National Geographic Traveller (UK)
Sustainability
COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE, OREGON/WASHINGTON, US MINDFULLY WINE & DINE IN THE LARGEST NATIONAL SCENIC AREA IN THE US
The largest National Scenic Area in the US is probably not where you think: it straddles the Oregon-Washington border and comprises 293,000 acres of public and private lands along the Columbia River Gorge. With Mount Hood nearby, the area attracts more than two million visitors annually. To help reduce tourist impact, a nonprofit alliance has kick-started a collaborative movement that’s morphed into a best-practice model for building a sustainable tourism economy.
Columbia Gorge Tourism Alliance initiatives include the visitor education programme Ready, Set, Gorge, and the East Gorge Food Trail, a network of farms, historic hotels, wineries and other homegrown experiences.
Ali McLaughlin, owner of MountNbarreL, which offers wine-tasting bike tours and other car-free experiences, says partnering with other local organisations and educating visitors benefits everyone. “Having tourists who understand the importance of respecting the area they are travelling through has gone a long way towards mitigating concerns from local residents,” she explains.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVEL (US)
RUHR VALLEY, GERMANY BE SURPRISED BY ART & NATURE IN A FORMER INDUSTRIAL ZONE
Mining and steel production once dominated the densely populated Ruhr Valley, in Germany’s western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Today, the region is repurposing former slag heaps and post-apocalypticlooking industrial sites as parks and open-air cultural spaces. The most famous is the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Zeche Zollverein (Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex), home to an outdoor swimming pool, ice rink and walking trails. “People visiting the area are usually impressed by the abundance of green,” says Karola GeissNetthöfel, director of the Ruhr Regional Association.
Zollverein is part of the Emscher Landscape Park, an east-west system of green spaces and corridors covering nearly 175sq miles. Rent a bike in Essen for a car-free
Ruhr Valley trip along cycling routes or explore on foot via the 96-mile-long Hohe Mark Steig, a trekking trail opened in 2021. “The trail combines nature and industrial culture in a unique way as you pass by several industrial buildings,” says Karola. A top spot nearby? The 495ft-high Halde Hoheward, a mountainous slag heap made from 180 million tons of mine waste topped with a giant sundial.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER (GERMANY)
SUPPORT CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN A BIODIVERSE WONDERLAND
“Chimanimani is a timeless place, where local rainmakers still climb peaks to summon rain,” says National Geographic Explorer and photojournalist
Jen Guyton, discussing one of Mozambique’s newest national parks. Located on the country’s mountainous border with Zimbabwe, Chimanimani National Park, established in October 2020, is home to Mozambique’s highest peak, the 7,992ft Mount Binga.
It was once flush with elephants, lions and other large animals, yet decades of poaching and civil unrest decimated wildlife populations. Small numbers of elephants remain, as do at least 42 other species of mammals and a dazzling array of plant and avian life. In two recent biodiversity surveys that Jen photographed, 475 plant species and 260 bird species were identified, along with 67 amphibian and reptile species.
Sustainable tourism activities — such as birdwatching, hiking to forest waterfalls and overnighting at the Ndzou Camp, a small community eco-lodge — provide up-close views of a captivating wild place.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVEL (US)