An Unsustainable Future? Mount Roraima, April 2011

In April 2011, Ibex Earth led an expedition to Mount Roraima, Venezuela as part of The Lost World Project - an initiative designed to safeguard the long-term future of the plateau that inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write his famous novel 'The Lost World'. One aspect that is threatening the future of the plateau is unsustainable tourism, this video features a series of short clips, which aim to give an indication of the number of tourists who are now visiting this incredible region.

The very first scene is taken from a beauty spot called 'Jasper Creek', which is about a 40 minute drive from the start of the trail to Mount Roraima - it is one of the most incredible scenes in nature, a river that runs over a bed of jasper, caught in the right sunlight the river looks as though it is flowing with blood. The short clip shows how many Venezuelans visit the area to swim and enjoy the waterfalls.

The remaining scenes are all taken during the three day trek to the foot of Mount Roraima and show just how many people do take up the challenge to reach the summit - at the first camp there were at least 100 tourists, plus another 30-40 porters camped overnight. This number is actually sustainable, but unfortunately there is a real lack of sustainable infrastructure at each camp, mainly toilets, and if this isn't addressed soon then it is extremely likely that that area could be increasingly damaged by tourists.

Over the next few months we will be looking to create a series of sustainable tourism videos that we will give to local tour operators and those that target European and American tourists - we hope that education on sustainable tourism is the way forward and will keep you updated with our progress.

For more information please visit http://www.ibexearth.com/.

Ibex Earth - promoting sustainable tourism....