My name is Malin Høyme, 27 years old and from Norway. In June 2016 I graduated from the Master Programme in Development Management at the University of Agder, Norway (UIA). In my last year of the master programme, I wrote my master thesis on the topic of ecotourism. I conducted a fieldwork and collected data in Madidi National Park, Bolivia. Madidi National Park is a protected area with an exceptional wealth of biological diversity. For instance, the protected area has the highest number of bird species in the world. The main objective of my study was to analyze the social, economic and environmental aspects of ecotourism in Madidi National Park. You can read more about my project and also read my thesis in my academic blog: https://malinhoyme.wordpress.com/ 

In September/October 2016, I went to Sustainable Destinations Top 100 – conference in Slovenia. On behalf of every person who is either directly or indirectly involved with ecotourism in Madidi, I accepted the award and spoke about its success and also environmental struggles. Last year, in April 2017, I went back to Bolivia and met several of my informants again – to both say thank you for their time and also to hand out a resume (written in Spanish) of my thesis. The award/diploma was also handed out to the director of the National Park, as it was never in my attention to keep it.

Nowadays, I am still studying. Due to the difficult labor market, especially in the area of environment and sustainable development, in Norway, I study a year of Teacher Practice (PPU). After this year, I will be qualified to teach social studies and Spanish in secondary school. However, my highest desire is to get accepted into a Ph.D. in a related field. I have attempted to be enrolled a few times already, and I hope one day I will make it, so I can continue working on the topic of environmental sustainability.