British
Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award
http://www.greatamericantrails.com/birding_trails/index.html
The
Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail —conceived and developed
largely by Fermata, Inc.’s President, Ted Eubanks–earned
the British
Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award for 2001. The Trail was the
only United States project selected among 28 recipients of the Highly
Commended Awards.
Considered the most prestigious
environmental tourism award in the world, the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow
Award recognizes only the best sustainable tourism initiatives. The Great Texas
Coastal Birding Trail shone among 115 entries from countries ranging from Australia
to India, Turkey, Poland and Nepal. Specifically, the Trail earned recognition
under the category of "Protected Areas."
The Trail
passed the test as a model of sustainability that improves quality of life for
communities and protects and enhances the natural heritage. Fermata, Inc. served
as the contractor for Texas Parks & Wildlife to select the 308 birding sites
along more than 500 miles of coastline, write text, design maps, plan site enhancements,
and to work closely with local communities. Partnerships proved essential to success.
Today, private landowners and communities on the Trail have joined conservation
initiatives to protect threatened habitats.
Birding Trail enthusiasts
snapped up 200,000 maps in the first three years of the Trail–1997-2000.
Since then, many states including Florida and Virginia have followed the Texas
trail’s lead–and the idea is spreading worldwide. Eubanks presented
the Trail model at the 1999 RARE conference in Belize.
Eubanks views the Great
Texas Coastal Birding Trail as a terrific example of the guiding
philosophy for Fermata, Inc. He explains, "By inviting tourists
to experience the Texas coast and its splendid array of birds, the
Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail is attracting much-needed economic
contributions to depressed Texas coastal communities. By doing so,
the resource upon which the recreation (birding) depends (the birds
themselves) is imbued with a value that previously had been absent.
Economic conservation offers one way to allow conservation to pay
for itself."
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