"Community tourism goes beyond enjoying a new culture while supporting sustainable development — it's also a great way to make life-long friends," said Thamrong Chompusri, director of Andaman Discoveries.

Darunee Pakdee, or Cha as her friends call her, smiles as she welcomes the group of tour operators to her village on the Andaman Coast. Unlike the majority of visitors over the past few years, this group of visitors is not here to see the destruction wrought by the tsunami of 2004. Instead, they are here as tourists to enjoy the cultural and natural splendor of Ban Talae Nok, a village of 67 homes situated in between the coral reefs and dense rainforests of Southern Thailand.

Life has not always been so easy for Cha — the majority of her village was destroyed in the tsunami, and, due to declining fish stocks and mangrove destruction, she was unable to return to her traditional fishing lifestyle. With the development of community tourism, however, her luck is turning around.

"We are beginning to understand how to connect tourism with our way of life, and share with people the natural environment that we depend on for our culture and livelihood," Cha explains.

Since rebuilding their lives after the tsunami, some villagers in rural Thailand are using tourism as a tool for sustainable development. Community members such as Cha now offer homestays, eco-tours, and other activities — allowing visitors to participate in the traditional way of life that so often eludes the casual tourist. Their work has been assisted by Andaman Discoveries, a social enterprise founded in 2006 that works as part of the North Andaman Community Tourism Network. Under the sponsorship of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), these two groups are serving as a bridge between local villages and the private sector.

In recognition of their unique approach, Andaman Discoveries recently received a 2008 SEED Award for Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development. Chosen from close to 400 applications from over 100 countries worldwide, Andaman Discoveries will use the Award to expand its partnerships with the local Community Tourism Network.

The SEED (Supporting Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development) Initiative is a global network for action on sustainable development partnerships, founded by IUCN, the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to deliver concrete progress towards the internationally-agreed, aspirational goals in the UN’s Millennium Declaration and the commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002.

SEED focuses on locally-driven, entrepreneurial partnerships in developing countries. Its goal is to inspire, promote and build capacity to support the many innovative ways in which diverse groups are working together to improve incomes and strengthen livelihoods; tackle poverty and marginalisation; and manage and conserve natural resources and ecosystems.

Through an annual, global awards scheme SEED reveals a wealth of novel ways of doing business through partnerships and provides international recognition to the most promising enterprises.

SEED Award Winners then receive a tailored package of support services to help them to become established and to increase their impact. This includes access to relevant expertise and technical assistance, meeting new partners and building networks, developing business plans and identifying sources of finance.

"I applaud the success of Andaman Discoveries and the North Andaman Community Tourism Network," said Dr. Janaka de Silva, IUCN Thailand's Programme Coordinator, adding that "these IUCN-supported efforts can serve as a model for tourism throughout the region."

Quotes
"Events like this give me the motivation to develop tourism to benefit my community, despite the challenges. I hope to develop a strong tourism group with the help of young leaders in the village and the new generation."
Gasom Vejasart, Laem Naew Community Tourism Group

"Until I visited, I was not aware the North Andaman had so much to offer. I hope to send groups for cycling, homestay, and volunteer activities."
Ittipol Puttasiri, Product Manager, North by Northeast Tours

"By creating genuine cultural exchange between guests and villagers, community tourism creates an opportunity for communities to preserve their traditional ways of life and natural environment."
Bodhi Garrett, North Andaman Community Tourism Network

"The SEED Awards are playing an important role in helping to bring about positive change. The winners identified show all of us how, working together, we can make real progress towards meeting our development goals."
Kemal Dervis, UNDP Administrator

"We are beginning to understand how to connect tourism with our way of life, and share with people the natural environment that we depend on for our culture and livelihood."
Darunee (Cha) Pakdee, Community Tourism Coordinator, Ban Talae Nok

"Community tourism goes beyond enjoying a new culture while supporting sustainable development — it's also a great way to make life-long friends."
Thamrong Chompusri, Director, Andaman Discoveries

"I applaud the success of Andaman Discoveries and the North Andaman Community Tourism Network. These IUCN-supported efforts can serve as a model for tourism throughout the region."
Janaka de Silva, Programme Director, IUCN Thailand

For more information, please contact:

Bodhi Garrett, Lead Consultant, North Andaman Community Tourism Network
Tel: +66 81 787 7344
E-mail: bodhi@iucnt.org

Thamrong Chompusri, Director, Andaman Discoveries
Tel: +66 86 907 1559
E-mail: info@andamandiscoveries.com
Web site: http://www.andamandiscoveries.com

Minna Epps, Communications Officer, IUCN Asia Regional Office
Tel: +66 2 662 4029 ext. 108
E-mail: minna@iucnt.org
Web site: http://www.iucn.org/asia

About IUCN — International Union for Conservation of Nature
Created in 1948, IUCN brings together 83 States, 110 government agencies, 800 plus NGOs, and some 11,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. The Union's mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.

The Union is the world's largest environmental knowledge network and has helped over 75 countries to prepare and implement national conservation and biodiversity strategies. The Union is a multicultural, multilingual organization with 1,000 staff located in 62 countries. Its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland.

About the SEED Initiative
“Supporting Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development” – the SEED Initiative – is a global network for action on sustainable development partnerships, founded by IUCN, UNDP and UNEP, to deliver concrete progress towards the internationally-agreed, aspirational goals in the UN’s Millennium Declaration and the commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002.

SEED focuses on locally-driven, entrepreneurial partnerships in developing countries. Its goal is to inspire, promote and build capacity to support the many innovative ways in which diverse groups are working together to improve incomes and strengthen livelihoods; tackle poverty and marginalisation; and manage and conserve natural resources and ecosystems.

Through an annual, global awards scheme SEED reveals a wealth of novel ways of doing business through partnerships and provides international recognition to the most promising enterprises.

SEED Award Winners then receive a tailored package of support services to help them to become established and to increase their impact. This includes access to relevant expertise and technical assistance, meeting new partners and building networks, developing business plans and identifying sources of finance.

By tracking their progress as they grow, SEED also seeks to increase technical knowledge and understanding of these small-scale, locally-led activities. It studies what partnerships like these need to succeed and grow and how successful ideas can be replicated elsewhere.

SEED then uses its extensive network, publications and events to promote these innovative approaches, to disseminate its findings to partnerships practitioners and policy and decision-makers and to provide a platform for shared learning and collaboration.

SEED Partners
Partners in the SEED Initiative are IUCN, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP);the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); and the governments of Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. SEED also works closely with GlobalGiving and the UN’s Global Compact.

SEED International Jury
The SEED Initiative is extremely grateful to the 2008 International Jury – a panel of experts in various fields of sustainable development - who have kindly given their time to help to identify the most promising partnerships from the nearly 400 applications received this year. Jury members were Eugenio da Motta Singer, founder of the Instituto PHAROS and President of EZ CARBON SOLUTIONS in Brazil; Kofi Nketsia-Tabiri, Regional Manager of E+Co Africa; Yves Renard, co-founder of the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute and independent expert; Jennifer Seif, Executive Director of Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa; Hanumappa Sudarshan, founder of VGKK and Karuna Trust in India; Nino Tevzadze, Regional Coordinator for the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network; Sarah Timpson, Senior Adviser to UNDP on Community-based Initiatives; George Varughese, President of the Development Alternatives Group in India.

More information can be found at www.iucn.org

Source: IUCN — International Union for Conservation of Nature release dated 1 September 2008