Eco Walk in UP Campus

Almost every semester, i bring my Ecotourism class to the greeneries of the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman.

The objective has always been for them to actually see what the heck i've been talking about everything ecotourism. Like, it's really hard to explain biodiversity and environmental conservation in connection with sustainable tourism development when all they see are me trying to get their attention, and witness my pathetic drawing skills on the whiteboard.

This time, the weather cooperated and the ground was not soggy which enabled me to command (okay, request) them  to sit on the ground and try to feel (uhm, communicate) with nature as to how a tourism development should be designed. I can sense your eyes rolling. Believe me, this makes sense when you join the walk.

The walk is largely about ecology, biodiversity, endemic and exotic species, conservation, nature-based design, use of available resources, environmental indicators, visitor flow, and yes, why we have to keep open and green areas like the ones in the campus.

It was a short walk. I just hope that these UP students can bring the lessons and realizations with them as they move on with their professional lives.

The usual end of the ecowalk is by this huge kapok tree which harbors so many lives, from insects, other plants, birds and even bats. That it represents how everything is inter-connected, and that man is part of, and not above and beyond what everything the environment is all about.