We’ve all visited neglected, underfunded and high-traffic tourist parks where wild and endangered animals have become almost tame. Sites such as these, where regulations are inadequately enforced, are unfortunately far too common. On the sunny flip side of this is well-planned ecotourism, the kind that helps conserve many outdoor and wilderness spaces that may be a last hope for endangered species.

Barra de Potosí is a small coastal village at the mouth of a lagoon, part of a complex and interdependent system of lagoons, which runs along the coast of the Municipio de Petatlan in Mexico. The people of Barra de Potosí are now confronted by and opposing a development project that they believe will destroy the existing ecosystem. The fight is proving to be a difficult one, and the people can use all the help they can get.

As summer takes its final bow (or winter, depending on which end of the planet you’re standing), it’s easy to think of the months ahead as a bit of a barren travel wasteland. Please don’t! Not only are off-season holidays far from the madding crowd more relaxed and easier on the wallet, but they take advantage of milder temperatures for outdoor pursuits that can be not all that fun when it’s just too darn hot… or cold! Here we put the ‘off’ season myth to bed with a selection of what to do and where after summer’s curtain call.

Elegant, mysterious and enormous, the humpback whale is utterly breathtaking when seen up close for the first time. With their enigmatic singing and endearing gentleness, these magnificent beasts have continued to perplex and allure travellers from around the globe, wishing to behold these nomadic mammals during their epic migrations. Marine experts estimate that a humpback…