BBC World News

Thai relief venture, Andaman Discoveries, has been selected as a finalist in World Challenge 09, the worldwide competition seeking to identify and reward projects and businesses which bring economic, social and environmental benefits to local communities through grassroots solutions.

Andaman Discoveries began as a tsunami relief effort and is now a leader in sustainable travel and development in Thailand. It allows visitors and volunteers to support community education, village-led conservation, and cultural empowerment.

Through the training of villagers, Andaman Discoveries creates numerous employment opportunities through home-stays, handicraft production, and guiding. Community-based tourism also offers a sustainable means to preserve local economic livelihood as the coastal waters of southern Thailand are becoming unable to sustain the small-scale fishing lifestyle of its indigenous population.

BBC World News will broadcast six 30-minute programmes profiling each of the World Challenge 09 finalists, showing how their projects and businesses are changing lives and local communities. In addition, Newsweek will detail the projects in six advertorials. The audience and readers are then invited to vote online www.theworldchallenge.co.uk - for their favourite project or business from 28 September.

The winner of World Challenge 2009 will be announced at an awards ceremony in The Hague in December.  The winner will receive a US$20,000 grant from Shell to invest in their project, plus the two runners-up will each receive US$10,000.