Carol Patterson

INSPIRING EVERYDAY EXPLORERS Through wildlife tales and trails

Carol Patterson

Recycling a beach in Quebec’s Forillon National Park

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Have you recycled a pop bottle? How about a whole beach? Few can claim the latter but at Forillon National Park on Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula, the Cap-des-Rosiers beach was suffering such rapid erosion (exacerbated by climate change) drastic action was needed.

Parks Canada has reduced erosion at Forillon National Park’s Cap-des-Rosiers beach

“Aside from the costs of repairs associated with this erosion it is increasingly apparent that beaches in the park have been shrinking – to the point of vanishing altogether, ” explained Marie-Claude Trudel, Education Officer – Parks Canada.

How do you save a beach from erosion? #ParksCanada has waysClick to Tweet

Parks Canada got busy; a paved road along the shoreline was removed and hikers were encouraged to use new access trails through the forest. The monument for the Carrick shipwreck was also moved to drier and higher ground.

In years past ice protected the coastline from winter storms and erosion. Now there may be less ice or shorter ice seasons leaving the beach vulnerable. Parks Canada has planted more beach grasses to stabilize soil and driftwood and seaweed (natural beach protectors) are left where they wash up.

Several years on this environmental story has some good news. In 2018 beach observers found twice as many sites with capelin eggs as in 2016! Capelin – a small fish as important to birds and whales as cold beer to Maple Leafs’ hockey fans – is an important barometer of beach health so it appears Parks Canada’s efforts are helping. Now, if someone could find a way to recycle the Leaf’s playoff chances…….

For more information on the Cap-des-Rosiers project, go to https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/qc/forillon/decouvrir-discover/cote-coastal

Have you seen an innovative project to improve a tourism landscape? Please drop me a line or comment below. I’d love to hear more.

Okanagan vineyards offer wine aged in pyramids or made by owl lovers

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What does wine aged in a pyramid have in common with wine made by owl lovers? Both organizations are leaders in sustainability as I discovered researching my latest story for Roadstories.ca

Looking after the land makes better wine

Drinking this wine might give you a hangover but you won’t have a guilty conscience. Learn why in my latest story   Sustainable Tourism in B.C.’s Okanagan Wine Country

Have you visited any of these vineyards? Does it make a difference if they use sustainable practices? I’d love to hear from you.

Okanagan winemakers use sustainable methods

 

Is the Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development reason to celebrate?

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2017 is the International year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

Yeah, me! After all I wrote the book on sustainable tourism development  (Sustainable Tourism: Development, Operations, and Management released by Human Kinetics 2015) so I should be clicking my heels over the United Nations declaration.

But not so fast. Air travel is a large source of carbon emissions and travel by plane is growing faster than improvements in emission reductions. So the more we travel, the more greenhouse gases are created.

So what to do?  Stay home as some conservationists have suggested? I think many people love to travel or need to travel to see family and friends so this option isn’t likely to work.

I think as travellers we need to harness our spending on travel for the greater good. After all, more than a billion people are now travelling. The money they spend generates jobs and development done properly can lift people out of poverty.

When I plan trip activities I look for small, well-run businesses often through personal recommendations or through an association (two of my favorites are Adventure Travel Trade Association http://www.adventuretravel.biz/about/atta-members/ and The International Ecotourism Society http://www.ecotourism.org ).

Where possible I pick destinations closer to home so I’m not flying as far or at all. Some of my best trips in recent years were ones where I drove or took a bus. The sharing economy doesn’t just reduce costs it reduces emissions!

And it may be boring, but I read the rules for the parks I visit. If a billion of us are roaming around, it behooves us to act appropriately and if you’re new in town, you don’t always realize what is appropriate. I have a birdfeeder at home but when I visit a national park, it’s not okay to feed the birds.

So will the year of sustainable tourism for development cause you to travel differently?

Save money, uplift your spirits by adding a retreat to your travel plans

Have you ever thought of adding a retreat to a trip to save money while upping your emotional return?

Religious retreat centers may not be in the hospitality business but they know about service and many welcome visitors looking for a different kind of getaway.

I recently made a day trip to the Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre in Cochrane, Alberta for an artists’ retreat and discovered that a retreat can stretch your vacation dollars while offering renewal. Read more.

Happy Valentines Day!

Sending love and light your way.

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