In honour of Earth Day, staff at WHL Group took a moment to think about our planet. Today, we can travel the world in a way that we never could before — virtually, online. Although there is no replacement for seeing the wonders of nature live and in person, digital media such as online video delivers powerful and inspiring messages. Here are our top picks of videos of ‘earth moments’ that move us.

On October 15th, 2008, at the keynote address at the first National Geographic/Ashoka Geotourism Challenge awards in Washington, DC, Sven Lindblad, president and founder of Lindblad Expeditions, kicked off his talk by making reference to an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times of July 2nd 2006 entitled “If Only Gay Sex Caused Global Warming: Why we’re more scared of gay marriage and terrorism than a much deadlier threat”.

On Thursday 4 June at 13:00 GMT, six leading global advocates of responsible tourism spoke and listened at a free public webinar (Web-based seminar) about the present and future of their fast-expanding industry. This inauguration of a regular series of online gatherings also served as a call for future discussion topics and guest speakers.

The scope of certification has now been broadened to include social and cultural issues – all part of a movement focusing on sustainability. Whilst I applaud the intent, efforts and enthusiasm of all the experts involved, I can’t help but feel things haven’t gone so well. It seems to me that key beneficiaries of the message – you! the travellers! – have been left out. As a result, many suppliers are not so sure that the cost of certification will be rewarded by increased patronage.