.

"We have climate change, global warming," he adds. "People are wondering what these bears are going to do."

Polar bears have historically used the barrier islands and sand spits around Barter Island as a resting place, a feeding place and a stopover until winter sea ice forms. However, the possibility of seeing large numbers of bears in one place can be linked to the local whaling. The greatest numbers of bears loafing in the area are typically found in September and October, just prior, during and after the time Kaktovik residents hunt bowhead whales. Fish and Wildlife monitoring dating back to 2002 (for September only) show a high degree of variability in bear numbers: a high of 61 bears in 2003 and a low of 25 in 2006. Data for 2009 is not available, but villagers reported between 36 and 54 bears in the area. We saw 20 on my two-hour boat trip.

The Inupiat of Kaktovik have lived with the bears in relative "harmony since the beginning of time," Inlangasak says. Every family in Kaktovik has a story about a polar bear in their entryway or taking a nap under their house. Now, however, they also view the bears as an important economic resource.

"Maybe this is your first time being close to polar bears, but this is a usual thing for us. But we’re excited for the people who come here," says Annie Tikluk, Kaktovik’s mayor. "We want to see these tourists go out with local guides. It’s good for our people."

Boat-based polar bear viewing in Kaktovik is a new effort to match local expertise and knowledge about polar bears with outside interest in seeing bears in their natural habitat. But as interest in polar bear viewing increases, the question of how to manage this new form of people-bear interaction comes up. To this end, the village, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, which manages the nearby Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, will draw up a management plan to regulate polar bear tourism.

The idea is not to limit or in any way inhibit polar bear viewing, but to ensure the prolonged health of both the bears and the activity, explains Jennifer Reed, visitor services coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Our interest is in the polar bears, but we recognize economic opportunities are good for the village," Reed says.

Reed says guidelines are being evaluated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Kaktovik residents, including guides like Inlangasak.

"We want something that actually works, that’s effective and addresses the tendencies and circumstances people find themselves succumbing to when they are around polar bears," Reed says. "We want to ensure polar bears aren’t disturbed."

This effort to develop tourism that takes advantage of local knowledge and experience and contributes to the local economy, with an overarching agency mandate and concern over polar bear populations is a challenge, and it is playing out on the ground in Kaktovik.

One area where another type of polar bear watching is ongoing is the bone pile, which is situated on private land several miles from town. It is here that large numbers of polar bears congregate beginning at dusk for a free dinner. Accessible by truck, the road to the pile runs adjacent to the town airstrip, which is surrounded on either side by water. The trucks of residents mix with tourist vehicles from a lodge — everyone is there to watch the bears.

Among a flurry of gulls, three polar bears are tugging at the carcass. A 50-plus foot whale was caught several days before, and the pickings are still good. We stick to the truck as the bears feed shoulder to shoulder. Other bears arrive, some from the water; others wander slowly down the road. Five, six, eight at a time — bears of all sizes find their place to eat. One bear with a bad rear leg hobbles into the scrum before moving out with a large hunk of whale. Locals and tourists alike are concerned for his fate, and we all wonder at the cause of the injury.

A roar breaks the silence. A big male stands face to face with a near equal, bellowing in front the whale’s rib cage. Deep and guttural, large white teeth flashing, this is the first sound we hear from a bear. Powerful. We head back toward town. On the right, three bears swim toward the bone pile while another walks on the shore edge. On the left, a sow with cubs crosses the runway and skirts along the beach; only her ears are visible above the roadway.

For further info head to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32490&Cr=touris&Cr1=

Over 60,000 InterContinental employees worldwide will participate in responsible business workshops to enhance their understanding of how they can personally be involved in global geotourism initiatives across the globe that enrich the understanding of environmental and cultural responsibility among both InterContinental associates and guests worldwide.

A new environmental project by Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier, Horizon Air, at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is aiming to reduce aircraft fuel consumption, emissions and noise. The airlines are coordinating with the Port of Seattle, Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the project, dubbed "Greener Skies", by using satellite-based flight guidance technology pioneered by Alaska Airlines to descend more efficiently and reduce aircraft fuel consumption, emissions and noise in the Puget Sound region.

Five more leading air carriers have been accepted as members of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users

Group, Bernama has reported. In a statement issued from Seattle, Boeing said the new members were

Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacifi c, TUIfl y and Virgin Blue. They join Air France, Air

New Zealand, ANA, Cargolux, Gulf Air, JAL, KLM, SAS and Virgin Atlantic as part of the airline-led

industry working group include, of which Boeing and Honeywell’s UOP, a refi ning technology developer, are

associate members. The User Group was launched last year to help accelerate the development of sustainable biofuels.