Local Products from Misool

In just a few years, Misool Eco Resort has become a diving hot spot, a top destination in Indonesia, and a driving force behind transforming hundreds of square miles around Raja Ampat into a sanctuary for marine life.

Being good to the environment, however, has not stopped Misool from constantly figuring out ways to be good to its clients – and the latest addition to the resort is a spa. And Misool being Misool, it’s a spa with a local twist. Massages as well as body and beauty treatments employ a range of products obtained and produced as close to home as possible, many of them organic and made on site the very same day.

Scrubs are hand-blended from ingredients such as candlenut and coconut, face toner is derived from freshly pressed cucumber, body wraps use aloe plants and banana leaves from Misool’s orchard, and scrubs are made from Papuan highland coffee.

As if the sea in these parts wasn’t therapeutic enough!

Me and the Mountain

Who They Are

Shakti is a company operating in the Himalayan region of India.  In 2004 it  introduced what it calls – and not without good reason – ‘the village experience.’ To reach out-of-the-way monasteries and villages, you trek, river raft, or go by vehicle through breathtaking landscape. The ‘experience’ takes you to various regions, whether it is the Kumaon Village Experience, the Sikkim Village Experience, both 3-4 days, or the 6-7 night Ladakh Village Experience, where the accommodations are comfortable yet still authentic. (Dates for each of these differ.)

At 360º Leti

In 2007, the company added an intimate luxury lodge, Shakti 360º Leti, which is situated on a stunning mountain spur close to where Nepal, Tibet, and India meet, with mind-blowing views of the Himalayas.  In addition to the above, but separately, in August and September the company offers a spectacular 3-day trip along the Shakti Shayok River Journey, part of the old Silk Road, as an option after the Ladakh trip.

River Views

What They Are Doing

Most of Shakti’s staff are hired locally and are trained in various fields of hospitality. Visitors are encouraged to join the locals in their everyday activities, thereby helping to generate income for them without compromising their lifestyle. As a result, they do not need to resort to high-volume, high-impact tourism.

Depending on the location, Shakti commissions new buildings that leave only the lightest footprint on their setting or breathe new life into existing, traditional architecture.  For 360º Leti it incorporated local building techniques and styles – the dry-stack stone wall is the traditional method of construction.  Other than in its offices, Shakti uses sustainable sources of electricity, mostly solar.

The company has set up a rainwater-harvesting project for a widow in one of the villages that is being replicated in the other

Downtime

areas it operates in.  Shakti works with the villagers, some of whom learn from working on these projects and then take the initiative elsewhere.

Shakti has helped set up and supports a local group of traditional Kumaoni dancers. By performing for visitors they have been allowed to sustain their skill, as well as to train younger members.

Shakti Sikkim

In Their Own Words

“Minimizing our negative impact on the culturally and ecologically sensitive areas where we work is a central tenet of Shakti’s philosophy.  As well as making a direct contribution ourselves, we encourage our guests to adhere to our written Code of Conduct.  We believe that, in this way, we can all support each other in securing the future of these sublime regions and their inhabitants.”

Desert Life

Who They Are

Powerless Chic

Deep in the heart of the mountainous Jordanian desert, in a place known as the Wadi Feynan, lies an idyllic lodge quite unlike any other. Set against this glorious landscape, Feynan Ecolodge has 26 gorgeously simple rooms that all face the wadi. Because there is no electricity, light comes from candles – and we mean lots of candles! – and the showers are solar-powered. Spacious terraces, one on the roof, give you a view of the startling terrain by day and stars by night.

Situated about 215 km. south of Amman, off the Dead Sea-Aqaba highway, Feynan is not far from the famous archeological site of Petra and is in one of the oldest continuously inhabited areas in the world. The archaeological ruins date back more than 12,000 years, and there are some 100 sites are in the area, many under excavation and others still unexplored. Bedouin live traditionally in their tents in the surrounding valleys.

The Ruins of a Byzantine Church

A short walk from the lodge are Neolithic ruins that illustrate the shift from nomadic to village lifestyles are some of the oldest copper mines in the world, where Christian slaves were later worked to death by the Romans, a Roman aqueduct and mill, and remnants of Byzantine churches.

Two Rare Sinai Agama

Feynan is also situated in the 300-sq.-km. Dana Biosphere Reserve, which encompasses the four different bio-geographical zones of the country: Mediterranean, Irano-Turanian, Saharo-Arabian and Sudanian. Owing to its diverse elevations and geographical formations, Dana hosts a wide array of flora and fauna – more than 800 plant species, three of which are unique to the area, and 449 different animals that include threatened species such as the sand cat, the Syrian wolf, the lesser kestrel, and the spiny-tailed lizard. Dana also falls within the Dana Important Bird Area.

Au Naturel

What They Are Doing

Feynan employs its staff from the local Bedouin community, whose only alternative is to herd goats, which seriously damage the fragile environment. Part of Feynan’s revenue is allocated to helping conserve Dana and protecting endangered species. Water is sourced from nearby springs and is used carefully and under strict controls. Food excess and waste are composted to reuse as fertilizer.

Preparing the Evening's Lights

The solar-powered lodge illuminates its rooms with candles, which are made on site by Bedouin women. Other women work at an annex creating leather goods that are sold at Feynan and other reserves in Jordan. All transportation to and from the lodge, Petra, Aqaba, and elsewhere is provided by Bedouin using their own pickups, providing income to some 40 families. Feynan is introducing extracurricular programs to teach English and other subjects in English to local children at the community school.

The lodge is operated by EcoHotels and owned by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, a nongovernmental organization established in 1966 under the patronage of the late King Hussein and devoted to the preservation of Jordan’s natural resources. The RSCN introduced its people-centered approach to the management of protected areas in Dana in 1994.

The Wadi by Night

The Gobi at Your Doorstep

Who They Are

Three Camel Lodge was built in the heart of the Gobi Desert according to environmentally and culturally sustainable development guidelines, without forsaking traditional style and superb service to give the ultimate expedition experience. Each ger, or felt tent, has a wood-burning stove, hand-painted wood-framed king-size beds, and locally produced toiletries (which include camel milk moisturizing lotions!). Exclusive tents have private bathrooms.

Aspects of Three Camel

Unprocessed natural stone was used for the main buildings, and local artisans and workers crafted the roofs which, following the tenets of Mongolian Buddhist architecture, don’t employ a single nail.

Riding a two-humped Bactrian camel is but one of the adventurous ways for lodge guests to explore the Gobi’s diverse ecosystems. Camel treks through sand dunes and forests of saxual trees are an unforgettable Gobi experience and give you the opportunity to see desert wildlife such as black- and white-tailed gazelles. Four-wheel-drive excursions to remote canyons and valleys, horse treks to mountain springs, and mountain biking trips can all be arranged from Three Camel Lodge. Tented overnight field explorations, fully supported and catered by the lodge, are also available.

What They Are Doing

Three Camel Lodge has a first-of-its-kind cooperative agreement with the Bulgan Sum Township and the Gobi-Gurvansaikhan National Park authorities. The lodge serves as a base for scientific research and wildlife monitoring and actively fights animal poaching and the unauthorized removal of dinosaur fossils from paleontological sites. Hunting has been prohibited within a 12-mile radius of the camp.

The Gers

In an effort to preserve the population of indigenous Gobi plants and provide cover for migratory birds that visit nearby Mt. Bulagtai, the lodge has planted over 6,000 native plants and trees throughout the camp since 2003.

The lodge is an active supporter of the Ongii River Movement, an award-winning organization that aims to protect one of the few rivers that runs into the Gobi from the damaging effects of mining activity. These desert rivers and the seasonal lakes where they end are critical resources for Gobi wildlife.

The lodge recycles its organic waste to local farms for use as fertilizer, builds and supports greenhouse projects, and helps local farmers with the raising of pigs, chickens, and livestock. These efforts result in less waste being transported to Ulaanbaatar and a reduction in the amount of food being imported to the area, as local ger camps can now buy eggs, vegetables, and meat from nearby farms.

A Golden Eagle

Three Camel launched a No Plastic Bags in the Gobi program and is working with local residents and small businesses to encourage the use of cloth shopping bags. Also being explored are systems whereby non-drinking water can be reused for watering trees and supplying toilets.

The Flaming Cliffs

The lodge established The Kids Who Love Nature Association, which gives local children the opportunity to learn about environmental issues and participate in conservation. Leading naturalists and scientists from the Mongolian Academy of Sciences give presentations on the wildlife, botany, and paleontology of the Gobi, and children participate in projects such as planting native trees and cleaning and protecting mountain springs. With the assistance of the lodge staff, children have helped clean up national park areas like the Yol Valley and the Flaming Cliffs, and the lodge sponsored and funded the planting of 2,000 trees at a local public school in Dalanzadgad, the provincial capital of the South Gobi.

Since 2005 the lodge has been a sponsor of the Thousand Camel Festival, organized by a local NGO with the goal of protecting the endangered Bactrian camel. The festival has also inspired a reawakening of interest in traditional crafts created by local artisans.

Three Camel has the highest percentage of local employees of any camp in the country, and is one of the largest employers in the Gobi. All of its staff are Mongolian, with more than half being residents of the South Gobi province where the Lodge is located, and every trip guide is hired locally, as are all suppliers of transportation and food.

The Hotel and Courtyard

Who They Are

Nepal has 8 World Heritage sites and has won two Heritage Awards, one for the medieval city of Bhaktapur and the other for The Dwarika’s Hotel in Kathmandu. The hotel’s magnificence lies in its buildings of intricate carved wood and terracotta work that took incalculable hours of dedication from the best craftsmen in Nepal. Every brick is handmade and every piece of woodwork centuries old.

The Fusion Bar at The Dwika's

The Lobby Lounge

The Dwarika’s, however, is also about intimate luxury and the spirit and hospitality of the Nepali people. Each of the almost 80 rooms has its own character and individuality, some with 16^th-century windows and others with private courtyards. Buddhist symbols on hand-printed curtains and bed spreads are used together with traditional fabrics and accessories.

What They Are Doing

In 1952, the late Dwarika Das Shrestha came upon some carpenters sawing off the carved portion of an intricately engraved wooden pillar, part of an old building torn down to make way for something new. The exquisitely carved woodwork several centuries old lay in pieces, ready to be carted off as firewood. On sheer impulse, he gave the carpenters the new lumber they required and took the old carved pillar.

The Courtyard with the Tribute Pillar

For Dwarika, impulse became hobby and passion. Whenever he heard that an ancient building was to be torn down, he bought as many carvings as he could. If parts were missing, he would try recover them later on, often discovering their history in the process. In one instance, he traced and acquired a missing piece after twenty-five years.

As his growing collection lay scattered across his garden, Dwarika decided to construct a building in the old Newari style of Kathmandu, using the rescued doors and windows. The buildings of Dwarika’s Village, of which the hotel is one, contain some of the best woodwork of olden times restored to life and made to function in a modern setting.

Bagmati River by Night

The Dwarika’s is a living example of how tourism need not destroy heritage and the environment.  To this end, a woodcarving school has been established on the hotel premises. There are 30 woodcarvers and carpenters employed in the workshop. Some have been there for twenty years, while others have moved on to different, often more lucrative jobs after their training and apprenticeship.

In a Heritage Room, a Taste for Wood

In addition to the woodcarving school, Mrs. Ambica Shrestha has continued her husband’s philosophy and was instrumental in opening a new children’s school, restoring the Bagmati and other rivers of the Kathmandu Valley by raising natural and cultural awareness through Friends of the Bagmati, which runs cleanup programs and instruction in composting, among other things.  The Dwarika’s is also coordinating the final phase of the restoration of the Ram Templem which was built in the 19th century but fell into terrible disrepair.

Wood Carvers at Work, The Dwarika's

Misool Eco Resort, the highly respected diving resort built on a former shark-finning camp, has a 425-sq. km. no-take-zone, where fishing is forbidden. But just outside its area, finners are at work, as the latest news from Misool explains in captivating detail. It is suspected that lots of illegal fishing goes on in Daram, to the southeast, which Misool is trying to turn into a no-take-zone too (see the resort’s fabulous 14-day-yacht auction for details on how it wants to finance that). This week’s discovery of the massive haul (some of the shark fins and rays pictured) has made Misool even more determined in its efforts.

The Seven Seas: Yours for Two Weeks

Following on this success, Misool now proposes to expand the No-Take Zone to include Daram, a threatened group of islands about 40 kilometers east, which would increase the zone’s coverage to over 1,200 square kilometers or 468 square miles. That’s more than twice the size of Singapore.

Mesmerized by Misool

To kick off the Daram Project, Misool is auctioning off a 14-night combination trip with The Seven Seas yacht, journeying through Misool and Daram. This is an exclusive full-charter trip for a group of up to 14 people, joined by Conservation International marine scientists Mark Erdmann and Gerry Allen.

The trip starts onboard The Seven Seas on February 4, 2011, sailing for one week before arriving at Misool Eco Resort. Guests will then explore the Misool area until the 18th. The starting bid for this journey of a lifetime is $96,500, and all the profits will go towards protecting Daram. You can read more about it here. The auction closes on May 31, 2010.

Floating library

If there isn’t a saying that good begets good, there should be. Take what’s happened at the Misool Eco Resort in Indonesia, already a diving destination that’s getting a great reputation but is also involved in local activities. Its head ranger, Rajak Tamher, was in Bali on an 8-week capacity building mission with the Coral Reef Alliance when he had the idea to spearhead a floating library project. A Coral representative helped to obtain free Indonesian-language children’s books, donated by the publishers, and now the rangers use Misool’s patrol boat to deliver these books to the primary schools in the nearby villages of Yellu and Dabatan. The students are desperate for learning materials. The schools are so short of funds they can’t afford to pay their teachers – Misool and private donors support two full-time teachers in Dabatan. Good idea!*

* The Ranger Patrol has received generous funding from WildAid, Coral, Precious Planet, and several private donors, but as the number of infractions increases, Misool needs to step up the intensity of its patrols. The patrol always needs more contributions – so keep that in mind.

Kids See a Coral Grouper on the Page

(Photo by Jürgen Freund)

Children of the Saalam Baalak Trust

This is one tour you won’t find in the guide books. The Salaam Baalak Trust in New Delhi offers an alternative to a traditional visit to the city – you are led through its streets by children who live there.  According to UNICEF, India has the highest number of undernourished children in the world, 57 million.

The two-hour walk goes mainly through New Delhi railway station and its surroundings, which are populated by street children and runaways, and it offers a unique perspective of areas usually invisible to the casual traveler.  The tours aim to be as non-invasive as possible (photos aren’t allowed around the railway station) and all proceeds are used by the trust to enable and empower youths.  Good idea!

Listen to a NPR Report on the Tours

Who They Are

Since opening several years ago Misool Eco Resort in Raja Ampat has fast become one of the world’s diving hot spots and has excelled in conserving an area widely known for its marine biodiversity – more than 1400 species of reef fish have been recorded.

A Water Cottage View

Created and owned by a group of passionate divers, conservationists, and adventurers, their aim was to demonstrate to their local hosts, their guests, and themselves that responsible tourism can be an integral part of environmental protection and the welfare of the local community.

The 8 spacious Water Cottages are built, Balinese-style, on stilts over the lagoon, and for extra seclusion there are three deluxe villas. A walkway connects them with the restaurant and dive center.

What They Are Doing

The cottages were built from salvaged driftwood bought from the local community and milled by the resort’s own portable sawmill. Aside from compostible food waste, nothing is thrown away on the island, either in landfills or into the sea. Black and gray water is cleaned and recycled using a chemical-free waste water garden system. Packaging is minimized, and what cannot be avoided is returned to the mainland for recycling.

A Wobbegong Shark

In 2006 Misool formed a 168-square-mile No-Take Zone. Now islands, reefs, and surrounding waters are protected. The resort raised funds to buy a patrol vessel and trained locals as rangers to prevent fishing, long-lining, shark finning, turtle harvesting, or removal of any marine creatures. By 2011, the No-Take-Zone had been extended to 465 square miles, and there are two patrol vessels.

Diving on the Doorstep

The zone includes four green turtle nesting sites, fish spawning and aggregation sites, manta cleaning stations as well as islands that are home to protected species of sea eagles, cockatoos, coconut crabs, saltwater crocodiles, and mambruk birds. In addition, Misool organizes beach cleanups.

Misool is developing a second No-Take Zone to include a nearby archipelago of significant ecological value, after it was approached by a neighboring community that saw the economic and social benefits of the zoning.  This agreement will expand Misool’s NTZ to 468 square miles, roughly twice the size of Singapore. The resort also has a reef restoration project in areas that were damaged by blast fishing.

Misool by Night

Approximately eighty percent of staff are local.  Misool provides them with English lessons and job training. In addition, it created a successful apprenticeship program in which local workers were paired with highly skilled artisans from Java and taught their craft.  It also offers its staff dive certifications and safety training, with the hope that one day its dive guides will all be drawn from the local community.

In the Kitchen at Misool

All of the rangers are local, which has empowered the community “to regain ownership and stewardship of their natural heritage. ” Misool also encourages locals to make traditional handicrafts to sell at the resort, and together with Conservation International has started a rattan-weaving project to make high-return furniture.

In Their Own Words

“We seek to provide exceptional and enriching experiences in a sustainable environment. We aim to protect and revitalize both our natural surroundings and the community in which we operate. We are committed to demonstrating that tourism can support a local economy with much more favorable terms than mining, logging, overfishing, or shark finning.”

Misool MD Andrew Miners with Local Children

(Shark photo by Will Postlethwaite)