The little known island of Dominica, (often confused with the much larger spanish speaking Dominican Republic), has been marketed for some years as the "Nature Island of the Caribbean". When ecotourism became an important planning issue for the thinking traveller, Dominica found its place amongst the world's forefront of hard to find and hard to reach, ecotourism destinations. It has begun over the last decade to explore its position as the nature' island of the region, and strengthen its image and brand globally as such. This included applying for and finally receiving the important Benchmark.The Green Globe 21 Benchmark enhances this image and helps Dominica maintain environmental standards, as it moves forward with its ecotourism economic growth plans. This includes encouraging investment projects, through the sale of real estate to non-patriots and outside investors, and supporting new design and build projects for spas and ecoresorts, to attract eco-tourists, naturalists, botanists, divers and visitors seeking low environmental impact holiday adventure.

The island has the capacity to accommodate many more hotel rooms and good restaurants, and welcomes and encourages investment from entrepreneurs interested in supporting the drive for increased ecotourism. This would bring in more visitors which would provide much needed employment. Another vital aspect of Dominica is that it is the only home of 3,000 surviving descendants of the Caribs, whose culture has long been environmentally sustainable, but non-viable economically.Dominica is looking for low-impact tourism initiatives which would work effectively with the Green Globe 21 Benchmark, with minimal infrastructure, which could include: second homes for wealthy Dominicans and expatriates, ecotourism projects niche market projects which can provide exports"We are surrounded by other Caribbean countries with stronger economies based on tourism who are not interested in protecting our shared environment. This is not easy for us. We are not a rich country!" says Paul Blanchard, a Dominican real estate agent.

"But we welcome people from other countries who want to come here and help us build environmentally friendly tourism, without the destruction we see on the other islands. We want to protect our lands." Dominica is one of the few Caribbean islands that has changed very little since Columbus visited and named it 500 years ago. Dominica has a unique micro-climate, lush rainforests, volcanic peaks, thundering waterfalls, cloud-covered hills, sulphur springs, pools of bubbling therapeutic mud and hot mineral streams. This tropical land has 365 rivers. The exotic animals and plants that have been wiped out on nearby islands thrive here.

Rich in ferns, wild orchids and giant, flowering trees, they are home to bats, iguanas, stick insects and blacksmith beetles so big they can be heard moving about on the forest floor. There are five species of snakes, none of them poisonous, and more than 160 bird species, including two endemic but endangered parrots, making Dominica a magnet for bird-watchers.The 17,000-acre (69sq km) Morne Trois Pitons National Park, is a designated World Natural Heritage Site, with a Boiling Lake (one of only two on the planet), where sulphurous springs sizzle and steam at up to 197F (92C). Sea life off the island includes the winter breeding season, November to March, when humpback, pilot whales and especially sperm whales and their calves can be seen in the deep, calm offshore waters. For anyone interested in finding out more about opportunities in Dominica should contact: e-mail protected from spam bots or e-mail protected from spam bots.Or the website at

http://www.caribbeanlandandproperty.com/gen_pro_count.php?idval=Dominica..