Media appearances
Following my investigations into elephant sanctuaries, sea turtle hatcheries and carbon offsetting, I was interviewed the UK and international press about my findings. I was also interviewed by Finland's Lapin Kansa, while working with local husky and reindeer tour operators on behalf of the University of Lapland.
To find out more, do send me a message!
To find out more, do send me a message!
"Offsets, as the name suggests, do not actually reduce carbon emissions - they offset additional emissions, which can actually as an incentive to produce more - a bit like rewarding yourself with a huge chocolate bar because you spent an extra 30 minutes at the gym," Vicki Brown tells Gulf News... Brown, who is passionate about finding realistic solutions to reduce pollution, points to the loopholes. For example, you buy offsets to help plant a tree. Will that tree live long enough to make a difference?
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Vicki Brown, editor at Responsible Travel, says that the prevalence of riding perpetuates the industry. “It increases demand for captive elephants to be used as tourist attractions, which means more baby elephants must be captured from the wild, or sometimes bred for a life in captivity,” she says... The cruel process of intensively conditioning the elephants to obey keepers and allow people to ride them goes largely unseen by tourists. “In order to ensure they are safe around humans, the baby elephants must be broken in – a brutal and distressing process known as ‘crushing the spirit’,” says Brown.
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In-situ conservation efforts are strongly encouraged by most experts, with hatcheries seen as a last resort. “Any strategy that takes turtles out of their natural habitat — even if it’s just moving eggs — is risky,” says Brown. “The theft of eggs is one of the biggest threats to their survival, so working with local communities to raise awareness is essential. Coastal development must be deterred, light pollution reduced, and shorelines cleared of plastic waste. If all these efforts paid off, the hatchery wouldn’t even be needed in the first place.”
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Responsible Travel has accused some projects of unnecessarily keeping hatchlings in tanks purely so that tourists can pick them up and take 'selfies'. They are kept in overcrowded conditions in which diseases can be passed between the turtles. "Sea turtle experts don't recommend tanks," says Responsible Travel's Vicki Brown, who drew up a set of the guidelines for people wanting to visit turtle conservation projects. "I've read through several reports, and there are no benefits listed for the tanks."
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"Incubating sea turtle eggs is not as simple as it may appear. It's easy for untrained volunteers to patrol beaches, gather eggs and place them in new nests; however, this doesn't mean the process is successful. Nest temperatures affect the sex of the hatchlings - if the balance is skewed, this might not become apparent for decades, when the turtles are old enough to reproduce. Dry sand dehydrates the eggs; wet sand can suffocate them... it's a delicate science."
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[Translated from original Finnish] "Lapland's tour operators must stay strong now to keep what they have. They are receiving pressure from many directions to become bigger, and take bigger groups", she says. Brown's view is that these operators can remain in the market, even if they do not give in to the demands of mass tourism. She warned that there are dangers in trying to reach a bigger market. "Yes, there will be more tourists, but that does not necessarily guarantee more revenue. The important thing is to protect what people have come to see - this incredible nature, where you can experience your own smallness. If there are more people here, then all you will find are tourists."
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Largest ever all-female expedition to Antarctica: exploration, adventure travel and gender
Profiled BY Why Travel, 2017
"... under a quarter of the titles shortlisted for the Dolman Travel Writing Award were by female authors. Travel writer Vicki Brown argues that the problem is not just one of numbers but of content and presentation... Brown writes that the female-authored travel books which she found in a station bookstore (only 16 out of 106 titles) all shared a certain look and narrative. Female travel was presented in “curly, girly” fonts and told stories of self-discovery, particularly self-discovery which enables the author to find love and “settle down”. Brown argues that there are other stories for female travellers to tell but that the publishing industry and perhaps the taste of readers seems to favour this ‘girly’ presentation of female travel."