Ecotourism and Investment in New Zealand

New Zealand is really a unique place on earth. There is nothing similar to what you can find in New Zealand. Think kiwi (small flightless birds), kiwifruit (fruit of Actinidia deliciosa and hybrids. Actually, it is native to southern China but made popular and commercialised by New Zealanders), Maori and its culture (first thing that comes to my mind is a warlike warrior with tongue sticking out), all kinds of amazing birds and a unique flora. There are no wild animals and no snakes that attack people in New Zealand.

Admittedly, much of its bush cover, lowland forests and wetlands have been destroyed, but there are still have many unspoiled, unsettled, and even some unmapped areas of wild country ideal for ecotourism. For activities, you can go for whale watching in Kaikoura, go bush walking in the Waitakere ranges, try sea-kayaking at Abel Tasman National Park, visit the albatross colony and penguins at Taiaroa Head on Otago Peninsula, look at dolphins swimming playfully at Bay of Islands, walk on a deserted beach, visit the Waipoua Forest walk in Northland, go seal-watching at Kaikoura, go diving to see the Rainbow Warrior wreck in Matauri Bay, explore coastal wildlife and rain forest of the Catlins area, observe penguins at Nugget Point, visit the Fiordland National Park, see rare and endangered birds in Auckland and seals and dolphins in Westland. There is endless things you can do in New Zealand.

Tourism is a major foreign revenue earner for New Zealand. You may want to consider looking for property for sale in New Zealand to take advantage of this. A good alternative to consider is Birkenhead property, which is located located on the north shore of the Waitemata Harbour just four kilometres northwest of the Auckland city center.

Another promising area is property Nelson. Nelson is practically at the center of New Zealand at the southern shore of Tasman Bay and the northern tip of the South Island.

Many people want to holiday in New Zealand for extended periods or even migrate there permanently. My former colleague migrated there immediately after his retirement with his entire family. Why is New Zealand so popular? Well, it has a pleasant temperate climate, unspoilt diverse scenery, great surfing and skiing opportunities plus a relatively low cost of living.

Are you tempted? I am.

Ecotourism in Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country and has the largest rain forests in Central America. Located just 11 degrees north of the Equator, it has a tropical climate. Its series of volcanoes and mountain ranges form a divide between the wet Atlantic Ocean and the dry Pacific Ocean and Nicaragua is also wedged between Northern America and Southern America. Because of these factors, the habitats are diverse, ranging from savanna-like plains to dry tropical forest, sub-montane tropical forest to rain forest or cloud forest. In terms of aquatic habitats, there is also great variety on both Caribbean and Pacific Coasts, volcanic crater lakes, and the largest bodies of fresh water in Latin America. It is one of the most biologically diverse areas of the world and represent an ideal destination for nature lovers. New species being discovered almost everyday.

If you are not that adventurous as to track deep into the forest, there is always Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua. It is located on the southern shores of Lake Managua (Lake Xolotlán). The topography is varied, it has naturally fertile soils with abundant rain and water sources supporting a great variety of flora, many species trees, some of which you cannot find in any other part of the world. Among them are royal palms, chilamates, ceibos, genizaros, pinuelas, pochotes, tiguilotes and Nicaragua's national tree, the madroño. There is also the Tiscapa Lagoon Natural Reserve.

Because of past instability, revolution, and civil wars, much of the natural forest remained untouched (barring logging), making it a heaven for ecotourism. The infrastructure for ecotourism, unfortunately, is also poorly developed. This may be a curse as well as a blessing, for you can invest in Nicaragua for a song. Nicaragua Real Estate described it well. They compare buying properties in Nicaragua to buying beach front properties with stunning ocean views in Malibu or San Diego 100 years ago at amazingly low prices. You may not get such opportunities in the future.

Buying properties is not like buying McDonald beefburgers. It is way more complicated, involving financing and legal issues. Nicaragua Property has devoted a whole page on that at Buying Nicaragua Properties: Legal Process.

If you are not into investing, but only going to Nicaragua for a vacation, Nicaragua vacation Rentals can help you find your dream holiday accommodation.

Enironmentally friendly accommodation

The majority of visitors to this site are from the United States of America, and for the sake of the environment, if you plan to vacation in another place, it would be preferable to chose a place near to your home so as to shorten the journey. It is a good thing that this worldwide online accommodation booking site list all the 51 states of America. Not only that, they have special categories of hotels such as eco green lodging which is most relevant to what this site is all about.

In addition to category of hotels that have adopted environmentally friendly practices, they also have other special categories such as spa resorts, yoga retreats and a few others, even a haunted hotels!!! category for the brave ones.

Unfortunately for our one and only Spaceship Earth which still have no lifeboat, either hotels in the United States have not taken to environmentally friendly practices on a wide scale, or for reasons of their own, are not listing their environmentally friendly hotels with this site because I checked quite a number of America's state, but all those I checked had no environmentally friendly hotel listed. I can't check all the 51 states, so if you happened to be staying in one of those states listed and you check your state, you may just find something. Further, things are not static, and I am sure operators of this site are hard at work, and hopefully before 31st December, 2008, you will find such American eco green lodgings listed in the site without any problem.

Why before 31st December, 2008, you may ask. Simple. With the Special Offer Code SPC7258603, you can get $10.00 off for reservations over $100. But this special offer is not forever. You have until 31st December, 2008 to make use of it.

Ecotourism in Sarasota County, Florida, United States of America

Sarasota County is in Florida, in the south eastern part of United States with its administration seat in Sarasota. It has 2 state parks and have very good beaches. It also has many barrier islands, one of which, Siesta Key
, have one of the best beaches in the United States. More about that later. This a haven for diverse wildlife including ducks, warblers, hawks, ospreys, meadowlarks, herons, ibis, wading birds, waterfowl, migrating birds, wild turkeys, snow geese, bald eagles, hummingbirds, falcons, etc. Dolphins and manatees are aplenty in Sarasota. There used to be plenty of turtles laying eggs on its beaches, but unfortunately the are now few and far in between. But there are conservation efforts going on.

It has Florida's biggest and oldest state parks - the Myakka River State Park. It has excellent hiking trails. The Myakka River, fondly called "Florida Wild and Scenic Myakka River", flows through its woodlands, wetlands and prairies. It is good for wildlife observation and you can go hiking and fishing, among other eco friendly activities. There are canopy walkway for you to take to the treetops and view foliage, twigs, birds, caterpillars, and insects at the tree tops, plus get spectacular views of the entire park.

The other state park is the Oscar Scherer State Park. Its habitats include pine flatwoods, scrubby flatwoods and the hardwood hammock plus varieties of other plants like wild grape, blueberry, cabbage palm, persimmon, prickly pear cactuses, coontie, wax myrtle, mangrove trees and giant leather ferns. You can see rabbits, river otters, bobcats, foxes, indigo snakes, alligators, gopher tortoises and gopher frogs in the state park.

A walk on its beaches can be considered an ecotour for you are likely to find prehistoric sharks' teeth and marine fossils washed up to its beaches from the sparkling ocean water.

If you are a bird watcher, the place to go is the Celery Fields, a low, marshy area drained to grow celery. Its deep lakes attracts many bird species. It is also a site of archaeological findings.

If fine beaches is what you are looking for, head for Siesta Key, a 8 mile long barrier island off Sarasota on Florida’s West Gulf Coast, famous for its white 99% quartz sand beaches. The white sand is very reflective and deflects off the heat from the sunlight so that the beach feels cool and comfortable. The most famous and popular is Siesta Key Beach where the sand is finest. It is one of the best beaches in the United States and have plenty of awards to prove it. However, if privacy and being away from the crowd is what you value, there is Crescent Beach and Turtle beach.

Siesta Key also has lush foliage, mature trees and tropical flowering shrubs, wild sea oats. Its mangroves is a habitat for diverse native birds. In its sparkling green ocean water are dolphins, manatees and other aquatic wildlife.

If you plan to go to Siesta Key, you can do it on line at accommodations, where you can find a variety of choices, including hotels, motels, apartments, condominiums, beach resorts and houses, cottages and suites.

Siesta Key, Florida, United States of America

Siesta Key has the word "Key" in it, but don't get confused and think that it is located in Florida Keys. Siesta Key is actually a barrier island off of the central western coast of Florida situated between Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, just below Tampa. A portion of it lies within the city boundary of Sarasota. It is famous for its beaches, especially Siesta Beach, a long stretch of 99% pure white quartz sand with a texture like refined sugar, and which never feels hot. The beach has won for itself numerous awards including being named the “Best Overall” in the "1987 International Sand Contest", the “Best Sand Beach in America 2004” by the Travel Channel, rated one of the best for walking by National Geographic Traveler, ranked third in the Top 10 US beaches in a poll by USA Today.com reader poll ranked and voted Number 3 in its list of Top 10 U.S. beaches Best Beach 2000 by Florida Living Magazine.

There are other beaches like Crescent Beach and Turtle beach, but are not as popular as Siesta Beach. There are lifeguards on Siesta Beach all year round, but Turtle Beach has no lifeguard. However, you can be sure of getting a parking space on Turtle Beach. They all can be referred to as a crystal beaches because the beaches consists of quartz crystals. There are people who believe that quartz crystals have physical, mental or emotional healing properties, but these are not backed by any scientific studies.

Siesta Key is covered by lush tropical foliage and inhabited by wild rabbits, herons, wild parrots and other native birds, gulls, terns, plovers, pelicans, egrets, herons, ibis, spoonbills, storks, cranes, manatees, dolphins and an estimated 1000 species of fish in the Gulf, bays, lakes, rivers and streams.

If you plan to visit Siesta Key, various kinds of accommodations are available, including hotels, motels, apartments, condominiums, beach resorts and houses, cottages and suites.

Fort Myers Beach, Kissimmee and Panama City Beach for ecotourism

Florida is a lush region with undiscovered areas that will attract environmentally responsible travelers who may come here for activities related to nature like fishing, hiking, biking, hunting, bird watching, photography, boating, canoeing, kayaking and swimming. There may be some particular regions that may interest them:

Kissimmee, Florida

Kissimmee, Florida, has lots of wetlands which is very important for the environment, regulating the river flow, filtering pollutants, is a spawning zones for many species of fish and provide a habitat for a great diversity of life forms. It has also been credited to help prevent floods, absorbing a great volume of flood water. However, the local people took up airboating and retired folk from colder climates came with motorboats, upsetting the balance of nature in the Kissimmee watershed. In 1981, the Resources Rivers Act directed the district and others to provide recreation in "an environmentally acceptable manner" and later a project to restore the Kissimmee River and the associated wetlands was initiated.

Pay a visit to Kissimee to see how they restored the Kissimmee River and the wetlands associated with it. There is also a nearby Lake Kissimmee State Park for nature lovers. Kissimmee is also near to many famous themed park, especially the Walt Disney world Resort which is withih a short drive.These themed parks are enjoyed both by children as well as adult. This means you can kill more than 2 birds with one stone.

For your accommodation needs, visit Kissimmee vacation rentals.

Panama City Beach

Panama City Beach surrounded by a lush region known with well known great biodiversity one of the six most important places for diverse and rare species in the US. Panama City Beach, located in the Panhandle has an assemblage of plants and animals that occurs nowhere else on earth. There are a number of places which will be of interest to nature lovers:

St. Andrews State Recreation Area

This park has rolling, white sand dunes separated by either pinewoods or marshes. There are many dunes covered with sea oats while dunes farther inland are populated with sand pines, scrub oaks, rosemary and other hardy plants that help prevent soil erosion. There are freshwater and saltwater marshes teeming with wildlife and birds. The Button Bush Marsh is frequented by a variety of birds including herons and ibis.

There are many trails for hikers. A popular trial for hikers is the Blue Heron Trail take will take you through various plant communities. There is also the Gator Lake Trail good for spotting alligators and a variety of waterfowl, wading birds and other small animals.

Shell Island

Shell Island is a 700 acre pristine and undeveloped barrier island providing a great spot for sun bathing and for collecting shells. There is an interesting Water Planet's "Swim with the dolphins" program on Shell Island. Swimming is therapeutic and it is said to be able to cure mild to moderate depression. You can snorkel on the shoals where the grass beds are. The seagrass beds are where many marine life starts.

You can find all kinds of lifeforms there including the horseshoe crab (which is actually not a crab but an Arthropod) and is one of the oldest animals on earth. Others include the Blue Crab which is the most common edible crab in Florida, the Stone Crab which is reddish brown and the largest of the mud crabs (harvesting of this crab is regulated), the Ghost Crab (so called because it is difficult to see due to its sandy color and also because it is active at night), the Horse Conk, the largest conch in the world, the Sand Dollar (Phylum Echinodermata) which consist of mainly a hard shell and very little live tissue, The Starfish (Asteroidea) with 5 points and neither head nor tail, right nor left and can move in any direction without turning, the Sea Hare(Aplysia brasiliana) which looks like the garden slugs. the jellyfish and the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) one of the larges birds whose span of the wings can reach 2 1/2 m with a dark brown body, a massive nozzle and a throat in the shape of pocket and the Armadillo.

Like to visit Panama City Beach? Get your accommodation from Panama City beach vacation homes

Fort Myers Beach

Sea turtles come to Fort Myers beach to nest from May 1 to October 31 which have been officially declared as the Sea Turtle Nesting Season. And for this season, these are the conditions set via public notice regarding beach furniture. Summary: "All beach furniture and equipment must be removed by 9pm every evening to behind the permanent dune line or 200 feet from the mean high tide line whichever applicable. shall not be set out in the morning before 8:00 AM or before completion of daily monitoring for turtle nesting activity by Turtle Time, a non-profit organization authorized by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission to conduct daily sea turtle nesting monitoring." So Fort Myers Beach is one area you can observe turtle laying eggs, something that is getting rare.

There is the Lovers Key State Park is especially known for its gulf and estuary bird life.

There is also the 12 mile long Sanibel island, known for ecotourism, whose 6,000 residents fiercely protect its natural beauty. You can find bike paths but no chain restaurants or structures taller than the tallest palm tree. There is the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, with more than 5,200 acres of mangrove ecology ands home to manatees, alligators, otters and other creatures.

North Captiva Island is known for its known for its dazzling white sand beaches, lush tropical vegetation and shelling with thousands of perfectly shaped shells along the shoreline. There are no cars on North Captiva Island. Other activities available on North Captiva include boating, fishing, nature walks, birdwatching, biking and diving. Note that nude bathing is popular on one side of the island and you may want to avoid that part if you have children with you.

The seven-mile-long Estero Island is a protected island with abundant population of dolphin, manatees, and other marine life. Little Estero Island Critical Wildlife Area is a popular sandbar for birds making rest stops from a major flyway. For a boardwalk trail into mangrove and gumbo limbo forest, go to Matanzas Pass Preserve. At the northern tip of Estero Island is Bowditch Point Regional Preserve whose beach is a shelter for gulls, terns, sandpipers, and many number of other shorebirds.

For a diversion from nature, you may want to pay a visit to the well preserved winter homes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford in Fort Myers itself along along the Caloosahatchee River. Edison had a love exotic plants. The prolific inventor had a huge botanical garden, and brought in plants from all over the world. There is now a 400-foot wide Banyan tree from Calcutta, India. in his garden.

Book your accommodation online from Fort Myers Beach vacation rentals.

Ecotourism and Eco tourism, which one is better.

Tried to find some article which discuss which is better (more widely used term) but couldn't find any. So did the next best thing, googled "ecotourism", "eco tourism" and "eco-tourism". Result of the "test":

Results 1 - 10 of about 5,310,000 for ecotourism
Results 1 - 10 of about 2,360,000 for eco tourism
Results 1 - 10 of about 5,290,000

The blog title stay as "Enviroment and Ecotourism".