S2E11: Travel for Good? with Shafik Meghji

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Is Travel Good For The Planet?


This question is tackled by our return guest, the environmentally-focused, award-winning travel writer Shafik Meghji. In a conversation that includes the subject of Shafik's recent book, Crossed Off The Map: Travels in Bolivia, and host Tony Fletcher's upcoming journey to Costa Rica, the pair discuss:

  • The difference between travel and tourism
  • The "brownfield rainforest" at Canvey Wick outside London, and the "temperate rainforests" of Wales
  • Why Bolivia is "on the frontline of so many defining issues that will shape all of our lives wherever we are in the world in the years to come."
  • How Lake Pupil, a lake the size of Luxembourg, dried up in barely two years.
  • How the Amazon rainforest comprises 1/3 of Bolivia and traveling through it can help indigenous communities
  • The natural beauty of Bolivia's rural landscapes and its fascinating cities
  • How the migrant indigenous city of El Alto overtook the population of neighboring La Paz in just two decades.
  • Costa Rica's remarkable biodiversity, its eco-tourism, and its 'unparalleled' wildlife.
  • Shafik's recommendation for the perfect travel spot


You can find Shafik at shafikmeghji.com/ and at instagram.com/shafikmeghji/

Read his article on the brownfield rainforest of Canvey Wick

and his piece on the Lost Rainforests of Britain


More info on his book is at

http://www.shafikmeghji.com/#/crossedoffthemap/

The newspaper articles Tony references in the outro are:

On Lithium Mining

On Deep Sea Mining


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Theme song is 'Delaymania' by Noel Fletcher.

Logo by Mark Lerner. Photo taken at Arte Sumapaz in Cundinimarca, Colombia.

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