If you would like to learn more about ARTA, here is some more information from their website, or you can visit them https://bettertourismafrica.org 

The competition for the 2018 African Responsible Tourism Awards has moved into the second round, with over 15 tourism organisations competing for top spots at the awards ceremony at WTM Africa in April.

Sponsored by WESGRO and organised by Better Tourism Africa, the awards recognise African organisations that offer a shining example of how tourism can benefit the local people, the environment,  and destinations. The awards are part of a family of regional Responsible Tourism Awards which culminate each year with World Responsible Tourism Day at WTM in London.

This year, the longlist names tourism organisations from Kenya, Zimbabwe, Egypt, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Seychelles and Namibia. Longlisted organisations compete in five categories, among them aquatic habitat and species conservation, good working conditions, cultural experiences and a new category in 2018 – reporting on the Global Goals.

“The quality of entries which have made it through to the longlist this year confirms the power of responsible tourism as a force for good in Africa. Each one of these organisations is playing an important role in championing responsible tourism. We’ve reviewed the entries and are excited about the possibilities,” says Heidi van der Watt, founder of the African awards and director of Better Tourism Africa.

The longlisted organisations submissions of the longlisted organisations will now be rigorously reviewed by the judging team. Chair of Judges, Professor Harold Goodwin says:
“The field for the 2018 African Responsible Tourism Awards (ARTA) is again an indication of the strength of responsible tourism in Africa! Entrants have already completed a detailed questionnaire, and now we’ll take up references and make some inquiries. On judging day we’ll identify those that demonstrate the difference that taking responsibility can make, and have the capacity to educate and inspire others to be more responsible.”

The general public can also offer support or otherwise for longlisted organisations by emailing talktous@africanresponsibletourismawards.com. Based on all the evidence, the independent judging team, made up of industry experts, will debate the entries and select the shortlist and winners. The shortlist will be announced on 9 April 2017.

The 2018 African Responsible Tourism Awards winners will be announced at a ceremony that will be held on Wednesday 18 April 2018 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The ceremony is part of the responsible tourism programme at WTM Africa, which takes place from 18 to 20 April 2018.

Chardonnay Marchesi, Portfolio Manager for Reed Exhibitions, organiser of WTM Africa, says:
“Now in its fifth year, WTM Africa is firmly established on the African travel and tourism event calendar. Responsible Tourism has been a cornerstone of WTM Africa from the outset. In recent months we’ve seen the tourism sector rallying with inspiring innovation to respond to the drought in the Western Cape. Just further proof that responsible tourism is integral to the success of tourism on the continent. All stakeholders have a duty to ensure education, sustainability, and authenticity when promoting the unique experiences that Africa has to offer. We look forward to an exciting fourth edition of the African Responsible Tourism Awards, here in Cape Town at the CTICC at WTM Africa.”

The 2018 ARTA longlist

• Abang Africa Travel (South Africa) @AbangAfrica
• All Out Africa (Eswatini) @alloutafrica
• Basecamp Explorer Kenya (Kenya) @basecampexplore
• Cape Whale Coast (South Africa) @WhaleCoastSA
• Coffeebeans Routes (South Africa) @coffeebeansrout
• Elundini Backpackers (South Africa) @elundinibackpackers
• Global Exploration (South Africa) @SGexplore
• Marine Dynamics Tours (South Africa) @MarineDynamics
• Nande Junias Explorer Cultural Tours (Namibia) @CulturalTownshipTours
• New Hermopolis (Egypt) @newhermopolis
• Nkambeni Safari Camp (South Africa) @Nkambeni_safari
• North Island (Seychelles) @NorthIslandSeychelles
• Peak East Africa (Kenya) @Intrepid_Travel  @IntrepidFdn
• Spier (South Africa) @SpierWineFarm
• Wilderness Safaris (Botswana and Zimbabwe) @WeAreWilderness

Congratulations to all longlisters, and best of luck during the judging round!

Follow #ARTA18 and @RTAwardsAfrica for all you need to know about the awards ceremony and after-party and to discover who goes through to the finals.

In this paper 15 whale sharks satellite-tagged off the coast of Tofo had their movement patterns analysed. This showed that some travelled great distance (up to 2737km) with tags staying on an average of 27 days, sharks moved an average speed of about 28km a day. Our fastest shark moved over 70km in 1 day and our slowest just 2.6km per day! Whale sharks are big animals that have the capacity to move great distances, but most of the tagged sharks stayed within 1000km of where they were tagged. In fact one individual, MZ-607, whose tag stayed on for 56 days, only moved 205km from where tagging occurred! All this shows us that, with most sharks staying within Mozambican coastal waters, Mozambique’s coastline is very important for whale sharks.

The real whale sharks were then compared to computerized ‘model sharks’ that had been generated on a computer from general movement info of the whale shark….would the model sharks move in the same way as the actual whale sharks had? Or would there be a difference between the model sharks and the real sharks….helping us to uncover what else might be affecting the choices the whale sharks made in their movements? What drives a whale shark, is it random movement within its capacity, if not what is it moving towards? The real whale sharks spent significantly more time in cooler, shallow water with higher chlorophyll-a concentrations than the model sharks. With high chlorophyll-a indicating productive waters full of food, this suggests feeding is driving their movements in Mozambican waters. Not so surprising maybe as we are all driven by our stomachs sometimes!

So what does that mean for whale shark conservation: are the coastal waters of Mozambique a safe place for whale sharks to be spending a lot of time? Or are there hidden threats off of Tofo that could put our whale sharks at risk? One of the things our volunteers do is GPS area-usage mapping….not just for wildlife but for humans impacting the ocean too! For this paper we used data from 1323 boat-based volunteer surveys of area-usage. One of the things we record is gill-net fishing activity. Gill-netting involves using large nets, typically 20-200m in length and 5-8m deep, in relatively shallow waters to catch shoals of fish. These nets are often put out in the ocean, weighted down at the bottom and left unattended, with the fishermen only returning many hours later to check for any catch. With nets commonly laid perpendicular to the shore (sticking out from shore), transient marine megafauna moving along the coast can easily become caught in the nets. I have pulled turtles, guitarfish and rays from these unattended nets myself – sometimes with a happy outcome, and sometimes not. So, are these gill-nets a threat to whale sharks? Well, larger animals are more easily caught in a net with a larger mesh-size as it more easily gets caught around their fins. With the gill-nets in Mozambican coastal waters typically having a mesh size of 5-20cm, whale sharks are at risk of being caught in the larger-meshed nets. If they get caught in the nets whale sharks can’t usually get out, so they carry on swimming with the net attached and gradually, due to friction of the water and bioaccumulation of algae adding weight, the nets saw through the whale shark’s fins, amputating them.

So, the coastal waters off of Tofo, Mozambique are important to whale sharks. Whale sharks are likely coming here to feed. And the increasing use of gill-nets in Mozambican coastal waters is a threat to whale sharks. Gill-nets pose a risk to whale shark survival and whale shark conservation efforts in Mozambique. Gill-net use stands to negatively impact the substantial economic benefits brought by sustainable whale shark tourism in Tofo, Mozambique, and potentially other areas of the world where the human-wildlife conflict of whale shark versus gill-net may occur.

If you are interested to read the full paper the link is below and it is open-source so free to read for anyone interested!

https://peerj.com/articles/4161/?utm_source=soye2018&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_list

Written by Katie Reeve-Arnold, Director of Research, All Out Africa Marine Research Centre (Tofo Mozambique)