World Environment Day is June 5, and in celebration Planeta.com presents the seventh annual Colibri Ecotourism Award presented to a leader working in Mexico. Planeta.com will be sharing news about the winner in just a few weeks.

Winners include Steve Bridger, Hector Ceballos-Lascurain, Jorge Chàvez de la Peña, Fernando Garcia Aguinaco, Marlene Ehrenberg, Juan Carlos Ibarra, Jennifer Morfín, Antonio Suárez and Francisco Verástegui. The winner receives a trophy, diploma and a cash award of $1,000 from Emilio Kifuri, president of Canyon Travel.

As of 2007, additional financial support comes from Destination Ventures which allows Planeta.com to develop some supporting projects, including the documentation of Oaxaca’s historic trees on YouTube and Google Earth.

In 2008 the Colibri Ecotourism Award celebrates its seventh anniversary, making this one of the longest-running tourism awards. Selection is made by Planeta.com founder Ron Mader in consultation with friends and colleagues.

The United Nations General Assembly established the first World Environment Day — http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/wed.html — in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. The focus of the global 2008 celebration will be on the opportunities for countries, companies and communities to work toward low carbon economies.

Celebrity Endorsements
As featured on their website, World Environment Day features a list of well-known endorsers, including Sir Richard Branson, Angelique Kidjo, Mikhail Gorbachev, Samuel Eto’o, Gong Li and Gabriel Yared.

For more information on the Colibri Ecotourism Award, visit www.planeta.com/colibri.html.