Kim Chai from Hong Kong is the first round winner of the Geotourism Challenge Nomination Contest, selected by WHL Travel to receive its prize. Chai has won a week's travel including airfares, accommodation and spending money, anywhere in the world where WHL Travel operates.

Kim nominated the Kham Aid Foundation, a low-key non-profit that runs heritage conservation, sustainable tourism, educational, health, environmental and development programmes in Kham (a poor, mountainous region covering eastern Tibet and western Sichuan in China). It consults and hires local people and uses local resources as much as possible.

Most of its non-local staff are unpaid volunteers. Through skilful diplomacy, perseverance and professionalism, it has operated successfully for ten years in a hard-to-access and politically sensitive part of China, improving the livelihoods and preserving the culture of a lot of otherwise-neglected communities, most of them Tibetan and other ethnic minorities. Please see khamaid.org.

"I was one of seven volunteers (from the U.S., UK and Asia) who went on a three-week Kham Aid trip in September 2007 to help clean rare, ancient Buddhist murals in a Minyak farming village high on the eastern Tibetan plateau," Chai said. "We worked, lived and ate with Tibetan villagers and their families, who were wonderful hosts.

"It was a fascinating experience in a stunning natural environment and worth every cent. We could see how our time and money was making a (small) contribution to preserving a culture and way of life.

"Kham Aid projects make heritage conservation a catalyst for low-impact cultural tourism (homestays, hands-on art conservation), reviving traditional skills (handicraft development/marketing, vocational training in Tibetan construction techniques), improving lives (electrical rewiring, building greenhouses) and strengthening community pride. They're a great example of a holistic approach that combines cultural and enrironmental protection with economic development.

"Particularly inspiring is that it shows the initiative of one person, founder Pam Logan, can make a helluva difference. And get other people involved to make an even greater difference."

The second round in the Changemakers Geotourism Contest nomination contest is underway now. You can submit your nominations and personal stories to become eligible for another WHL Travel prize here by March 19.

• Coming soon: more about Chai's travels with WHL Travel

• Coming soon: more about Chai's nominee, Kham Aid Project