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I want to travel the world.
I want to meet people who speak different languages, who live very different lives.
I want to see amazing places, the wondrous beauty that time and natural processes have formed over millions of years.
This is, of course, selfish of me.
To the extent I have the resources and opportunity to do so, it not only distinguishes me from most people who inhabit our planet, to some extent my privilege to be able to travel (not nearly as much as I would like) exists precisely because of the conditions that exclude so many others from this possibility, conditions (political, economic, cultural) that are predicated on their exclusion from just this privilege.
Another way to say it, a conundrum I can find no comfortable resolution to: tourism is a form of colonialism.
Is it possible to travel the world without destroying it?
To indulge curiosity without eradicating those who are indigenous to places I visit on a whim?
To journey with a passport that brings hegemonic dominance along with my patronage of local businesses that exist simply because tourists, like me, exist, displacing other forms of economic development?
These turbulent thoughts converge when I reflect on the magnificent dance of rock and water and altitude that is a waterfall.
Iguazu waterfall:
The semicircular waterfall at the heart of this site is some 80 m high and 2,700 m in diameter and is situated on a basaltic line spanning the border between Argentina and Brazil. Made up of many cascades producing vast sprays of water, it is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. The surrounding subtropical rainforest has over 2,000 species of vascular plants and is home to the typical wildlife of the region: tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys, ocelots, jaguars and caymans.
These Countries Are Banding Together to Protect Iguazu Falls
Iguazu Falls is located near the central meeting point of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, with a river basin that runs along all three borders. Thus, three countries are responsible for the wellbeing of this area, and they are uniting through a cohesive agreement to protect the stunning waterfalls from the effects of climate change.
The borders of this area are all carved out by water from the falls. The Parana River runs south to split Brazil and Paraguay, then crosses the west-flowing Iguazu River that divides Brazil and Argentina. Three cities â Foz de Iguacu in Brazil, Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, and Puerto IguazĂș in Argentina â all benefit from the region. Through the new âTriangle City Cooperation,â the cities are coming together to develop both short- and long-term plans to defend and protect the area against, essentially, ourselves and the impending detrimental effects of climate change.
The Argentine Junglesâ Lessons on Sustainable Tourism
NOV. 9, 2018
In the past two decades, Puerto IguazĂșâs tourism industry has skyrocketed, and today the province welcomes more than a million tourists a year. Though this type of growth can jump-start a suffering economy, it tends to simultaneously deplete natural resources, put pressure on local infrastructure, commercialize invaluable cultural traditions, and beckon outsiders who disrespect the land and locals. Tourism is an industry that survives through exploitation and it often most impacts places that are just the right combination of beautiful, untouched, and vulnerable â exactly how one could describe Misiones. While the main tourist city of Puerto IguazĂș has struggled to alleviate issues caused by the booming tourism industry as a whole â the displacement of indigenous people, a suffering sanitation system, and low food supply â there is no lack of people working to combat already-existing sites of exploitation. Many of these leading advocates just so happen to be in the tourism industry themselves.
In IguazĂș National Park, which sees over 1.5 million tourists a year, plastic water-bottle tops and crumpled admission tickets donât cover the sidewalks. At hotel AmĂ©rian Portal del IguazĂș, warning signs about recognizing and preventing the sexual exploitation of women and children are posted outside elevators. In the middle of the jungle, just off the Uruguay Riverâs ParaĂso tributary, the Yucuma Lodge preserves 10,000 hectares of its property for Guarani communities and sends employees every day to walk local children to and from the one school, nearly five miles away.
Mosi Oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls)- âThe Smoke That Thundersâ
WORLD HERITAGE SITES AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS:VICTTORIA FALLS WORLD HERITAGE SITE
THE AFRICAN WORLD HERITAGE FUND
2020
The Victoria Falls World Heritage Site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1989 as a trans- boundary Property shared between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The property is located on250 55â East and 170 56â South and extends over 6,860ha, (Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park(Zambia), 3779ha; Victoria Falls National Park (Zimbabwe), 2340ha; riverine strip of Zambezi National Park (Zimbabwe), 741ha the remaining area of these protected areas is considered as the buffer zone) on either side of the Zambezi River in the Southern Zambia and NorthâWestern Zimbabwe. The spectacular waterfall stands at an altitude of about 915m above mean sea level (a.m.s.l.) and spans to about 1,708m wide with an average depth of 100mand the deepest point being 108m. Sprays from this waterfall can be seen from a distance of 30km from the Lusaka road, Zambia and 50km from Bulawayo road, Zimbabwe. This property also contains Basalt formations dating back 200 million years in addition to a series of 8spectacular gorges that serves as breeding sites for birds. [pg. 7]
Tourism is increasingly becoming important to the Zambian economy. With the Zambian copper industry in decline and up to 80 percent of the people living below the poverty level, the government has been looking to tourism to provide solution to Zambia's economic woes. The Zambia tourism sector is mainly based on wildlife tourism, Victoria Falls and LakeTanganyika. Zambia receives a large percentage of the regionâs arrivals due to Zambiaâs access to Victoria Falls. Tourist arrivals increased from 111 million in 2000 to 164 million in 2005(Figure 1). The large percentage is also attributed to political instability in the neighbouring Zimbabwe⊠[pg. 4]
The Livingstone main sewerage ponds constructed in the 1980s have not been rehabilitated of recent. As a result the ponds leak through the basement and embankment and sewerage finds its way to Zambezi River. Another source of pollution is sewerage discharge from boats on the Zambezi River. However, some measures have been put in place. The Environmental Management Authorities - Environmental Council of Zambia and Environmental Management Authority, monitor the Sewerage treatment companies on the discharge of effluents. Boats are not allowed to have flush toilets but are strictly required to use chemical toilets.The effects of water abstraction from the Zambezi for power generation are visible when the Zambezi river flows fall below 400 cubic meters. To ensure there is equitable sharing of the Zambezi River waters, Zambia Electricity Company (ZESCO) has put in place a generation reduction scheme. During the dry period when the river flows fall below 400cubic meters, ZESCO reduces generation by a maximum of 40% while maintaining the Zambezi river water level at the water intakes upstream of the eastern cataract at 881.6m.a.s.l.The generation reduction is meant to allow water flow over the eastern cataract of the falls during the low flow periods. [pp.10-11]
Then and now: When silence descended over Victoria Falls
Mark Kinver/ BBC
2 May 2021
In full flow, Victoria Falls easily qualifies as one of the natural wonders of the world. Spanning 1.7km at its widest point and with a height of more than 100m, locals refer to Africa's greatest waterfall as "the smoke that thunders".
This amazing feature is formed as the Zambezi river plunges into a chasm called the First Gorge. The chasm was carved by the action of water along a natural fracture zone in the volcanic rock that makes up the landscape in this region of southern Africa.
In 2019, however, Victoria Falls was silenced.
In a drought described as the worst in a century, the flow of the Zambezi was reduced to a relative trickle and the Falls ran dryâŠ
A single extreme weather event cannot, in isolation, be viewed as a consequence of climate change.
But the region is recording a sequence of extreme droughts that reflect what climate modellers have predicted will occur as a result of an increase in greenhouse gases in the world's atmosphere as a result of human activity.
August 30, 2020
My study looked at one of Africaâs most famous tourism sites, Victoria Falls, also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya, located between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The study examined how the Victoria Falls town tourism industry contributed to greenhouse gas emissions and what the industry was doing to mitigate climate change.
I found that the main sources of carbon emissions were the hospitality, transport and attraction sectors. The findings show that thereâs potential to reduce the siteâs carbon footprint through improving operational efficiency and investigating in green technology.
These findings could also guide other tourism sites â such as Kruger National Park in South Africa, Kariba resort town in Zimbabwe and the Okavango Delta in Botswana â in their efforts to become more sustainable and more attractive to environmentally aware tourists.
Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls is a nature-based tourism resort. As such, it also positions itself as a destination thatâs conscious of its environmental practice. This is its brand appeal. Victoria Falls is an important tourism site to Zimbabwe and the broader African tourism market given several business linkages.
Victoria Falls itself is a fragile ecosystem. It has felt the impact of climate change through severe fluctuations in water flow at the waterfalls.
More than 600,000 tourists visit this World Heritage Site annually from around the worldâŠ
My research found that various activities add to the burden of carbon emissions throughout the tourism value chain in Victoria Falls resort town.
All of the 50 accommodation establishments that participated in the research indicated that their operations were mostly dependent on electricity â which is mostly produced from coal. Drivers of emissions include energy inefficient equipment such as geysers and air conditioners.
Most accommodation establishments had high water usage, which also adds to the environmental footprint of the hospitality industry.
One of the worst contributors to greenhouse gases in the town is the vehicle fleet of the attraction and travel sector. Activities such as helicopter rides add to this, as do a large old fleet of road transport and large SUVs. The aviation sector alone, linking Victoria Falls to the world, is the siteâs biggest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Crownâs Cultural Genocide of the MÄori People of Aotearoa
Dr Morehu McDonald â (NgÄti Hinerangi, NgÄti Mahuta, NgÄti Ngutu, NgÄti Maniapoto) KaihÄpaiRangahau Te Ihu TakiwÄ, Te WÄnanga o Aotearoa.
PÄkehÄ Settler Colonisation of New Zealand was founded on the Crownâs criminal processes of Cultural Genocide of the MÄori, the Indigenous Peoples of Aotearoa. For MÄori, the term Colonisation does not convey the full extent of the devastation and destruction that has occurred in Aotearoa since the arrival of PÄkehÄ Settlers. Colonisation was not a one-off event that occurred 180 years ago which should now be forgotten about. Rather Colonisation is a structure based on the violent and brutal overthrow of MÄori by the Crown and PÄkehÄ settlers to take over the
ownership and control of the whenua from MÄori peoples and nations as the First Nations of Aotearoa. The premise of this paper is that the term of Colonisation needs to be replaced with Cultural Genocide which more accurately captures the intergenerational trauma and devastation that was inflicted on MÄori by the Crown and the New Zealand Government. It also presents a fuller picture and understanding about what has happened to put MÄori in the position where today we continue to suffer inequalities of treatment and to be over-represented in the statistics of imprisonment, failure in health, education, employment and housing, as well as being politically marginalised in our own country. PÄkehÄ Settler Colonisation continues to thrive today with its processes of Cultural Genocide still intent on the Cultural Extinction of MÄori peoples and nations. The Crownâs criminal, racist and white supremacist ideologies of Cultural Genocide entailed the killing of MÄori tĆ«puna defending their homes and way of life; the Crown legislated wholesale theft of MÄori land resulting in the deaths of almost 80% of the MÄori population by 1896, and the on-going deliberate incarceration and marginalisation of MÄori people, as well as the on-going destruction of the MÄori language and culture up to the present day. The Crownâs intent, since the arrival on the shores of Aotearoa, has been the annihilation and Cultural Extinction of MÄori as sovereign and independent peoples and nations with our own lands, with our own indigenous beliefs, traditional knowledge systems, social and political structures, language and cultural practices.
Michael (Mike) Joy And Sylvie Mclean/ The Conversation
APRIL 30, 2019
A recent update on the state of New Zealand's environment paints a particularly bleak picture about the loss of native ecosystems and the plants and animals within them.
Almost two-thirds of rare ecosystems are threatened by collapse, according to Environment Aotearoa 2019, and thousands of species are either threatened or at risk of extinction. Nowhere is the loss of biodiversity more pronounced than in Aotearoa New Zealand: we have the highest proportion of threatened indigenous species in the world.
This includes 90% of all seabirds, 84% of reptiles, 76% of freshwater fish and 74% of terrestrial birds. And this may well be an underestimate. An additional one-third of named species are listed as "data deficient". It is likely many more would be on the threatened list had they been assessed. Then there are the species that have not been named and we have no idea about.
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