Benin Ecotourism Concern (ECO-BENIN

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  • Communities

About the Communities

Founding year

  • 1998

What we do

Eco-Benin is a Beninese NGO promoting community-based ecotourism in Benin since 10 years. As a member of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Eco-Benin is working to ensure better living conditions for communities at local and national level through the promotion and the development of ecotourism and eco-development initiatives as a sustainable way of managing natural resources in Benin.
For 10 years, training and development of skills related to ecotourism are key activities in the projects we implement. But right now, we have travel department dealing the marketing and selling of our community-based ecotourism tours.
Eco-Benin supports 10 tourism communities in Benin of which 5 are more developed and visited right now. In south, we are working in Possotomé and Kpétou at the Ahémé Lake. This project is related to lake tours and mangrove planning as a carbon offset project so tourists can plant mangrove on a voluntary basis. We have already planted about 700.000 mangrove plants around the lake and our goal is to reach a number of 2 millions in the coming years. In the centre of Benin, we work with a bee keeping project in Koko village. The focus here is the combination of bee keeping and ecotourism. In the North, we are working in Koussoukoingou village where the focal attractions are tata somba and mountains landscape. We are also present around the two national parks of Benin. At Pendjari national park, 60 micro-entrepreneurs are being promoted in Tanongou village where visitos come to see waterfalls, wildlife and local ethnics’ cultures. There are 5 homestays here own by 5 women, 15 ecoguides, 5 carterers and etc
Around “W” national park, we are working in localities of Karimama, Alfakoara and Banikoara.

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 1998
  • Started living together
Total
800

How to join

Workshop-visitors welcome, Non-working Guests welcome, Work Exchange welcome, Volunteers welcome,

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Location

Benin Ecotourism Concern (ECO-BENIN

Promoted Needs and Offers

  • Events
10 years ago

Gaia Ashram Internship

The Gaia Ashram Internship is a one month program on Ecovillage Design, Permaculture and Deep Ecology. The internship will be a holistic participatory learning experience & process. Interns will experience being part of the Gaia Ashram Community and we will live together for one month at– Gaia Ashram-. At Gaia Ashram we belief in holistic learning that balances the head, hands & heart. Gaia Ashram encourages participatory learning & values the power of community in holding the learning space. We design the daily & weekly structure of the internship and of our lives here based on these values and principles. Theoretical learning (Head) The theoretical sessions will be participatory and interactive. It will cover the 4 keys of Ecovillage Design Education (Social, Economical, Ecological and Worldview inspired by Gaia Education). Each week will cover one of the Ecovillage Design Keys and integrated into this we will be introduced to Permaculture Design & Deep Ecology in terms of philosophy, movement and personal experiences. Overall, We will have a maximum of 2-3 hours of theory per day on the session days, to also create lots of space for practical experiential learning. See more details of the key content below. Practical learning (Hands – on) For the hands – on practical learning we will be developing the Gaia Ashram’s farm and restoring nature on the Gaia Ashram land using permaculture strategies & techniques that are appropriate for the Rainy Season & the land and its local context. The hands-on work will focus on Gardening work i.e. developing the vegetable gardens, planting seeds & seedlings, transplanting, propagation of plants, making composts, growing and maintaining a Food Forest, planting green manures, planting lots of trees, planting seasonal crops. Apart from the Gardening we will also will be doing some natural building which mostly will focus on creating natural finishes using mud plasters and art works on
  • Events
10 years ago

Deep Ecology and Mindful Gardening

Deepen our connection with nature through our head, heart, hands and spirit. Join us for this two weeks contemplative learning where we will learn together What is Deep Ecology as a philosophy, as a way to see and interpret life, as an approach to deepen our connection with nature and as a way of living. This two weeks program is designed to have balance of the learning through different channel of our being: Head: Theoretical learning, critical thinking, debate, discussion, deep reflection & deep questioning. The learning through the head help us to understand deeply of what is happening around us and in the world. Understanding and deeply questioning the reality presented to us is a way to liberate ourselves from it. Heart: listening to what we are feeling when we engage ourselves in nature and her stories. Allowing the heart to feel the love, joy, compassion or the feeling of sadness & fear allowing ourselves to feel the pain ourselves, the world & Mother Earth. We will use the activities of The Work That Reconnect of Joanna Macy and other practices to help our heart to learn deeply. We need the learning through our heart to bring about transformation at a deep level. Hand: Mindfully working with nature in the garden. When we are mindful we love, respect and connect as we are physically engaged. Practical work help us to ground our believes, philosophy and vision. It empowers us and assures us that the new reality we wish for is possible. It makes what’s in our head and heart become real and tangible. Spirit : Spirituality, Meaning & purpose. Learning at this level is about being conscious of our values and purpose, seeing ourselves as part of a greater universe and realizing our connection, relationship and responsibility in that picture. a learning at this level helps us to stay connected with our core and bring meaning to life.

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Communities

A residential project: people live here as their primary home.

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An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).

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