Dear colleagues and friends,

Following the controversial Kerala conference on `Responsible
Tourism', organized by Harold Goodwin's International Centre for
Responsible Tourism in cooperation with Indian tourism agencies in
March, people in Kerala remain vigilant and continue to oppose
irresponsible and socially and environmentally damaging tourism in
their communities. Presently, they are focusing on potentially harmful
golf course projects promoted by the government to boost the tourist
industry. What seems difficult for tourism officials to understand is
that responsible and environmentally conscious tourists will not visit
Kerala to indulge in the extravagant and exclusive lifestyle of golf.

Therefore, Kerala Tourism Watch, Kabani and Equations have recently
issued a joint statement that calls for the conversion of the disputed
Trivandrum golf course into a public biodiversity park and the
withdrawal of all proposed golf course projects in the state. The
anti-golf protest has already attracted public attention and has been
reported in the media, e.g. The Hindu and the Indian Express News Service.

In solidarity with the Kerala anti-golf struggle, the Global Anti-Golf
Movement (GAG'M) and supporters have sent an open letter to the
following authorities in Kerala and New Delhi:

<> Smt. Ambika Soni, Union Minister of Tourism and culture, Government
of India, New Delhi, email: tourismminister@nic.in
<>Shri. V. S. Achuthanandan, Chief Minister, Government of Kerala,
Thiruvananthapuram, email:

chiefminister@kerala.gov.in
<>Shri. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Minister for Tourism Kerala, Govt.
Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram, email: minister-home@kerala.gov.in
<> Shri. Shilabhadra Banerjee, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism,
Government of India,
New Delhi, email: sectour@nic.in
<> Dr. Venu V. IAS, Secretary on Tourism, Government of Kerala,
Thiruvananthapuram, email: venu@keralatourism.org.

Please share the here enclosed statements as widely as possible among
colleagues, friends and relatives. To express your solidarity, you can
sign up on the GAG"M letter or write your own letters to the concerned
Indian authorities, and send messages to the following NGOs:
Kerala Tourism Watch tourismwatch.kerala@gmail.com,
KABANI sumeshmang@yahoo.com , and
EQUATIONS campaigns@equitabletourism.org .

For updates, please regularly check the website:
www.keralatourismwatch.org.

Yours truly,
Anita Pleumarom
tourism investigation & monitoring team  (tim-team)

CONTENTS:
#1 Joint Statement from KERALA TOURISM WATCH, EQUATIONS & KABANI – the
other direction, June 2008;
#2 Letter by the Global Anti-Golf Movement (GAG'M) and supporters to

concerned Indian officials, 17 June 2008.

------------------------------
JOINT STATEMENT FROM KERALA TOURISM WATCH, EQUATIONS & KABANI – THE
OTHER DIRECTION

CLOSE DOWN TRIVANDRUM GOLF COURSE AND WITHDRAW ALL PROPOSED GOLF
PROJECTS IN THE STATE

Statement urges Kerala Government to abandon the Trivandrum golf
course. It should be converted as a public bio diversity park for
conservation and education. Abusing the public resources for
protecting the hobby of few vested elites in the city can no longer be
permitted.

06/06/2008, Thiruvananthapuram: KERALA TOURISM WATCH a coalition of
civil society activists and local communities, EQUATIONS and KABANI –
the other direction, has urged the Kerala government to wind up the
Trivandrum golf club and abandon its golf course. The coalition
believes that the environmental and social impacts warrant a more
fundamental approach of dissolution rather than changing the ownership
from private to public.

The golf courses are being increasingly brought in to focus due to the
environmental and social problems that they engender. Everywhere in
the world golf courses have been a major threat for local communities
primarily in terms of uncontrolled ground water depletion. Trivandrum
golf course for example has been reportedly consuming lakhs of litres
of water every day to maintain the grass turf. Conservative estimates
by various international agencies show that an 18-hole golf course
would consume 50 lakh liters of water a day, enough for nearly 10,000
families in a state like Kerala. We must remember that the water
consumption by the Coca Cola plant at Plachimada had been 5 lakh
liters a day. It is hardly surprising that the arrears towards water
charges of Trivandrum Golf Club ran in to several lakhs of rupees. At
a time when the common people in the city face acute water shortage,
maintaining a golf course with direct and indirect state subsidies

violate principles of social justice.

The argument that the golf courses would promote tourism in the state
is completely unfounded. While we are critical of state's tourism
policies in general we would like to point out that this argument is
particularly flawed. Studies have shown that tourists visiting
destinations in developing countries including India belong to the low
spending segment of international travelers. It is unlikely that they
will be interested in golf. Alternatively golf courses will not be an
adequate incentive for high spending travelers to visit destinations
in poor countries. Allowing golf courses to flourish disregarding
their environmental and social impacts will only serve the interest of
the local elites.

We understand that the government has been forced to take over the
golf course in Trivandrum due to repeated failures on the part the
club to comply with the administrative, legal and social requirements.
However, taking over the club from its current leadership while the
space could continue to be used as golf course will not bring any
fundamental change.

The coalition demands that government should take back this valuable
property and sees this opportunity to convert it into a bio diversity
park. The coalition strongly condemns the attempt by club authorities
to use the tourism façade to legitimise their elitist biases and
vested interests.

No more golf courses should be allowed in Kerala while the existing
ones should be immediately closed down. In this connection we demand
the closure of Trivandrum and Kochi golf courses and shelving of the
proposed one in Nedumbassery. We note with extreme concern that the
Nedumbassery project involves land acquired by evicting local people
in the name of Nedumbassery international airport. Tourism department
and government of Kerala should pay attention to the concerns raised
by national and international movements which oppose golf courses on

environmental and social grounds.

The coalition would initiate a state level campaign with the support
of civil society organizations to highlight the harmful impacts of
golf courses and for abandoning all golf course projects in the state.

EQUATIONS - 9447079763
KABANI – the other direction - 9388402948
Kerala Tourism Watch – www.keralatourismwatch.org

Sumesh Mangalassery
'Thiruvathira',TC-17/1982(1)
Palace View Road,Poojappura.
Thiruvananthapuram - 12
Phone (Mobile): +91 9388402948
Please visit: www.kabani.org

-------------------------------------
LETTER FROM THE GLOBAL ANTI-GOLF MOVEMENT (GAG'M) TO CONCERNED INDIAN
OFFICIALS

Bangkok, 17 June 2008

NO TO GOLF COURSES - YES TO BIODIVERSITY PARK IN KERALA

Dear Madam/ Sir,

We are writing to you to express our concerns over the negative
impacts of golf courses and kindly ask you to support the proposals of
Kerala Tourism Watch and other civil society organizations for a
moratorium on all golf course developments in Kerala and for the
conversion of the controversial Trivandrum golf course into a public
biodiversity park for conservation and education.

To introduce ourselves, we belong to an alliance of citizens and
non-governmental organizations who in 1993 formed the Global Anti-Golf
Movement (GAG'M) in Penang, Malaysia, as a response to the worldwide
outcry of thousands of communities harmed by environmentally and
socially damaging golf course projects. For more than fifteen years,
we have been involved in actions to raise public awareness on the
multi-dimensional problems related to golf course and resort
developments and to foster an open and frank debate with

decision-makers on the impacts of golf courses and golf tourism.

Case studies from around the world clearly show that golf course
projects that are often part of large-scale tourism schemes can cause
immeasurable environmental losses and hardships for local residents.
Such developments devour huge stretches of land, destroy forest,
coastal and marine areas, and wipe-out invaluable biological
diversity. High-standard golf courses require a package of imported
grass, fertilizers and a wide range of chemical products, including
colouring, soil hardening and coagulating agents, and the yearly
spraying of thousands of kilogrammes of insecticides, herbicides,
fungicides, all of which contribute to pollution and degradation of
the local environment. On top of that, golf resorts consume enormous
amounts of water, tens of millions of gallons, all year round, often
resulting in chronic water shortage crises in neighbouring areas.

Local governments tend to believe that golf courses will raise their
city's image, attract investors and bring in tourist dollars. But
often such projects create skewed land use and deprive local residents
of land and resources they depend on.

In these times when all efforts are needed to work for food and water
security for common people, it is highly irresponsible to promote the
elitist and exclusive lifestyle of golf and golf tourism. In China,
critics called golf 'green opium' as more and more precious farmlands
were turned into water-guzzling and toxic fairways. The central
government responded in December 2006 by banning the building of new
golf courses, residential villas and race tracks on undeveloped land
in order to protect China 's rapidly diminishing farmland. And in the
face of a looming food crisis, the government of the Philippines
recently also decided to prohibit the conversion of agricultural lands
into luxury housing, resorts and golf courses.

We do hope that the concerned government agencies in Kerala and New
Delhi will also give priority to land for people's livelihood, food
production and the protection and enhancement of your environment.

Therefore we are sending out this appeal to respectfully request that
you heed the citizens' call for a moratorium on golf courses in
Kerala. We agree that all existing and proposed projects in the state
should be given up immediately.

We also agree with the local civil society groups that it would be
unreasonable and not in the public interest to maintain the
controversial Trivandrum golf course with state subsidies. To convert
it into a public biodiversity park for the enjoyment and education of
both local residents and tourists is a highly recommendable plan that
should be realized by the concerned authorities as soon as possible.

IN THIS AGE OF GROWING ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS, THERE IS NO MORE PLACE
ON EARTH FOR DESTRUCTIVE, WASTEFUL AND EXPLOITATIVE GOLF COURSES!

Yours sincerely,
Anita Pleumarom
tourism investigation & monitoring team (tim-team)

On behalf of the Global Anti-Golf Course Movement's (GAG'M)
coordinating groups:
Third World Network (TWN)
Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), Malaysia
Friends of the Earth (FoE), Malaysia
Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team) Thailand
Global Network for Anti-Golf Course Action (GNAGA), Japan
Helping Our Peninsula's Environment (HOPE), USA
GAG'M liaison initiative UK (Desmond Fernandes)

Additional signatories:
Forest Peoples Programme (FPP), United Kingdom
Tourism Action Group, Philippines

Please reply to:
tourism investigation & monitoring team (tim-team)
P.O. Box 51 Chorakhebua
Bangkok 10230, Thailand
Email:

timteam02@yahoo.com
Webpage: http://www.twnside.org.sg/tour.htm