beach ponies

You love horses. You even have one at home. In Thailand you're away from home and low and behold the beach ponies are out...wow for some tiny amount of local currency you can go for a lovely ride along the scenic beach!

Stop. Vacation beach ponies are not like your horse at home.

I'm sitting on Hua Hin beach in Thailand. Beach ponies complete with full tackle are up and down this beach for HOURS. I haven't seen a saddle come off nor a drink of water.

What I see is kids riding horses with no experience. I see adults far too heavy on tiny ponies.

These are beasts of burden in the true sense of the word. As a tourist you need to say NO. These people make thousands of baht a day. They are not poor locals. They are exploiting animals for the sake of tourism.

Hua Hin Is a beautiful city. Appreciate it on foot. Grab a deck chair and enjoy the scenery. Take a sunny walk along the beach. Give your money to a local charity or NGO. Visit the local schools to meet the community.

Give the ponies a rest. Help support the end of animals in tourism.

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The Fiction – Myths about Wildlife in Tourism

Wildlife Myth 1 – The owners are very poor people that would not be able to make a living without the animals...

This is nonsense. They are actually people who are usually well off and have the right connections to continue this illegal business. Their profits on Phuket and Samui amount to over 200 dollars a night, a small fortune in Thailand.

Wildlife Myth 2 – The animals love the attention from people and have a special bond with the owner…

Not true, most animals have been forcefully taken away from their families in the wild and are very scared and dependant due to basic fear and stress. Gibbons are known to be given sleeping pills to keep them quiet during the day and a beating every now and then by the owner keeps the animal in line with his “expectations”.

Wildlife Myth 3 – The animal was bred in captivity and/or is legally obtained…

No. Although it is not impossible to breed wildlife in captivity there are no legal breeding facilities in Thailand that hand over, sell or lend out wildlife to third parties. Besides all this, a poached animal from the wild would always be cheaper than buying one from any legal breeding facility if one were available.

Wildlife Myth 4 – The animals are treated with care and best intentions…

Out of sight of the tourists this is a different story. The animals are kept on short chains or confined to tiny, barren cages and receive little or no veterinary care. They are malnourished and imprisoned as slaves for their short span of useful life, then killed or abandoned to make way for the next money making animal. In the case of tourist tigers, many are illegally traded to be killed and used for ‘medicine’.

A must watch: The Elephant Tree!

Watch the elephants knock the fruit out of the tree and all the animals eat
it off the ground. This is a real video from a French documentary about Africa. You may not understand French, but the video is funny.

There are trees that grow in Africa which, once a year, produce very juicy fruit that contain a high percentage of alcohol.

The tree is known as the "Elephant Tree" because elephants have a fondness for the fruit. Because there is a shortage of water in that area, as soon as the fruits are ripe, animals come there to help relieve themselves of the heat. You will easily know who has over-indulged!

The tree is the Marula tree. You can buy a great liqueur named "Amarula" which is made with the fruit and causream.
Volunteer Australia with Oceans2Earth make your holidays, the most memorable part of your life.

Aceh breaches forest clearing moratorium

JAKARTA, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The governor of Indonesia's Aceh province has breached a ban on clearing forests that is at the heart of a $1 billion climate deal with Norway, earning a rebuke by a senior government official on Thursday.

The two-year moratorium on issuing permits to log and convert forests, effective from May this year, is meant to protect primary forests and peatlands in the Asian country in a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

About 80 percent of Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions stem from deforestation and land use change, with the rapidly expanding palm oil, timber, agriculture and mining sectors driving forest loss.

Aceh's governor Irwandi Yusuf signed a permit to let PT Kallista Alam to develop 1,605 hectares (4,000 acres) of swamp, which includes protected peatlands, in Nagan Raya district for palm oil plantations, a document obtained by Reuters showed. The company is based in Medan, North Sumatra, but does not have a website or information on ownership.

The head of UKP4, a body monitoring the implementation of the moratorium, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto criticised the decision in a statement emailed to Reuters. Mangkusubroto is a respected technocrat and is head of the government's oversight body.

"I spent four years in Aceh during the tsunami reconstruction. Opening up Kuala Tripa -- an area with high conservation value and home to many animals endemic to Indonesia -- is a grave mistake," said Mangkusubroto, who was the architect of Aceh's reconstruction after a major earthquake and tsunami devastated the province in 2004.

The Aceh breach illustrates the problem Southeast Asia's top economy faces in balancing economic development and powerful business interests with conserving nature, as well as a policy gap between the central government and local administrations.

Yusuf, who is expected to run again in a governor election next year, signed the permit on Aug. 25, three months after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed the decree for the moratorium.

"While we recognise the need for the palm oil industry to also grow, signing an agreement with a palm oil company to allow the conversion of protected peat land into palm oil plantations, very clearly breaks the moratorium," Mangkusubroto added.
The Aceh government had followed correct procedures for issuing the permit, said spokesman Usamah El Madny.

Mangkusubroto urged the provincial government to reassess the decision and find alternative land for palm oil development.
A local green group, the Aceh chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), said a court hearing had started this week seeking to have the permit revoked.

WALHI Aceh's head Teuku Muhammad Zulfikar said opening up the swamp was threatening endangered orangutan.

Norway's Ambassador to Indonesia, Eivind Homme, told Reuters he was surprised by news of the breach and called on the national government to investigate.
Nigeria, Indonesia and North Korea have the world's highest rates of deforestation, a global ranking released last month showed.

(Source)

O2E phlog Heading to Lake Nakuru

Nairobi - life full circle

The word slum evokes a series of visions for most people; poverty, crime, dirty children with forlorn faces.

The Kibira slum in Nairobi isn't exactly a place you would choose as a stop on your tourist map however I found myself there today and I certainly didn't find a community at odds.

My friend Sisqo decided I should see this place, straight off the place; no sleep in 24 hours and luggage still in the car. I'm pretty easy going I think, so why not? Let's go!

Mohamed met us at the entrance to the Kibira community. A really lovely man and passionate about the slum community he grew up in. I learnt a little of the history of the place and was most interested in the projects Mohamed's team for Youth Reform have undertaken with some NGO support and an enormous deal of community support and hard work.

The place has looked worse, he tells me. The 2 month clean up has cleared a lot of the waste and environmental no no's. I can see the work that has been done and the Youth Reform should be proud of what they achieved so far.

The work to improve running water supply and hygiene is incredible and the organic farming project is really impressive.

I saw about half (maybe) of Kibira and met and spoke with some wonderful friendly people. The kids were fun and eager to interact and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed all the "hi 5s" and "hello how are you I'm fine"s. I even learnt a couple of swahli words along the way!

The highlight for me of course was the animals. Under such extreme conditions animal neglect or abuse is often prevalent however in this case I found that not to be my observations. I fell in love with a dog called Spots whose owner loving looked after 5 or so dogs that get fresh meat for dinner!

The fat goats and waddling ducks wander freely and along with the chickens complete with dozens of chicklets, contribute to the sustainability of the Youth Reform projects. Let's say...in one end goes the scraps, helping to clean up the slum footpaths and then it's out the other end to fertilise the organic produce. 

When I get some computer access I will update this post with some photos, particularly Spots :)

What you can do...

Various NGOs provide support to Kibira and you would certainly find something online.

Alternatively you could contribute directly to a specific project such as the new community wash basin project to provide running water for community members to wash their hands after use of the bathroom. You see, communal latrines or a squat at the river are the current toilet systems apart from Youth Reform's eco-friendly toilets and washrooms. This project needs around 6,000 Kenyan shillings ($71AUD or $54EURO) to get off the ground.

Contact Oceans2Earth for details about direct contact with Youth Reform.

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Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand

After a whirlwind week at WFFT it is incredible to see happy, healthy wildlife in great facilities. Since the floods of Oct 2010 the repairs and improvements made are a testament to the work of Edwin, Tommy, Laurene, Lucy and the staff and volunteers at the Centre.

Sadly the wildlife population grows with the team flat out with rescues all over Thailand. They even have a "list" for pending rescues that cannot be actioned without funds; bears, gibbons, elephants...the list goes on.

We lost Joan the elephant after only a few days of "freedom" from the god awful elephant camps still operating and flourishing as tourists STILL spend their holidays riding elephants, patting tigers and having their photos taken with helpless primates. Joan loved her days of freedom, forging herself on bananas and other yummy treats she was never given in her 60 years at the camp...60 years eating pineapple tops (no pineapple, just the green tops)...can you imagine???

O2E supports and congratulates WFFT on the work they do.

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