Mallika revels in Gaia's glory underwater.Hello there, a very warm welcome to Gaia Discovery. Whether you were invited to this site or stumbled upon it by chance, I’m happy you’re reading this because you can make a positive change to the way we live and travel.

Gaia Discovery sniffs out environmental news and captures inspirational life stories.  It zooms in on people, sometimes ordinary people, who make a difference. Our planet's a curious place and there's a lot going around than what meets the eye.

Untold travel stories, unchartered territories and harmonious simplicity with Mother Earth. Precious heritage. We hope to bring you exciting tales based on personal experience so that you know you’re not simply relying on a glossy brochure when you head out to foreign lands.

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Our Role
Our planet is ailing. Travellers with a spark of conscience can help by seeking out eco-friendly places to visit and stay, not least because commercial support is needed to support green enterprises that bother to make a difference. Gaia Discovery hopes to continually seek out these eco-friendly destinations and resorts, plus feature change agents who may be developers and hoteliers. In doing so, it hopes to raise the awareness and sustainability of eco-tourism.

Gaia Discovery online publication also aims to influence industrialists, builders and hoteliers to forsake their myopic stance in developing properties that are commercially viable but detrimental to the balance of eco-systems. Through Gaia Discovery, we will urge them to exercise greater thought and care in protecting the environment and its inhabitants, and when they do, we will recognize them for making the change.

Gaia Discovery is a green reference point to cultivating pro-planet practices, incorporating home, living, business, travel, music, art and adventures.

Why Gaia?
Gaia, the name of the Greek earth goddess, is used to describe the self-regulating state of the earth as formulated in the 1960s by Dr James Lovelock, an independent research scientist. Lovelock’s theory explains the Gaia hypothesis , which later became referred to as the Gaia Theory.

Lovelock’s ecological hypothesis proposes that living and nonliving parts of the earth form a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism. Lovelock says that all living things have a regulatory effect on the Earth's environment, and together promote life.

It is the context of viewing Gaia as a living planet, both in the metaphorical and ecological sense, which gives this portal its name. I am thankful to Dr Lovelock for taking pains in illustrating through his books the sad state of our planet earth, for issuing warnings to take action now, and for inspiring me to do my bit through Gaia Discovery.

Your Say
We want all our readers, including you, to get involved in reading these articles and to do your part. No matter where you are, who you are, how great or little travel experience you have, you can contribute views, original travel articles, original photos and videos of people and places that have made a difference to our world, Gaia.

And remember to sign up as an eNewsletter Subscriber if you wish to receive updated stories by email (check out eNewsletter archives) and to take part in attractive promotions (such as resort stays in lovely places). Or get an RSS feed on the homepage.

Enjoy reading Gaia Discovery and let us know what you think at the end of each section.

Until then, tread gently.

Mallika Naguran
Managing Editor, Gaia Discovery

About The Editor

Concerned with the alarming rate of tourism development with little regard for the environment, Mallika Naguran founded the not-for-profit publication Gaia Discovery in March 2008 to promote sustainable living and travel. A year on, Mallika has begun greening companies through Gaia Discovery Eco Solutions. By doing so, she hopes that companies will stop giving excuses that it is too difficult or expensive to reduce their environmental footprint.

Mallika lives in Singapore, an island city in Southeast Asia, and provides web communications and editorial services on a freelance basis. Read her editor's foreword in the monthly eNewsletters here, which is emailed to a global readership. 

Support Mallika by either or all of the following: engaging her professional services for your print/web marketing and publicity needs wherever you are, advertising with Gaia Discovery and/or Gaia Discovery eNewsletter, and donating what you can to Gaia Discovery Restoration Fund.

Contact the Editor: mal AT gaiadiscovery DOT com

Photo Credits:

Underwater photo by Scotty Graham from Jakarta, Indonesia. It was shot at stunning Melissa's Reef in Raja Ampat.

Garden photo at lovely Fraser's Hill, Malaysia by Nanda from Kuantan, Malaysia.