Conserving Land, Creating Livelihoods in Ethiopia: The Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Alliance (a GSTA project)
Residents of marginalized communities near beautiful national parks have always been confronted with a dilemma: how to feed their families without damaging Mother Nature. An innovative program called the Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Alliance (ESTA) has provided villagers with solutions – and the results are remarkable, for the people and the parks. Villagers organize themselves into committees, identify tourism opportunities and create sustainable enterprises that benefit from these national and international travelers.
Having built a relationship of trust with villagers, ESTA was able to add a parallel program to raise awareness of AIDS, supported by the U.S. President’s Plan for AIDS Relief. It, too, relies on members of the community. Volunteer peer educators teach their neighbors and coworkers about the disease and how it spreads, and where to turn for counseling and testing.
The video and narratives provided here tell the stories of individuals who have successfully embraced the tools that ESTA has to offer.
Conserving Land, Creating Livelihoods in Ethiopia from Counterpart International on Vimeo.
For More Information Contact:
Jennifer Norfolk
Counterpart International
jnorfolk@counterpart.org
www.Counterpart.org
