Andaman Discoveries
Encyclopedia
Andaman Discoveries is a community-based development project of North Andaman Tsunami Relief (NATR), a non-profit organization based in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 that provides assistance to tsunami-affected villages in the north Andaman Sea
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea or Burma Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Burma, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands, India; it is part of the Indian Ocean....

 region. AD has assumed the work of NATR, fostering long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability and generating viable economic opportunities via training and marketing.

History

The Boxing Day tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...

 hit in late 2004 and it was after this event that North Andaman Tsunami Relief (NATR), the parent organization of AD, was formed. Eighteen months later, AD came into existence as a development of the organization.

Andaman Discoveries was established on August 1, 2006 by Bodhi Garrett in Kuraburi, a small town located in Phang Nga Province
Phang Nga Province
Phang Nga is one of the southern provinces of Thailand, on the shore to the Andaman Sea. Neighboring provinces are Ranong, Surat Thani and Krabi. To the south is the Phuket province, but without land boundary to Phang Nga....

 in the south of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

.

Mission

AD supports community-led development by acting as a bridge to visitors and volunteers through sponsorship of education, conservation, and cultural empowerment.

Projects

With the help of volunteers and visitors, AD has been able to organize and sustain several in-village projects using existing funds and contributions to the Community Fund. These projects include:

Sustainable Livelihoods

  • Teaching English to kids, adults, guides, and host families
  • Creative workshops with local children
  • Hand-crafted soap and Batik
    Batik
    Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Batik or fabrics with the traditional batik patterns are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Singapore.Javanese traditional batik, especially from...

     cooperatives


Conservation

  • Beach clearance and waste management
  • Mangrove
    Mangrove
    Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

     reforestation
  • Wildlife and environmental conservation projects
  • Orchid conservation
  • Beautification of community or school gardens
  • Interpretive nature trail data collection with local guides
  • GPS land-use mapping

Community Development

  • Construction of a community center
  • Long-term scholarships
  • Teacher placement in local and village schools
  • Teaching community aerobics or yoga
    Yoga
    Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...


Partners

AD's partners include research firms, educational institutions, governmental branches, and NGOs alike and name the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Rotary International, University of California – Los Angeles, InterVol (University of Birmingham), and The Mangrove Action Project as partners.

See also

  • Voluntourism
  • Sustainable tourism
    Sustainable tourism
    Sustainable tourism is tourism attempting to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate future employment for local people. The aim of sustainable tourism is to ensure that development brings a positive experience for local people, tourism companies and the...

  • Ecotourism
    Ecotourism
    Ecotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...

  • Adventure travel
  • InterVol

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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