Environmentalist Celine Cousteau Teams with Gap Adventures and the Planeterra Foundation as Earth Month Ambassador

    TORONTO, ON, April 10, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Gap Adventures (www.gapadventures.com) and the Planeterra Foundation (www.planeterra.org) are proud to introduce adventurer, filmmaker and environmentalist Celine Cousteau (www.celinecousteau.com; Twitter: @celinecousteau) as their official Earth Month celebrity ambassador.

Cousteau will support Gap Adventures' annual Earth Month commitment to building happiness and community the world over through awareness-boosting and fundraising initiatives, which this year are dedicated to highlighting the importance of fresh water resources. According to a recent report released by the U.N. Environment Program, approximately 810 million people still do not have access to safe drinking water. Thirty-seven per cent of these people are located in Sub-Saharan Africa.

As Earth Month ambassador, Cousteau--the granddaughter of legendary marine explorer and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau--will provide her expertise, insight and support in a range of areas while offering water conservation tips throughout the month at www.gapadventures.com/earth-month

"It is commendable that a travel company such as Gap Adventures chooses to raise funds to help support the Planeterra Foundation's Kenya Community Tourism Project," Cousteau said. "With their outreach, they are able to bring much needed help and attention to important causes and thus provide a good example of what travel companies can do to positively impact the places they visit. I have taken on the role as Gap Adventures' ambassador for Earth Month to lend one more helping hand."

As part of that effort, Gap Adventures is offering a 10 per cent discount on all of its 'voluntours' from April 1 to April 30, and will work to raise $3,500 through its ongoing dollar-a-day project to buy water tanks for the non-profit Planeterra Foundation's Kenya Community Tourism Project (http://www.planeterra.org/pages/projects/19.php?id=2).

The Kenya Community Tourism Project provides travellers with a cross-cultural opportunity to take part in the lives of locals in Kenya's Kowour Village, establishes an alternate source of tourism-based income for villagers, and provides support initiatives which supply much-needed 3,000-litre tanks to the village. The project has helped locals divert the time and energy they once spent hauling water for survival to invest in education, further agricultural production and other economic activities.

For more information, visit www.gapadventures.com or www.planeterra.org

About Celine Cousteau
The daughter of ocean explorer and filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau--and granddaughter of the legendary Jacques Cousteau--Celine is featured in PBS' most successful new television series, Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures. Fluent in three languages, she has also collaborated with her father's Ocean Futures Society promoting the educational program, 'Ambassadors of the Environment' throughout her travels. Celine has worked on the preparation of expeditions, been involved in field documentary production, and served as an on-camera presenter. For the past three years, she has served as an ambassador for Australia's 'Clean Up the World' campaign. Celine is also a spokesperson for Sea Web's 'Too Precious to Wear' initiative and the World Resources Institute's 'Reefs at Risk' campaign. For more information, visit www.celinecousteau.com; Twitter: @celinecousteau

About Gap Adventures and the Planeterra Foundation
Gap Adventures is a world leader in the adventure travel industry offering small group adventures on all seven continents and beyond to more than 100,000 global travellers annually. The award-winning trips, which focus on culture, nature and active travel, are ideal for those with a sense of adventure - people who want to leave the beaten path and authentically immerse themselves in a local culture or environment to experience the real world in a sustainable manner. Demonstrating its ongoing cultural, social and economic commitment to responsible tourism, Gap Adventures established the Planeterra Foundation, as a way the company and its passengers can give back to the communities visited. For more information, please visit www.gapadventures.com and www.planeterra.org

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