Two new arrivals in Laos loved the country, but missed eating cheese. In Laos milk simply isn’t part of the diet – local buffalo are only used for ploughing, even though they can be milked. So the two women built their own dairy, the first of its kind in Laos, and made their own cheese.
Rishi Bhandari: Volunteerism Privilege
Albert Teo: How to Sustain Community Building in Ecotourism
Mike Than Tun Win: Turning Junk Bikes into School Transport
Most people who see piles of junked or abandoned bike-share bicycles simply tut-tut and walk past blaming the local authorities for the mess. One public spirited Burmese man takes a different approach: he is shipping them to countries in desperate need of transport for students who just want to get to school.
Cecilie Benjamin: Mahonia Na Dari (Guardian of the Sea)
When some people learn to dive, they want to travel and dive as many places as they can. But Cecilie Benjamin was so taken with her first dive site she decided this was a place where her passion for the marine environment could flourish. She was so enthused, she helped establish a thriving future environmental education centre.
Elephant Knowledge: Anna Songhurst and Ecoexist
Katherine Connor: Sustainable Elephant Rescue
Andrew Sebastian: On Malaysia Ecotourism & Ecology
No stranger to bird lovers and forest trekkers in Malaysia, guide Andrew Sebastian has more tricks up his sleeves in promoting ecotourism and habitat conservation than anyone can imagine. Gaia Discovery’s Mallika Naguran catches up with the bird expert to find out more about the Wallace Project through Sebastian’s own NGO - Ecotourism & Conservation Society Malaysia, and about his views on how tourism can help raise ecological awareness.
Michael Davis: My Role as a Responsible Installation Artist
Bio-Resin, reusable metal in bar chimes… these are just a couple of materials that are surprisingly part of the Illumaphonium, a musical structure that stands tall, colourful, entrancing and strong at the I Light Marina Bay 2018 festival in Singapore. Gaia Discovery’s Mallika Naguran gets on the same bandwidth as its British creator Michael Davis as he speaks about his musical interest, beliefs, style and role as a responsible artist.
Alex Tsuk: Rise of Responsible Tourism Community in Bali with BookGreener
A ground up, industry-led responsible tourism movement is picking up in Bali. Mallika Naguran speaks to the founder or 'Chief Alchemist' of Book Greener, Alex Tsuk, about this special group of operators and the role they play in dealing with crisis as volcano Agung continues to disrupt tourism in this island of paradise.