Announcement - Nominations for 2010 Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award open until end of November
Bonn, November 2009

The Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award is a collaborative effort between the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Planeta.com, with the support of the Heidehof Foundation, to showcase best practices in web-based technologies helping indigenous people manage tourism in a biodiversity-friendly way.

The award is presented to indigenous tourism operations for their websites that promotes sustainable practices and biodiversity conservation, and educates visitors on cultural protocols. Globally, indigenous communities are the stewards of significant amounts of land with rich biodiversity, and many of them promote sustainable tourism as an additional livelihood option and as a means to share their culture and educate visitors on traditional knowledge. By identifying best practices in this segment, the CBD and Planeta.com, with the support of the Heidehof Foundation, aim to enhance the biodiversity component of indigenous tourism products, to aggregate value to their operations, and to contribute to awareness raising on biodiversity with visitors and hosts alike. This year, the award is part of the celebrations of 2010 as the International Year on Biodiversity.

The first version of this award was given out for 2008, to two leading indigenous operators. This initiative complements other activities of the CBD in building capacity of indigenous and local communities, such as the workshop series on indigenous tourism, biodiversity and web-based technologies.

Timeline

Self nominations will be accepted through November 30, 2009. Confirmation of eligible candidates occurs in December 2009. Voting for the popular award takes place online in January and February 2010. Jury voting takes place online in February 2010.

Winners of popular and jury voting will receive the award in April 2010 at a sustainable tourism trade fair, the Reisepavillon in Berlin, Germany (http://eng.reisepavillon-online.de/). On this occasion, they will also meet with leading operators and agents dedicated to sustainable tourism, and will receive technical support at a workshop on innovative Web-based tools for marketing and communications. A publication on the award, its winners and the lessons learned, will be launched at the Reisepavillon, and distributed in many networks and on the Web.

Criteria

The Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award creates an opportunity
for indigenous people and communities to improve their websites. Among the
criteria for selection, the website should ...

  • be regularly updated
  • link to other relevant sites
  • reflect indigenous ownership, authenticity and heritage
  • encourage sustainable livelihoods, respect of life on earth
  • be user-friendly
  • be trustworthy
  • provide clear contextual information
  • have text in English
  • add the award logo

Bonus points to applicants making the most of Web 2.0 channels!

Further information:
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/awardsitbw.html
http://planeta.wikispaces.com/itbw

Contact:
Ron Mader
editor@planeta.com