Archive for June 10th, 2009

FROM MADAGASCAR’S NATIONAL TOURISM BOARD (ONTM)

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

- WEEK STARTING JUNE 01 2009 -

General situation

A first wave of tourists (groups or individuals) has started to arrive in Madagascar since the beginning of May. Their stay went on quite normally.

Free visas for stays of less than 30 days

Until December 31, 2009, tourists staying for less than 30 days in Madagascar are exempted from the payment of the rights of visa. This provision is valid for visas taken on arrival at airports in Madagascar.

News of the National parks

Madagascar National Parks has gradually set up the system of single counter in order to facilitate the visit of protected areas. The first counter created in Andasibe will give the tourists the possibility to get informed on the entry conditions and the guidance tariffs, to pay entry and guidance fees and even on the parking fees in camp-sites. This device will be extended to all the other national parks by the end of the year 2009.

Security

Madagascar’s National Tourism Board (ONTM) and the responsible persons in the Ministries in charge of Security have decided to set up procedures of information exchange about tourist’s groups movement aiming at reinforcing tourists’ security on the main roads and sites that present some interest for tourism.

Advice for travellers on the web sites of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs

Following the meetings of the members of the Task Force for the revival of the tourist trade with the Honorary Consul of Spain in Madagascar, the web site of the Spanish Foreign Ministry replaced the notes advising against the Madagascar destination by a call to prudence during travels inside the country.

The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends to avoid passing by demonstration places in some areas of Antananarivo and Antsirabe while noting that the tourist areas outside the capital are safe.

Advice for travellers on the web sites of “Calamiteitenfonds Reizen” in the Netherlands

Calamiteitenfonds, the mutual aid funds for travellers in difficulty in the Netherlands, after having applied a limitation of coverage for travels to Madagascar, cancelled their interdiction of travels to Madagascar on June 3, 2009.

Welcome

On the initiative of the ONTM and in collaboration with airport authorities, some actions aiming at improving the conditions on arrival are currently being undertaken at Ivato International Airport (Antananarivo). These actions relate to travellers’ comfort and security on arrival and also aim at providing them with better information.

News from airline companies

Air Madagascar has set up the promotional tariff IPROMO which is 500 Euros net of tax. Valid for travels from Paris to Antananarivo or Nosy Be and from Marseille to Antananarivo (outward journey and return) until June 30 and from 1st September to December 17, 2009.

Corsairfly has created the season-based tariff NLLITCHI, valid from PARIS to TANA or NOSY BE for sales beginning on May 27, 2009 until June 30, 2009

- Nllitchi Tariff : 513 Euros net of tax.

Valid for travels from Paris between June 01 and June 27, 2009 and from August 15 to 31st Octobe, 2009 and for returns to Paris from June 01 to July 13, 2009 and from September 06 to October 31, 2009

- Nhlitchi Tariff: 793 Euros net of tax.

Valid for travels from Paris, starting from June 28 till August 14, 2009 and for returns to Paris from July 14 to September 05, 2009.

The maximum duration of the stay is 45 (forty-five) days

South African Airlink offers convenient daily direct scheduled flights from Johannesburg to Antananarivo, providing travellers from both South Africa and Madagascar with a wider choice of departure days. Airlink operates this route in code share with Air Madagascar, providing travellers with onward connections to other destinations within Madagascar.

Sporting events

On July 25 and 26, 2009, the third edition of Isalo Raid will be held in the national park of Isalo. It is a sporting excursion of 100 km at a free pace to be covered in 36 hours maximum, associated with a discovery of the park.

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Ethiopia

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Ethiopia is a land of endless mysteries in its geology, in the diversity of its animal and plant life, in its tumultuous national history and the rich culture of its people.

Church scholars reckon Ethiopian History spans 7,492 years going by its own chronology and calendar, from the time of Genesis to the present.

The name Ethiopia, meaning “land of burnt face” in Greek, according to one derivation, was already known in 3000 B.C.

Records going back to 6000 years tell of Egyptian diplomatic missions and trade expeditions to Punt. This was a kingdom on the Horn of Africa that thrived for a thousand years, controlling both sides of the Red Sea from centers in what is present day Ethiopia.

Archaeological findings abound in Ethiopia, covering sites stretching in the Rift Valley from the Omo River Valley in the southwest to the Afar Depression in the northeast. These consist of hominid remains dating up to four million years old, some of the earliest man-made tools ever recorded and imprints of human settlement said to be no less than one and a half million years old. All this has earned Ethiopia the epithet “cradle of mankind! “

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Green Islands Foundation

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

The central Seychelles archipelago has only two species of terrestrial mammal, and they are both bats. The endemic biodiversity of the islands, therefore, has not evolved mechanisms to cope with the presence of introduced mammals.

Of particular threat are predators such as rats and cats, which are highly adaptable with broad

feeding niches, making them effective and high-impact invaders. The effect of these predators on Seychelles flora and invertebrate fauna is not properly understood but is expected to be extensive, and their impact on our endemic birds is well known.

The threatened status of several of Seychelles’ rare species – including the magpie robin (pisantez), the warbler (timerldezil), fody (tok tok) and white-eye (zwazo linet) – has been directly linked to the presence of rats and cats. In order to save such species it is vital to establish natural havens with suitable habitat and no mammalian predators. This is where private islands have stepped in and shouldered this national burden.

Since 2000 Frégate, Denis and North islands have eradicated mammalian predators. Their activities have increased the rat-free habitat in central Seychelles threefold such that today these three islands alone constitute about 65% of all the rat-free land in the central archipelago. The eradication on Frégate secured the future of the primary and original source population of the Seychelles magpie robin and the largest population of the Seychelles fody. It also enabled the subsequent successful introduction of the Seychelles white-eye.

Denis is now home to introduced populations of four threatened endemic birds; including the first ever transfer of the Seychelles paradise flycatcher. North, meanwhile, now hosts a population of introduced white-eyes. All three islands are continuing work to enable the introduction of more endemic species in the coming months and years.

All three islands have undertaken extensive ecosystem rehabilitation projects to create and extend existing habitats to enable rare species introductions, including the planting of some 85,000 native plants on Fregate and the rehabilitation of some 50 hectares of habitat to date on both Denis and North. All three islands are luxury hotel resorts that market themselves to a considerable extent on their wonderful island ecosystems.

The islands are also showing natural recovery following the removal of alien predators, with seabird species returning in numbers. Of particular note is the wedge-tailed shearwater: this bird digs and breeds in subterranean burrows and is, therefore, particularly vulnerable to rodents. On all three islands this species has now re-established small breeding populations. This represents a major breakthrough in the recovery of these ecosystems and bodes very well for the future establishment of broader seabird colonies.

This shows how tourism development can do much more than just provide employment and attract foreign direct investment; it can also make a significant contribution to the conservation and sustainable use of Seychelles’ natural heritage.

Their investment and ongoing commitment are also helping Seychelles to meet its international

commitments under agreements and initiatives such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the national implementation of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development’s action plan.

This shows how development and investment, if managed appropriately, really can be positive

for both socioeconomic development and environmental patronage; and that sound environmental investment and management can be the basis of a viable business model. The Green Islands Foundation is a locally registered NGO dedicated to the mainstreaming of sustainable development. To learn more about its objectives and activities please visit the following sites http://denisisland.blogspot.com and http://greenislandsfoundation.blogspot.com.

More information on the environmental initiatives on Frégate and North islands can be obtained from the following respective sites: www.fregate.com and http://www.north-island.com .

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