The

9 SEPTEMBER 2022 | Vol 208 | Issue Nº4| £ 4.95 | 7.99 €

GuardianWeekly
+ + +
Goodbye Glaciers No man’s land Wake-up call
Ethical dilemma of ‘witness to Life on the Road Galapagos Islands
believe’
 Inside Editor’s Note

As the holiday season hits, global “PURSUIT OF PLEASURE”

warming gets left behind
FEATURES
Shift in Travel Trends
3 Pursuit of Pleasure
Shift in Travel
Trends

4-5 Pannonica -
As the summer holiday season draws to a close, it seems a good time to review where
we have been, and what we have done while we were there. Down here on earth we had fires
again, and the heat was pretty alarming. The sun doesn’t feel like a mother anymore, well
at least not while she’s burning us and our wildlife. I am not one hundred per cent sure, but
one of the reasons for this destruction could be the cause-and-effect relationship of the busy
traffic in our skies, both, before and after the pandemic. Once the lockdown nightmare was
L uscious, magnificent or
majestic are three words used to
describe feeling of power and de-
something that is a little bit more ethical
on the environmental front, then they’ll
come up with those products, not because
Suburb of Cairns, Photo credit:Jorge Láscar
plan their holidays. - “If there’s a sense that
there are enough people out there who want
thing sustainable. Once when they die what
will people come back to?” Looking back on
a positive side, there are already ways to
start the change yourself. One of the people
whose life has been changed due to crisis in
Unique Salty Lakes over, the only leisure-related things that we were really moaning about were delayed flights sire, all of them can be ticked by they’re good people, not because they’re the world is Soraya Abdel-Hadi. In 2014 she
Situated In The and the price of fuel going up. Both of which are extremely poisonous for our environment. going on one spectacular holiday. saints, but because they think there’s a left her ‘dream job’ as a journalist to make a
Heart Of Tuzla market for this.” There are many different difference. After she finished her degree in
Human behaviour often sends different ways people can pursuit pleasure with- sustainability for businesses, she went wild
If you are one of those people who feels that something must change, you are correct. signals and messages about human inter- in the harmony of the nature and envi- camping and canoeing on the Mississippi
7-8 Dripping Down You are also in the right place. A lot of things must change, and our lifestyle is one of them. action with the world. We often want to ronment, such as a choice of transporta- river. Combining the three things she likes:
‘Till Doomsday – I know some of you may think: “Why me? Why do I have to change, when we have people look up to someone when we make our life tion, or reduced distance of the location. nature, sustainability and adventure trav-
Goodbye Glaciers in power to make the best decisions for us?” Clearly, they are not doing much, but have choices and follow up the norms of society. One of the examples of media influence el, Soraya shares her experience through
you ever seen a successful artist without the crowd to support them? It’s all about the Technology operates in cycles of constant
Ethical dilemma of emphasizing people’s idealistic expectations net-positive artwork and writing. In her view
law of supply and demand. Every single one of us belongs to the collective of this planet. growth, meaning that the time we spend in a we can see in the case study of Cairns, Aus- social media can come in handy if we share
‘witness to believe’ digital world has increased. Feels like we are
The Earth is our home. We should all make sure that we are demanding preserva- tralia, where the urban plan contains a lot of our positive experiences with the world, but
always trying to imagine things better than palms. Palms are not part of the natural sur- it can also be a major issue when we try to
tion of our home and campaigning for survival, but I’ll leave you to be the judge of that.
8-9 “No Man’s Land” they already are. Like not much of the time roundings, but as a tropical destination peo-
portray a certain image, e.g., going to a cer-

“
Life On The Road in real world is left for us to enjoy. Relaxing ple expect to see them. Cairns already has tain place just to take a photo. Soraya shared:
There is no need to emphasise that everyone loves to travel. Going on on the sofa or savouring a delicious meal: its figs as a part of beautiful green sphere.
holidays means that we can live those days as a new person. As an individual that Enjoying short-term pleasurable activi- Professor Lisa Law with background in
10-11 Wake-up Call understands nothing of everyday worry, stress or anxiety. Wouldn’t it be beauti- ties or longer expeditions, it all contributes, geography and urban studies used to teach It’s just about mak-
Re-conceptualizing ful if we could slow down and live as that ‘new person’ every day? Well, we can! at least, as much to a happy life as self-con- Prince William at University of St An-
trol. The question is: How do we perceive ing more informed travel
tourism in Galap- drews, Scotland. Now she lives in Cairns
This edition will lead you into the dark alleys and light fields of the tourism indus- the world around us and what are the effects decisions. It’s about doing re-
gos Islands and teaches at James Hook University.
try. Imagine this as a guide or a manual to understanding your pleasure, expecta- of the “dream holiday” choices we make? Her focus is to find resolution for the ur- search into area you want to
Travel writer and author from Corn- ban plan and make it more sustainable. visit. Is this somewhere that
tions and social views when it comes to fresh and responsible holiday experiences.
wall, Tim Hannigan spent years writing Prof Lisa along with her students is try-
Together we will discover new ways to plan our holidays. We will start at the begin- is suffering damage from the
PROFILES travel features for newspapers and mag- ing to rebuild the image and shift the trend.
ning and assess what are we looking for in our new adventures. Our strengths and azines in Asia, the Middle East, North number of tourists? Are you
She is currently working on art movement
weaknesses when it comes to our understanding of the world that we live in, the world America and the UK. His experience in staying somewhere that is go-
6 David Bart - Man in Cairns: “We have a lot of Torres Strait
that we are so keen to explore. We will list down areas of improvement through exam- travel media gave him better insight be- Islander and Aboriginal art that’s different ing to pay into the local econ-
and The World ples set by our scientists, economists, influencers, artists and travel writers themselves. hind the curtains of the tourism industry. from other parts of Australia. And we also omy? How you’re going to get
Just like every other media, travel mag- have world class performing arts spac-
azines find their sponsors in different des- there? If you are going some-
12 Marina DeBris This edition might just be the start of your responsible holiday adventures. es. International indigenous art fair just
Please, get comfy in your seat and be ready to discover more about local tourism oppor- tinations, which means that the money where which is particularly
“Trashion” Design- finished about two weeks ago. One of my
tunities, marine controversy, ethical dilemmas around last chance destinations and will influence advertisement, therefore the students is focusing on how much art con- sustainable, or your travel
er and artivist offer and the content of the publication.
shifts in travel trends. We also have some amazing stories from “trashion” designer Ma- tributes to education on how to be more sus- is particularly unique, then
When it comes to environmental issues, tainable, because it’s about local people and
rine DeBris, former New Age traveller Riley Garnett and Soraya Abdel-Hadi, who won a travel industry and media tend to be more
it’s about telling other people
local cultures. The aim is to find and respect
Lonely Planet prize for best sustainable travel storyteller. Plus many more, let’s dive in! exposed than everyone else, Tim explains: about it. That’s the truth of all
the indigenous values and come up with
“Travel is a leisure lifestyle-based thing stories about our histories and heritage.” sustainability.”
Vedrana Katinic and that is why it’s facing intense pressure. Getting to know the world around us Motivation to do the right thing
You don’t have these problems around is the first step in recognising the issue can come from many different perspec-
sports journalism. You don’t even have and dealing with it. Fear that induced the tives. “Some people care about their own
them around food journalism, or fashion change of image came with the pandem- health. Some people care about their
journalism. Although there are lots of ethi- ic. - “People were scared, because a lot of families and the next generation. Some
The Guardian Weekly On the cover cal issues there as well. So, if you as a trav- money comes from tourism, and during people care about wildlife and the plan-
Founded in Manchester, el journalist, just kind of try and pitch and the pandemic, there was no one. Thinking et. Some people just want to make mon-
England The tourism sector is highly vulnerable to climate emphasise things that have a little bit of an about it now, I guess the other thing in ey.” As long as we choose to do the right
ethical angle, you might have an impact.” terms of the media and their representa- thing rather than just pretend, then we can
4 July 1919 change and at the same time contributes to the emis- Travel and tourism businesses are al- tion of, a kind of, idealised tropics. I think help many. With days moving forward, it
sion of greenhouse gases, which cause global warming. ways willing to go a step forward to please part of the problem we have at the mo- feels like we have less time to spend here.
Accelerating climate action in tourism is therefore of the customers. These little factors give ment is the bleaching of our coral reefs. Light feeling of awakening that we have,
utmost importance for the resilience of the sector. people power to change the circumstanc- Again, it’s always about the region of the might not be enough to save the planet,
es of economically driven industry just rainforest, and the reef. Do we sell the idea but we can certainly learn how to pursuit
by finding a substitute or a new way to that the reef is dying? But that is not some the pleasure with respect to our home.
Vol 208 | Issue Nº4 Illustration: Ivan Greguric (13), Grega Design

3
PANNONICA - UNIQUE SALTY LAKES SITUATED IN
THE HEART OF TUZLA
How can responsible tourism in local areas improve the
quality of life in the community?
T
he most common re-
action to annual leave is
an eternal happiness. This
time of the year is intended
for relaxation and self-care.
The first thing everyone usually con-
siders is where they want to go and how
will they get there. More and more desti-
nations are developing the tourism indus-
try, making it accessible to travel pretty
much anywhere in the world. Variety of op-
tions goes from chilling in a villa, to scuba
diving in the Antarctic. But which factors
do tourists consider when they plan their
next vacation, what is the tourism indus-
try offering and what role does the envi-
ronment play when it comes to leisure?
Dr Elisabeth Dütschke, psychologist
and coordinator of the ‘Social Acceptance
in the Transformation of the Energy Sys-
tem’s at Fraunhofer Institute for Systems
and Innovation in Germany, worked on
research that examines socio-psycholog-
ical and socio-economic variables that
might influence individuals who use un-
sustainable transport modes for everyday
mobility and long-distance leisure travel.
In her findings, she claims: “Emissions
from air travel are so high and they have
such a large impact on our environment.
Share of the emissions for the use of every-
day mobility and the amount of emissions
we use for leisure travel is about the same.”
Important factor of the research
is perceived behavioural control.
4 5
It refers to how far people think that they
are in control of the decision, but the study
showed that people usually have miscon-
ceptions about alternative travel methods.
Dr Dütschke shared some of her find-
ings: “For example, people who go around
by bike don’t often fly for a holiday, as
they perceive that they have many options,
and people that tend to go by car often fly
frequently, therefore perceive that they
don’t have many options. They kind of
feel trapped with unsustainable option.”
If people are aware that they have more
options, then they are more likely to trav-
el sustainably. From a scientistic per-
spective, Dr Elisabeth explained: “People
sometimes go on a vacation just because
everyone else goes…”, meaning that trav-
eling became a social norm. “Other than
that people usually go on a vacation to get
away from everyday life and to get a new
experience. New experience has a differ-
ent meaning for everyone.” – she added.
Dr Elisabeth strongly believes that the
way we perceive our holidays as a part
of our lifestyle has to change. One of the
best ways to reduce carbon footprint is
to find alternative ideas for transporta
tion, such as bike or a train, and new ideas
for a vacation, perhaps somewhere locally.
“
As a solution Dr Elisabeth suggests:
I think as long as we
are in a society that’s kind
of heading towards more
consumption we will have
improvements, but not a real
change. Local environment
should provide people a place
for relaxation. If we go on
holidays more locally, we will
reduce the impact, but we will
also change the social norm.
If everyone is doing it, you
are no longer an alien.”
One of the good examples of the des-
tination that managed to transform and
provide sustainable alternative for leisure
are Salt Lakes in Tuzla, third largest city in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Along with a wide
industrial sector Tuzla recently expand-
ed a service sector. The Pannonian Lakes
complex consists of three lakes of differ-
ent sizes and depths, and salty waterfalls.
Salt lakes represent an artificial accu-
mulation of water inside shells that are built
from a combination of geosynthetic and nat-
ural materials, as an innovative presenta-
tion of the remains of the Pannonian Sea.
Tuzla is the only city in Europe that
has salt lakes and the only city in the
world whose salt lakes, swimming pool
and beach are located in the city centre.
Amra Jaganjac head of the Tourist Asso-
ciation of the City of Tuzla spent many
years working on the preparation and im-
plementation of European Union projects,
and now is trying to apply her knowledge
to help strengthen the tourism in Tuzla.
On the beginnings of the complex, she
says: “The idea of the Pannonian Lakes
came from the Mayor of Tuzla, Jasmin
Imamović, who as long ago as 2002 had
a visionary desire to solve the problem of
flooding on the site of today’s Pannoni-
an Lakes complex. Over the time, due to
uncontrolled salt exploitation and inten-
sive soil subsidence, that site was turned
into an unorganized depressed swampy
surface without any content or purpose.
At that time, a few people believed in
this idea, but first lakes opened in 2003.”
The Pannonian lakes are an example of sus-
tainable tourism, as they represent a combi-
nation of natural resources and human cre-
ativity and ideas, which has grown into a top
ecological project. On a question what Pan-
nonian lakes mean for her, Amra responded:
“
“For me advantage of
Panonnica is the location in
the middle of the city. All of
us who are from Tuzla have
a wonderful vacation spot
within easy reach, so when
you arrive at the beaches of
the Pannonian Lakes, it is as
if you have instantly moved
to an exotic location. Even
though Panonnica is a rela-
tively new feature in Tuzla, it
blended so naturally with the
surroundings and as if it had
always been there. It signifi-
cantly raised the level of qual-
ity of life in Tuzla.”
Uniqueness of the lake is the water with
which it is filled. The water contains minerals
(calcium, sodium, sulfur, iodine, bromine,
etc.) and has justifiably acquired the image
of “healing” water unique in our region and
in Europe. With affordable prices, and extra
discount for children and the elderly, Amra
explained the importance of this type of lo-
cal tourism: “The social component of the
lake is immeasurable and is reflected pri-
Salt Lakes during the holiday season,
Photo credit:Goran Necin
marily in what the lakes mean for citizens
of the third age, who spend quality time
here ,that enables them to live a healthy
life, stay outdoors, do physical activity, and
perhaps most importantly: socialization.”
As described by visitors Tuzla is a city
with an extremely positive atmosphere and
energy, and a city that makes you feel com-
fortable. To date, the Pannonian Lakes com-
plex has recorded more than 5 million visits.
About the future of Tuzla, Amra pointed:
“Future lies in its further development and
maintenance of the concept of self-sustaina-
bility, following the recommendations and
obligations of environmental protection. In
this regard, Panonnica has already started
implementing energy saving measures by
installing solar panels on salt waterfalls
and installing 25 kW photovoltaic cells.
The goal of the project is to increase energy
efficiency, which is reflected in the expected
savings in electricity consumption, that is,
in a positive impact on the environment.”
The city of Tuzla is continuously
working on implementing energy efficiency
measures and improving the environment.
CO₂ emissions were reduced by 33.44%.
and the next goal for Tuzla is to reduce emis-
sions by 40%. What will the future look like
for the rest of the world, it’s still uncertain.
Either the authorities will start act-
ing up on their obligations to make life
sustainable, or the people will start fo-
cusing on what they have by requesting
improvement at home, one thing is sure:
change is needed, and it’s needed urgently.

MAN AND THE WORLD
I
Photo Credit:
David Bart
t’s well known that people
can sense danger way before it hap-
pens. Although any predictions about
the future of our planet may seem very
pessimistic, trying to do something
about it is very optimistic, because if
none of us were trying it would defi-
nitely become pessimistic.
Desire to fight against the global warming
is expressed all over the world and in many
different ways. When words start sounding
plain, rusty and untrustworthy, we rely on
images to give us sense of the world around
us. Power of art and photography lies in
vivid emotion that is drawing audience and
making situations real and memorable.
One of the inspiring faces that draw their
attention with his clever way of engaging
people with the environment is a photogra-
pher, visual artist, and filmmaker David Bart.
David embarked on his photography jour-
ney while he was practicing street-art dur-
ing his high school days in Bordeaux, south
of France. Later in his life he studied art at
Beaux Arts: “During my studies I wanted to
put more meaning into my artistic practic-
es. I wondered what art could be used for. I
find it strange that we humans have no per-
spective on our own nuisance to the rest of
the species and we build our own decline.”
Nowadays David questions the subtle inter-
action between man and the world, in particu-
lar a new geological era characterized by the
impact of human activities on the biosphere.
- “In my opinion, the earth does not need
man fundamentally to exist. We are only
one species among millions of others, and
we risk probably disappearing more or less
quickly because we become harmful to the
rest of living beings and to the ecosystem.”
Through his films and plastic research Da-
vid explores different territories to reconstruct
the story from the images and allow people to
question their own behaviour and worldview.
At first glance his images may seem aes-
thetic but when you look closer it is rather
critical and ambivalent. He perceives his art
not as an information, but rather as a feel-
ing, or a line of thought: “For example, un-
like a film script where we are conditioned
to laugh at one moment or cry at another,
I would like to leave the spectator free to
6 7
David Bart uses photography as a tool
to explore different territories
think for himself. Offer him this moment
of freedom of thought. If sometimes it
shocks a little, I find that it is interesting.”
David criticises the elites, Big Tech and
billionaires, considering them as one of
those who take advantage of the current
economy by creating new dependencies. –
“They build bunkers, buy yachts, islands or
create bubbles that they hope will be auton-
omous. Their personal energy consump-
tion often exceeds that of a village and the
example they set for the rest of the popu-
lation is irresponsible, unacceptable and
intolerable for the planet. We are in wil-
ful servitude to glorify their role models.”
Danger of this he sees in the industries that
conditioned us, controlling us remotely and
“
making us incompetent of sustaining the life.
We no longer know
how to grow our own food
and we no longer know what
we actually eat. And some
apartments do not have a
kitchen. We let the big indus-
trial groups take care of that
for us. If one day they decide
to make us dependent, sick
or to ration us, we will be at
their mercy, if this has not
already been the case some-
times.”
Currently David is working on a several
projects, and one of them is a ghost town in
Myanmar called NayPyiTaw. Town is under
military control and today it is no longer
possible to go there because the Junta has
regained power and the city is prohibited.
From his journeys around the world,
he gladly remembers Iceland, as one of
the places where the climate made it diffi-
cult to urbanize the area: “We were going
around the island and on June 21. That
evening, the sun did not set. It was surreal
to be there, in the middle of the volcanoes
with the sun on one side of the horizon
and the full moon on the other. We would
have thought we were on another planet.”
Living in Gironde and being af-
fected by the fires David feels like the
climate change is already present.
Worried about future David has one last
message to share: “For things to evolve
positively for the environment, it would
take a global awareness of populations
and a radical change in our ways of liv-
ing and thinking. Abandon this idea of
infinite growth which is not tenable. We
could at most destroy the planet, but that
cannot go any further! The stars have a
disproportionate power compared to us.”
Only One left in stock,
Photo Credit: David Bart
DRIPPING DOWN
‘TILL DOOMSDAY –
GOODBYE GLACIERS
Ethical dilemma of ‘witness to believe’:
Can last chance to visit disappearing ice
sheets and compressed masses of snow in-
fluence pro-environmental behaviour?
T
ake a deep breath in,
and slowly release the air. It’s
hard to relax when cold is bit-
ing the body. Shivering is a
well-known defence mecha-
nism that prevents the cold
from lingering under the skin
and taking over the heart.
While trying to find peace inside, you are
absorbing the bright colours of white noth-
ingness. Is this what heavens looks like?
Or is it just a cruel wilderness that main-
tains the balance of our existence? How
does walking on a thin ice feels like? A fun
ride on a shiny slippery surface. What are
the chances that such an amount of wa-
ter frozen into solid pieces, that you are
standing in front of, just, for a moment,
has been here for up to million years?
In the past few decades there have been
rumours that the ice is melting and that it
will soon disappear. Unfortunately, it turned
out to be true. It’s estimated that more than
a third of the world’s remaining glaciers will
melt before the year 2100, even if we start
curbing emissions in the coming decades.
When it comes to sea ice, World Wildlife or-
ganization confirms: “95% of the oldest and
thickest ice in the Arctic is already gone.”
Around 10% of the world’s land sur-
face that is currently covered by glaciers
is melting rapidly, destroying the larg-
est reservoir of freshwater on Earth.
Research shows that the average an-
nual emissions of the citizens from the
top 35 rich nations is about 10 tonnes
per year is 10 tonnes per year, leading
to 30 square meters of ice being lost.
This means that the Arctic could be ice
free in the summer of the year 2040.
Suddenly, the ground feels a bit unsettling
and unstable, and the water is slowly creep-
ing up to the ankles. Nothing to fear, as there
are many standing in the same pool of wa-
ter. The only difference is that they see hope.
Reactions to climate change impacts can be
different. While some are looking for excus-
es, others are looking for the answers. One of
the main polluters are CO₂ emissions, also
caused by traveling. Reducing greenhouse
emissions might be the only solution, but it’s
quite challenging when it comes to tourism.
Flying is most likely the quickest and easiest
way to access most glacier destinations. Dr
Christy Hehir an environmental psycholo-
gist and conservationist, from University of
Surry, did the research on positive impacts
of last chance tourism. More specifically, in
collaboration with two UK adventure travel
companies, she examined the role tourism
plays in prompting new donations for pres-
ervation of conservations. The idea for this
research was born as Dr Hehir herself ex-
“
perienced the influence and power of travel:
I am from home
in Dorset, so I’ve never really
seen much snow. I’ve never
really seen many mountains,
and suddenly I’m in Antarc-
tica, and blown away by the
beauty of nature. That made
me kind of reflect on places
near where I live. I thought
wow, that one trip has
changed my whole outlook on
life.”
Findings from her research confirmed that
tourism to last chance destinations prompts
higher instances of new philanthropy com-
pared to other international and domestic
trips. Most importantly it shows the connec-
tion between visitors, their surroundings
South Greenland , Photo credit:Peter Prokosch
and influence on new support. Dr Hehir
shared: “Being away from home, perhaps
gives you the time and the headspace for
self-reflection. Just being in different envi-
ronments can make you think differently. I
do think there is some merit in travel influ-
encing people’s behaviours.” She encourag-
es people to become more than just tourists,
to become ambassadors suggesting that we
can all help to preserve the environment by
sending a positive message about our world.
As one of the most memorable things from
her trip to Antarctic, she describes: “You go
from Ushuaia at the bottom of Argentina,
and you jump on a little expedition boat and
then it takes around two or three days de-
pending on how rough the Drake Passage
Sea is. It had taken us a couple of days. We
all felt pretty seasick. There was this one
little porthole where we all queued up and
just looking out to see a little tiny iceberg
and one little penguin on it. And I just re-
member that, like we’re nearly there.” Dur-
ing the 2-weeks trip to Antarctica, Dr Christy
learned that there are people that devoted
their lives studying the environment and
helping preserve nature and wildlife, so she
decided to become one of them. She
also shared that one of her future re-
search projects will examine current
lifestyle choices of people that under-
took the trip to Antarctica with her.
Approx. 500 miles south of University
of Surrey, a postdoctoral researcher at the
Institute of Geography and Sustainability,
University of Lausanne, Emmanuel Salim
recently conducted a similar research, ex-
amining last chance tourism motivations
and behavioural intentions. He explains:
“Research shows that people come to see
the glaciers before they are gone, but it’s
more than that, research also shows that
they want to see how glaciers retreat and
find out what climate change is. People
get information from government and
media, and some of them come to see gla-
ciers now, promising that they would re-
turn to see if the change happened, and
others want to learn about the impacts.”
 His research aims to further en-The issue with tourist arrivals again of the one thing people aren’t really ready- In 1986 the Government passed a Public the fact people were building successful Modern lifestyle aims to make everything
courage stakeholders to promote prac-
boils down to carbon emissions. Statistics to give up. They’re ready to make other Order Act that made trespassing a criminal communities with very little interference easy and accessible but ignores the natural
tices based on education and experi-show that more than 80% of carbon emis- environmental sacrifices in their lives such offence for the first time. It was hard to move from the government.” Unlike other sec- surroundings. There is a beauty in struggle.
ence, but at the same time highlightsions around glaciers in Chamonix, Mont- as, the energy in their homes or recycling. around quickly if convoy was horse-drawn, tions of the travelling community, who have Coronavirus is a reminder of a dys-
the paradox of last chance tourism. Blanc comes from tourist arrivals and They will give up many kinds of day-to-day so many people switched to motor vehicles. been recognised as ethnic minorities, New functional relationship with nature. Now-

“
departures, contributing to disappearance behaviours before they give up, or sacri- Riley used to love playing in the sites Age Travellers are not protected by race re- adays van life is becoming more popular
of ice. One of the examples Dr Salim gave is fice long flights for their annual holiday.” with his friends that lived in a caravan close lations legislation. “Growing up within the all over the world. Observed from a com-
Here in the Alps, they are Glacier Country in New Zealand: “Around Coming from different angles, and dif- to him, but since more and more legislations New Age Traveller community, we expe- pletely different angle, unlike over-con-
conscious about global warm- 90% visitors come to see glacial. Back in ferent research backgrounds, question against travellers were passed, living in the rienced a lot of issues with bullying in the sumption and world of mega-man-
ing, and the fact that humans a day you could walk there with the tour on ethical dilemma stays clear, although UK became difficult. As many other travel- UK, which really put a lot of my friends off sions, van life represents the image of an
are responsible for it, but that operator, but as the glaciers retreat it’s not glaciers are disappearing, and a lot of lers, Riley and his family had to move abroad: school. In the lates stage of my childhood we eco-friendly and free-spirited lifestyle.

“
doesn’t lead them to act in the possible to access it by foot anymore. So, damage is being done to our environ- moved to France and settled into a house. I Life on the road can be quite challeng-
same sense. Instead, companies the tour companies are now doing tours ment, people are learning, and relearn- thought we were rich. In fact, by society’s ing and difficult, but a short-term trial can
develop new projects, interpreta- by helicopters, and it’s very paradoxical. ing how to act upon travel decisions. standards we lived in absolute poverty– bring you a lot of positive, maybe even
tion centres to talk about climate Not everyone can do this activity, prices People with positive travel and deep- We travelled around but I never saw it that way.” Later on, Riley life-changing experiences, and restore
multiplied five times, and people buying er nature connection might come re-joined educational system, and after 12 your relationship with nature. Living on
change, glacier retreat and etc. the tickets reduced four times.” home making new environmental life-
Spain, Portugal and France,
years of life in France he moved back to Eng- the road can slow down travel and increase
They invest a lot of money, aim- Although we might not see the glaciers in style decisions, meaning that change and I remember feeling real- land where he ended up graduating Sociolo- the quality of time spent in different des-
ing that one of the outcomes is the future, Dr Hehir shared: “I’ve seen re- will remain slow until a better solu- ly welcomed. There was a big gy at University of Bath. From his childhood tinations. Although road trips pollute our
increase in tourist arrivals.”

“
search that really shows that travel is kind tion to save the environment comes up. Traveller scene in Europe, and lifestyle he shares only good memories: environment by producing CO₂ emissions,
most of my mates who are they do it way less than long haul flights.

“NO MAN’S LAND”

Travellers speak at least two
languages, if not three; it be-
came a very interesting melt-
ing pot of our various back-
Once I found a broken
TV in the middle of a field with
its screen smashed through,
Whether you are travelling to a certain
destination, or you are looking for ways to
live more economically in harmony with na-
ture, life on the road instructs people to live
more sustainable and consume less goods.

Life On The Road

As a last message Riley reflects on what
grounds and identities.” and me and my sisters sat stepping out of the box means for him: “I
there watching it and telling

A
Photo Credit:
Riley Garnett
uthorities worked
hard throughout history to
tap into pathways and create a
certain image of society. With
the new Police, Crime, and
Sentencing Act which received
Royal Assent on 28th of April
2022, more boundaries were
set on the people living in UK.
Laws for movement and pro-
testing are tightening up, and
despite the constant oppres-
sion, freedom is shrinking.
Although many were aiming to build
acceptance in a diverse society, lifestyle
opportunities seem to be falling under the
life. Most New Age Travellers share some
common values and characteristics, such
as support within the community, life in
nature and love for animals. From a sus-
tainable aspect, life within nature is one of
the goals that society is trying to improve.
Riley Garnett is a thirty-year-old recruit-
ment manager from Bristol that spent his
childhood living as a Traveller. “My mother
grew up in a house north of England. Dur-
ing Thatcher’s times in the early 80s there
was great unemployment. She was seven-
teen, I think, when she left with her friend
to join the travel community and create a
new opportunity for herself. They became
a first-generation of New Age Travellers.”
Before their disappearance from the scene
Travellers were famous for setting up and
travelling between series of free festivals
(such as early beginnings of Glastonbury)
in the summer months, and parking up in
remote rural locations in wintertime. Re-
believe all nomadic communities share at
Prejudice against travellers and their our own little tales of what we least one thing in common, and that’s the
lifestyle in the UK affects all areas of their saw. It wasn’t about having idea that you shouldn’t be told how to live
On June 1, 1985, late in the after- existence. Throughout history many news- your life, but have the opportunity to cre-
loads of possessions and be-
noon, when, under instructions from au- papers encourage prejudice against them ate your own ideas, and to carve out your
thorities, the police invaded the Beanfield, through inflammatory and unbalanced re- longings; it was about a cer- own path and future.” Empowering some
and violently assaulted and arrested the porting, local people tend to presume when tain richness of the soul and old, good or neglected and deprived hab-
travellers — men, women and children crime is committed, and children were often developing an open-minded its, or creating new ones, most important
— smashing up their vehicles to try and being bullied at schools. Riley commented: outlook on life.” thing is that we acknowledge our presence,
make sure this new nomadic movement “I don’t think media and authorities liked and restore our connection with true values.
would never be able to function again.
Andy Worthington historian and in-
vestigative journalist from London, in his
books The Battle of the Beanfield, explained
how and why New Age Travel movement
was silenced: “There are few reasons why
authorities didn’t like travel communities
and one of the main reasons were envi-
ronmental and anti-military protestors.
Police assaulted people under the excuse
that they were dangerous, dirty anar-
chists threatening Britain’s heritage at
Stonehenge with their festival, but we were
only dangerous because we were explor-
ing different ways of living.” After police

same pattern. Looking back, only a few
decades ago a new trend ignited a spark
among many, and they’ve hit the roads.
In the early 1980s more and more peo-
ple in the UK headed out to live in na-
ture, in convoys of battered old vehicles.
Following the style of idealistic hip-
pies, they created a movement known as
New Age Travel. The terminology is to be
checked before any conclusions are drawn.
Supposing that ‘Travellers’ are defined as
people who lead an unconventional life-
style, which potentially helps to label or
identify them as a minority group within
society, it’s good to highlight that this group
has a lot of very different communities,
ethnicities, belief systems and outlooks on
“
telling his childhood story, Riley shared: forces demoralized the movement, it re-
sulted in mass arrests and the destruction
When I was very little of many travellers’ vehicles and pet dogs.
we lived in a caravan, yes, just
like one in Peaky Blinders. We
travelled across the British
countryside, and we had a lot
of animals, like dogs, goats
and horses. It may seem like,
living on the road you would
be missing a lot of things, like
electricity, or easy access to
water, but I didn’t feel like I
was missing anything. I had Riley and his sister on the road ,
Riley’s family Vardo ,
everything.” Photo credit:Riley Garnett
Photo credit:Riley Garnett

8 9

WAKE-UP CALL
Re-conceptualizing tourism
in Galapagos Islands
T
he theory of biolog-
ical evolution based on the
natural selection started a
long time ago when Charles
Darwin studied life in Galapa-
gos Islands, an archipelago of
volcanic islands. After he pub-
lished his findings in a book
“On the Origin of Species “
published in 1859, many tour-
ists and scientists were drawn
to continue to study his theory
and the wildlife in Galapagos.
Hidden in the Pacific Ocean around 600
miles from the coast of Ecuador. Fascinating
chain of around 20 islands, is located in both
the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
Explorers, sailors, whalers, pirates,
and scientists were among the first to see
the islands. Diego Quiroga Ferri, Doc-
tor of Philosophy with a Specialization
in Anthropology has been working con-
stantly in biodiversity and vulnerability
research of Galapagos Islands. In one of
his last research projects, he examined
stakeholders’ views on the sustainability
of tourism development, trying to rethink
and reset image of tourism in Galapagos.
On the growth of the tourism in the
islands, he revises the history: “Tourism in
Galapagos started very early, in the be-
ginning of the 20th century. And at first,
it was mostly these rich people with their
own yachts that were coming to the is-
lands, really rich people, like the Vander-
bilts and the Rothschilds, that were even
coming with scientists to collect stuff.”
By the 1950s, along with rich people on
the boats, only visitors to the islands were
10
backpackers. Despite the fact that the lo-
cal people and conservation had the idea
to preserve the environment, and that they
didn’t want any kind of tourists, or infra-
structure developments, in the late 60s, or-
ganised tourism starts developing. At first
local people were upset, Diego explains:
“
There were docu-
ments that I’ve seen where the
Charles Darwin’s station said
we want fresh water. We don’t
want roads. We don’t want an
airport. We don’t want any-
thing. So, that was the posi-
tion of conservation. We just
want these tourists to go with
these big boats and never to
touch anything.”
Big companies like Metropolitan started
organising the tours. Dr Diego continues:
“At that time tours were including long
2–3 days trip by boat to the island, and the
people would spend much more time. Peo-
ple going to the holidays to the Galapagos
really wanted to see Galapagos and its na-
ture. They were having 2 to 3 weeks long
trips. If you were a British or an American
or a German tourist at the time you would
come prepared to spend quality time and
see the types of things Charles Darwin
was seeing. Comparing, this was ideal.”
Slow tourism also known as ‘de-
growth’ has been explored by academ-
ic previously, and as an alternative
form it can contribute to sustainability.
Traveling at slower pace and stay-
ing for a longer time enables profound,
cultural travel experience. It enhances
quality-of-life experiences, and it reduc-
es negative sociocultural and environ-
mental impacts on host communities.
Galapagos Islands ,
Photo credit:Ibadah Mimpi
In the end, a lot of local people start
developing land-based tourism by start-
ing their own corporations, taking people
around the islands, and taking them on
diving activities. With growth of tourism,
economy was blooming and local tourism
became more popular in Galapagos and
Ecuador. Furthermore, in his research Dr
Diego discovered: “The difference between
international visitors, and local tourists is
in the perception of the destination. Even
if local people want to see the nature and
wildlife, they see it more like a place for a
good party. Data from a years ago shows
that the average American or European
spend up to 5000 dollars a week, and Ecua-
dorian would spend around 1000 dollars.”.
97% of the total emerged surface of Galap-
agos was declared National Park in 1959.
Human activities are restricted to the
remaining 3% in specifically zoned rural
and urban areas. Today, more than 25,000
permanent Galápagos residents live on
the four inhabited islands—San Cristob-
al, Santa Cruz, Floreana, and Isabela, and
before the pandemic approximately 200
000 tourists visit the islands each year.
The islands are surrounded by the Gal-
apagos Marine Reserve that spread over
133 000 km² making it one of the largest
marine reserves in the world. Airports on
two islands (Baltra and San Cristobal) re-
ceive traffic from continental Ecuador, and
all the inhabited islands have ports to re-
ceive merchandise. Dr Diego with his team
analyses and monitors the main threats to
the Galapagos, such as the introduction
of invasive species, demographic growth,
governance issues, and illegal fishing.
Sea Tortoise,
Photo credit:rawpixel.com
Most of these factors raised with the
development of tourism. He divides dam-
aging impacts of tourism in two large areas:
direct and indirect impacts: “Direct impacts
are those that tourist does directly to the
nature, a person who destroys the nest, or
a guy who kills iguana. Direct impacts of
tourism tends to be relatively low because
there is always guide with you, and you
can only walk down a clear path. It’s reg-
ulated by the Galapagos National Park.
Some direct impacts are studied by scien-
tists for years, like erosion, level of stress
in animals, and boats with large anchors
that damage the bottom of the ocean.”
Indirect impacts as Dr Diego explained
are hiding behind the law of supply and
demand. Meaning that the invasion of spe-
cies is coming with the necessary resources
from the mainland. Another indirect impact
are fossil fuels. According to International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Red’s list, 23 species face extinction or have
disappeared already and the main cause of
extinction is human activity. Nearly 9,000
species are found on the islands and their
surrounding waters, many of them endemic.
Marine life in Galapagos is home to
a range of species, such as albatross-
es, sharks, dolphins, whales, sea li-
ons, sting rays, penguins, tropical fish,
sea turtles, marine iguanas and others.
Tourism growth in biodiversity conser-
vation areas presents challenges for sustain-
ability. Marine biologist and responsible
sourcing and fisheries manager from Chap-
manslade, England, Robyn Cloake intro-
duced us to more controversy related with
our negative impacts on marine world: “We
are trying to fight for marine life, but we are
just a small portion. There are 3 big plastic
gyres in the ocean. When currents circulate
around across the world, and all the plastic
that comes with the current congregates in
a sort of sink in the Pacific, and these plas-
tic gyres are size of the Texas, the state.
And that’s only one of them. One of them
is next to Galapagos. When I say next to, I
mean hundreds of miles. A lot of this plas-
tic comes from fishing gears, and fishing in
the Pacific.” Despite the archipelago being
in a region of the ocean surface divergence
with relatively low expected plastic concen-
trations, the blight of plastic pollution has
now also arrived in Galápagos. There, it has
unquantified but likely significant impacts
on the unique ecosystem as well as on the
sustainability of the tourism industry which
supports the economy of the Galápagos lo-
cally, and Ecuador more broadly. Robyn fur-
ther explains what happens at the bottom of
“
the Pacific, but all the other oceans as well:
It’s a shocking fact
that these gyres now serve our
marine life as shelter, as in an
open ocean there is nowhere
for fish to hide. In a weird
way it’s almost like habitant
for them. When you look at
it, plastic never really goes
away, it just gets smaller and
smaller, and they get small
enough for fish to ingest, and
that’s how you get seabirds
that are eating this fish and
passing it to their babies.”
While some of the plastic found on coast-
lines and in the marine reserve may origi-
nate from the islands themselves, including
tourism, there is a widespread view, based
on information from coastal clean-up efforts
(Galápagos National Park, unpublished
data), that much of the plastic found in the
Galápagos comes from mainland America,
from continental Asia, and from fisheries
in the Pacific Ocean. Her love for marine
life Robyn found, as she says: “Growing
up in north Devon 20 seconds north from
the sea, you wake up hear the oceans and
hear the seabirds. I always felt like I want
to protect the ocean. Walking by the beach,
if I’d see a litter, I’d pick it up straight
away. You always want to leave it in a
better way, than when you first arrived.”
Although most of the Galapagos Is-
lands are being monitored and regulated,
Galapagos is still facing a lot of challenges.
80-90 % of the local people in Galapagos
somehow live of tourism, and they have
no industry. Without tourism, economy
falls apart. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Galapagos faced a 73% decrease compared
to 2019. As people were worried, it was a
good time to rethink and reset tourism.
Dr Diego’s findings suggest that to
achieve sustainability, priorities include:
“engaging local stakeholders in a shared
vision for tourism development, ad-
dressing community concerns, especial-
ly regarding health and education and
assessing and managing the balance be-
tween “high-end” regulated tourism and
low-cost informal tourism.” Environment
inhabited by creatures found nowhere
else on Earth gives Galápagos residents
a perspective on the planet and wildlife.
Therefore, presents an interesting
case for exploring options to rethink and
reset with respect to a sustainable strate-
gy, addressing conservation priorities and
responsible tourism. Future of the tourism
in Galapagos Islands, just as for the many
other destinations, will stir the direction
and discover its main challenges on the way.
Marine Plastics ,
Photo credit:Science Photo Library, NTB
11
 Photo Credit:
Marina DeBris
M arine Debris is
defined as any solid material
that is manufactured and dis-
posed into the marine envi-
ronment.
In other words, it’s the litter that ends
up in oceans, seas and other large bod-
ies of water. It’s deadly to marine life and
it poses a threat to human health. Marina
DeBris is also a name used by Australi-
an based artist and “Trashion” designer.
To protect the ocean and spread the
message Marina collects litter from the
beach and transforms it into interesting
wearable creations. When she first moved
to Los Angeles, DeBris noticed a lot of rub-
bish on the Venice Beach and decided to
do something about it. Cooperating with
different environmental organisations,
Marina made her first “trash” sculptures.
“Trashion” series began when she was
asked to create wearable booths for one
of the organisations. Sharing her own
doubts, she said: “I actually had thought
about studying fashion design in college
art school, but I really didn’t think I’d fit
in well with the industry.” With no previ-
ous knowledge in fashion design, she end-
ed up where she was always meant to be.
DeBris is trying to raise an awareness
about overconsumption and waste that kills
our marine life. Her creations are made
from all sorts of trash that inspire her to
convey the message. “All bits of rubbish that
I find is pretty universal. Fishing gear is a
huge issue. That’s pretty much something
I find every day. I’ve really wanted to do
12
MARINA DEBRIS
“Trashion” Designer and artivist de-
signs clothes, sculptures, and postcards
from trash she finds on the beach
something with the fishhook and the lures,
but obviously that can’t be worn.” During
the pandemic she was collecting up to 10
single-used face masks a day, sewing it into
a long mermaid shaped dress. Her designs
vary from the materials she is using to cre-
ate new clothes. For one of her favourite
pieces, she chose a wearable Black Widow
costume that she made in honour of the an-
imals that were lost in Australian bushfires.
Trashion pieces are not always comfortable
to wear, as they tend to smell and look pretty
upsetting, but her message is clear. 70% of
our debris sinks into the ocean’s ecosystem,
15% floats, and 15% lands on our beaches.
Marina sees situation as devastating:
“I’d love to stop doing it. I can’t stop. I spent
two hours this morning on one stretch, tiny
stretch of my local beach. There was just
so much there. I mean, a ridiculous amount
and I can’t stop myself. I can’t walk away
and feel okay about that. I don’t know if
I’m helping, even if I may not be helping,
at least whatever I collect is not going back
in the ocean.” She criticises local authori-
ties for being slow at implementing things.
Debris tends to be more radical: “There’s
no way I’m going to spend two hours doing
that cleaning up and not make everyone
look at it. There’s no way and for that the
council does not like me. They’ve tried to call
the police on me many times. I’m not their
favourite, but I’m not going to stop because
I think it has to be out there, just to be in
front of everyone. We have to wake up now!”
People have different reactions, some of
them stop to have a chat and thank her, while
others just pass without saying anything.
Experiences are divided, and some
of them are extremely shock-
“
ing and upsetting, Marine shared:
I also get a lot of nas-
ty comments. I’ve had people
physically take stuff out of
my hands while I’m placing it
down. There’s one place over
the rafters where I displayed
the rubbish, and somebody
just kicked it back under the
rafters, which is the most asi-
nine thing you could ever do.”
Marina didn’t travel since the start of the
pandemic, and although she considers trav-
eling hypocritical, she said she used to trav-
el a lot during her time in States and UK.
Despite the fact that she absolutely loves to
travel, understanding how bad our footprint
is for the environment, she is rethinking it
more and more. Unfortunately, collecting
rubbish from the beach won’t save the plan-
et, but it will draw some attention to it. Ma-
rine sees her future pretty much the same:
“I do enjoy creating. I do enjoy feeling like
I’m doing something positive on the plan-
et. I find that very fulfilling. Those are the
positive things. I just wish it could be some-
thing a little less dreary, I suppose.” Many
more will come across her unique designs,
and maybe start rethinking and reimagin-
ing the future. Change slowly starts with the
small individual action, it starts with you.
Black Widow Costume
and “Trash” Postcards,
Photo Credit: Marina DeBris