On September 19th I successfully defended my PhD thesis. I presented my findings in a 30min talk and we had a lively discussion afterwards. It was mainly revolving around questions how ecotourism concepts can be used to enhance the livelihoods of local communities. Now I am working on the publication, the book will be published by VERLAG FÜR ENTWICKLUNGSPOLITIK SAARBRÜCKEN and should be out by the end of this year. There is a slight change in the title. The book will now be titled Canopy Tourism in Tropenwäldern - Eine politisch-ökologische Analyse zum Tourismus in Baumkronen.
The presentation of my talk can be viewed here. Simply click the PLAY arrow or click MORE for the fullscreen view.
written on Oktober 30, 2011, 11:20 pm by Markus Seibel saved in General, News|Comment »
My Phd-project, which gave me the opportunity to do research in places like Borneo or Rwanda, has come to an end. I submitted my thesis titled: Canopy Tourism in tropischen Wäldern - Eine akteurorientierte Untersuchung aus Sicht der politischen Ökologie in May. The defense of the thesis will take place in September. You will find the abstract of the thesis below. Read the whole article »
written on August 11, 2011, 5:13 pm by Markus Seibel saved in General, News|Comment »
The Nyungwe Forest Canopy Walkway was launched recently. I was there to train the guides and advise Rwanda Development Board on ways to integrate the walkway into the national park’s overall tourism offer. Here are some pictures.
written on November 12, 2010, 10:48 am by Markus Seibel saved in News, Pictures|Comment »
The International Canopy Network (ICAN) publishes a newsletter quarterly and features articles and content of interest to forest canopy researchers, educators, students, and conservationists. I published an article on canopy tourism it the newsletter’s current edition, which can be accessed here: What’s up 16,1
The 5th International Canopy Conference in Bangalore was a great event. More than 250 scientists got together to present their latest findings and exchange their views on the future of canopy research.
The symposium on canopy tourism went very well. We had a great variety of speakers from different fields and research backgrounds. You can find a short summary and download links to the presentations here. Read the whole article »
The goals of the conference are to highlight the relevance of canopy research with respect to important global challenges, especially climate change, sustainability and conservation. Hence, the integration of canopy science with natural science, social science and information technology is critical. The conference provides an opportunity to build networks across continents, which will facilitate capacity building and foster collaboration using information from multiple sites, within countries and across continents.
On Friday, October 30th we will hold a symposium on Conservation, community development, rainforest experience: The environmental, social and economic values of forest canopy based ecotourism. The symposium is jointly organized by Siddhartha Krishnan of ATREE and me.
In the symposium we will move from general ecotourism observations to more concrete canopy tourism examples and likewise move from international examples into the Indian context. Therefore I have assembled the speaker list as follows: Read the whole article »
My research work in Rwanda is over. I spent time in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali and conducted a case study in Nyungwe Forest National Park. In the gallery you will find a number of new pictures which illustrate quite well what I have done there. Read the whole article »
For one week I have now been in Rwanda to conduct research for my Ph.D. - Project. The first days I spent in Kigali where I met with different stakeholders involved in the Destination Nyungwe Project. This gives me a basic understanding of who is involved, at which stage the project is and what the project aims are.
Today I arrived in Nyungwe Forest National Park at park head quarters in Kitabi at the eastern side of the park. The HQ is beautifully located on a ridge, surrounded by tea plantations and facing the park boundary. I will spend the next weeks in different parts of the park and write more about my activities once I have started. I uploaded a few pictures, more will follow.
Two exciting upcoming projects have been confirmed. In Rwanda I will conduct a case study for my research in Nyungwe National Park. This study will take about four weeks and will begin in July. In Uganda I have been appointed technical advisor to conduct a feasibility study and provide technical specifications for the development of canopy walkways and/or ziplines in the Uganda national parks. This commitment will take place in June. Read the whole article »
The official invite to the symposium on canopy based ecotourism at the International Canopy Conference in Bangalore has been sent to the participants.
The symposium is entitled: “Conservation, community development, rainforest experience: The environmental, social and economic values of forest canopy based ecotourism”
Goal of symposium: For over 20 years now ecotourism has been understood as an approach to experience a resource like tropical forests sustainably. The aims of the ecotourism concept include benefits to conservation and local communities while avoiding negative ecological and socio-cultural effects. Another central aim of this approach is to raise environmental awareness in ecotourism destinations. And this is where ecotourism and canopy tourism are interconnected. Canopy tourism activities offer a special rainforest experience from a completely new perspective.