Shrinking space; traditions and health at risk due to development and pollution On the southeastern coast of the city of Jayapura, Petronela Merauje walked from house to house in her floating village inviting women to join her the next morning in the surrounding mangrove forests. Merauje and the women of her village, Enggros, practice the tradition of Tonotwiyat, which literally means “working in the forest.” For six generations, women from the 700-strong Papuan population there have worked among the mangroves collecting clams, fishing and gathering firewood. “The customs and culture of Papuans, especially those of us in Enggros village, is that women are not given space and place to speak in traditional meetings, so the tribal elders provide the mangrove forest as our land,” Mer...
Read MoreMonth: November 2024
Long before the ancient Maya built temples, their predecessors were already altering the landscape of Central America’s Yucatan peninsula. Using drones and Google Earth imagery, archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old network of earthen canals in what’s now Belize. The findings were published Friday in Science Advances. “The aerial imagery was crucial to identify this really distinctive pattern of zigzag linear canals” running for several miles through wetlands, said study co-author Eleanor Harrison-Buck of the University of New Hampshire. This 2019 photo provided by the Belize River East Archaeology project, researchers excavate sediment that will be sequenced to help them date the evidence of a large-scale pre-Columbian fish-trapping facility in Belize. (Belize River Ea...
Read MoreCoastal destinations worldwide, especially those in vulnerable regions, face mounting threats from climate change, including rising sea levels, extreme weather, and coastal erosion. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Pacific coastal areas in particular, are under severe strain, with rising climate-related displacement and economic losses posing urgent challenges. But whooping US$65 Billion is needed annually to shield coastal and marine tourism from climate crisis, a WTTC report has said. This makes clear that investments in climate action are not just essential but urgent. Addressing world leaders during Ocean Action Day at COP29 in Baku, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) called for urgent climate investment in coastal and marine tourism to protect it from es...
Read MoreLeading Santa Barbara resort sweeps 2024 Boutique Hotel Awards San Ysidro Ranch, a Ty Warner Property, has been named the World's Best Romantic Hotel, America's Best Romantic Hotel and America's Best Honeymoon Hotel in the 2024 Boutique Hotel Awards, the first and only international awards organization exclusively dedicated to showcasing the finest luxury boutique hotels. Competing with over 500 nominees from 80 countries, this award recognizes San Ysidro Ranch's extraordinary commitment to excellence and exceptional guest experience. Wedding Lawn at San Ysidro Ranch Drawing upon a 130-year legacy imbued with history, San Ysidro Ranch prides itself on serving as a serene haven for discerning guests who value five-star service, ultimate privacy, and A-list discretion. A storied re...
Read MoreThe top ten most festive markets in Europe have been revealed, with Kraków Christmas Market in Poland ranking in first position. Travel insurance experts at Quotezone.co.uk have created the 2024 Christmas Market Index to help Christmas loving travellers get the most for their money during the festive season. The index ranks ten popular Christmas markets across Europe based on how festive they are, using factors such as average temperature and snowfall in December, number of stalls and length of days the market runs. The index even measures the distance of the various Christmas markets to Santa’s home in Lapland, with those closer scoring highest in the ranking so that holiday makers can make it the ultimate European festive break – planning trips to visit Santa a...
Read MoreAnantara’s brand new resort opens on the ‘Island of Gods’ Conveying a profound sense of peace, travellers venturing north of Bali’s Ubud to the traditional hillside village of Banjar Puhu in Payangan are rewarded with true seclusion and a slower pace of life as Anantara’s brand new resort opens on the ‘Island of Gods’. Overlooking untouched hinterland as it unfurls in every direction, the resort’s many vantage points from its terraced villas and swimming pools offer a graceful jungle retreat like no other. Anantara Ubud Bali Resort is a collection of 85 modern suites and pool villas cascading down a densely forested hill towards a mountain stream. Contemporary and airy 53-square-metre suites promote relaxation amid jungle views and interiors rich in craftsmanship, with oversized...
Read More“For the first time, we have succeeded in taking a zoomed-in image of a dying star in a galaxy outside our own Milky Way,” says Keiichi Ohnaka, an astrophysicist from Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile. Located a staggering 160 000 light-years from us, the star WOH G64 was imaged thanks to the impressive sharpness offered by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO’s VLTI). The new observations reveal a star puffing out gas and dust, in the last stages before it becomes a supernova. This is an image of the star WOH G64, taken by the GRAVITY instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO’s VLTI). The bright oval at the centre of this image is a dusty cocoon that enshrouds the star. A fainter elliptical ring a...
Read MoreTourism Day at COP29 brought together global leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders in Baku, Azerbaijan to discuss tourism’s role in addressing climate change. On November 20th, gathering tourism ministers, high-level officials, and international organization representatives from nearly 30 states, the event included the signing of a Letter of Intent between the State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan and UN Tourism. This agreement strengthens collaboration on the Enhanced Climate Initiative for Tourism, establishing a global partnership platform to promote low-carbon, sustainable tourism practices. Azerbaijan also announced its official endorsement of the Glasgow Declaration Initiative on Climate Action in Tourism, committing to developing comprehensive climate action plans, prioritizi...
Read MoreTravellers are set to take more holidays in 2025 The appetite for leisure travel is set to continue to grow in 2025, according to a new industry report. Figures from Marriott Bonvoy's 2025 'Ticket to Travel' research - conducted amongst 21,374 adults in ten markets across Europe, Africa and the Middle East - shows that 42% of travellers plan to go on more holidays in 2025 vs 2024, while 81% will do more or the same amount. Consumers surveyed said that they plan to go on 2.3 domestic holidays within their own country in 2025, 1.8 short-haul holidays (four-hour flight or less) and 1.4 long-haul holidays. This suggests that respondents will be doing a total of 5.5 holidays or trips in 2025 – the equivalent of nearly one every two months. Emerging trendsT...
Read MorePterosaurs were cousins of the dinosaurs Newly identified species is named Skiphosoura bavarica It fills a gap in understanding of pterosaur evolution Aloft over the landscape of Bavaria some 147 million years ago was a pterosaur - an ancient flying reptile - with a wing span of about 7 feet (2 meters), a bony crest on front of its snout and a mouthful of sharp teeth, searching for a lizard or another nice morsel to eat. Scientists have unearthed a well-preserved fossil skeleton of this newly identified species, named Skiphosoura bavarica, in a discovery that fills a major gap in the understanding of the evolution of pterosaurs - creatures that were important components of ecosystems during the age of dinosaurs. Skiphosoura lived toward the end of the Jurassic Period. I...
Read More
You must be logged in to post a comment.