“The best way to mitigate global warming is to adopt organic farming,” said Cassandra D Pecol, a 27-year-old American lady who is attempting to set a world record by travelling through all 196 countries in the shortest time.
Cassandra set out for her first destination, Palau Oceania, on July 24, 2015.
The Pakistan chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is her host in Pakistan with the support of the Asiatic Public Relations Network (APR). The programme chalked out for Cassandra by the PATA and APR includes delivering talks at leading universities in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and at a Rotary function, visiting important cultural and heritage sites, meeting the Karachi Mayor, and participating in a tree plantation activity.
During her one day Lahore visit, she enjoyed the flag lowering ceremony at Wagha Border and had the chance to deliver a lecture in a private university. Moreover, she had Lahori food, which she claimed she will never forget.
“I received such warmth and love from the Pakistani people during my stay,” Cassandra said, as she left the country for her next destination, Eritrea.
Cassandra is a proponent of organic tourism – a relatively new term but vitally important if we care a little bit for our planet. Talking to Pakistan Today, she said that she wanted to make her travel sustainable and urged all travelers to be organic tourists.
She is of view that organic tourism takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.
“Sustainable tourism development guidelines and management practices are applicable to all forms of tourism in all types of destinations, including mass tourism and the various niche tourism segments” she said.
“So if you take a flight from your home town to another city or country, the carbon emissions of the plane will add to your carbon footprint as a tourist. And the hotel you will stay in, the food you consume and all other things that are required will be added into that footprint.” Cassandra added. “That’s why the concept of organic hotels is emerging in some countries”
To make her travel sustainable Cassandra has planted 43 trees during her journey, including one in Karachi, though she thinks the number should have been lot higher.
She is also an advocate for organic farming.
“Farming practices such as organic agriculture that preserve soil fertility and maintain or even increase organic matter in soils are good countermeasures against the fall of productivity in the events of drought, irregular rainfall, floods, and rising temperatures,” she said.
She said that soils under organic management retain significantly more rainwater thanks to the sponge-like properties of organic matter.
“The strength of organic farming systems is their diversity – including the diversity of crops, fields, rotations, landscapes and farm activities. The diversity of organic farms provides many ecological services that significantly enhance farm resilience.” Cassandra said.
She further said that organic farming also helps in halting deforestation which has a remarkably adverse impact on climate change. “Careful land use and management as in organic farming enhances environmental security and will help to stop losses of fertile arable land” she added.
