Ecotourism

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Ecotourism

Ecotourism, short for ecological tourism, refers to outdoor recreation, sightseeing, and guided natural history studies in remote or fragile natural areas, or archeological and cultural sites. It was created in its current form in the 1980s but became first well known when the United Nations declared the year 2002 to be the International Year of Ecotourism. Ecotourism usually involves travel, by people called ecotourists, to engage in activities such as trekking and hiking, diving, mountaineering, biking, and paddling, while exploring a region’s natural highlights, observing native animals, and learning about the area’s natural history. Ecotourists may also visit local cultural and historical sites, and even participate in cultural activities. Many ecotours employ native guides and interpreters who can help visitors fully appreciate the natural and cultural significance of their experience.

Ecotourism and sustainable development

Ecotourism is touted as a successful tool for promoting sustainable economic practices in developing nations, and for encouraging environmental conservation worldwide. The guiding principle of sustainable development is to meet the needs and aspirations of a region’s present generation of people without compromising those of future generations. Sustainable development policies also seek to develop economic systems that run with little or no net consumption of natural resources, and that avoid ecological damage. Ecotourism, like other successful sustainable development strategies, provides a strong economic incentive to protect natural resources. Economies that depend on ecotourism dollars have an obvious interest in preserving the natural and culture features that these amateur naturalists and explorers pay to see. Furthermore, the environmental impacts and resource needs of ecotourism, which include development of trail systems and access roads, use of fuel and vehicles for transportation to and from the wilderness, and establishment of campsites, are minimal, especially when compared to the land use practices that commercial nature travel often replaces. Finally, the firsthand experience of traveling in the wilderness, of observing natural complexity, and of reflecting on the fragility of ecosystems stressed by human uses often gives ecotourists and their local guides a new perspective on the value of environmental preservation and resource conservation.

A number of international organizations, including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Conservation International, support ecotourism as a component of their sustainable development and environmental conservation strategies. While many governments and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promote ecotourism, they also caution that ecotourism must be practiced correctly in order to provide positive results for the region involved, and for the tour’s participants. Many of the activities offered by ecotourism companies, including high-altitude mountaineering, whitewater paddling, diving, and travel in the remote wilderness, are inherently dangerous, and require highly skilled guides. Furthermore, some of Earth’s most remarkable natural features exist in politically unstable nations, where international visitors may be unwelcome, and even unsafe. Ecotourism, practiced incorrectly, can also cause significant environmental damage. A safari hunt for an endangered animal in a country that has lax conservation laws, for example, is not a sustainable ecotour. Finally, ecotourism enterprises that exploit another region’s natural and cultural resources without contributing to the local economy do not meet the criteria for sustainable development. If none of the tourists’ money goes to the local businesses or conservation agencies, then often-poorer countries bear the financial responsibility of providing protected natural and cultural sites for wealthy foreigners to visit, but receive none of the financial reward. Organizations like the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and the International Ecotourism Society (IES) investigate various ecotourism enterprises, and can provide potential ecotourists with valuable guidance in choosing a company to guide them on a safe, sustainable adventure.

Ecotourism enterprises

Many private companies offer a wide variety of ecotours, as do a number of development and conservation-related NGOs. These businesses often enlist the logistical and marketing assistance of government agencies in the countries where their tours take place. Ecotourism companies typically supply a number of services to their clients: transportation to and from remote venues, food and cooking, lodging, local guiding, outdoor skills training, and expert interpretation of natural and cultural features. These services promote in-depth exploration of the natural and cultural sites on the itinerary, minimize environmental impact, and allow clients to travel safely and comfortably in remote or environmentally fragile areas.

Ecotours are available to all types of potential adventures with all kinds of interests. Ecotourists can visit and explore all seven continents, and all four oceans. The National Geographic Society (NGS), for example, explains in its Traveler magazine, July/

Key Terms

Ecotourism— Ecology-based tourism, focused primarily on natural or cultural resources.

Sustainable development— Development that meets the needs and aspirations of the present generation, without compromising those of future ones.

August 2006 issue, that there is an international effort underway to make ecotourism in Madagascar profitable while reducing the need to cut down its forests for farmland (what is called deforestation). Some of the top destinations for ecotourism, according to NGS is hiking Machu Picchu in Peru, cruising the Gala´pagos Islands, exploring the Alaskan Frontier, visiting the pyramids of Egypt, diving in the Caribbean, and photographing South African wildlife. Some of its highlighted ecotours in 2007 include: Belize: Rainforests, Reefs, and Maya Ruins; British Isles; Celtic Lands; China Family Adventure; Classic Journey Through China; Exploring Pantagonia, Land of the Polar Bears; and Mongolia: Land of the Nomad.

Meanwhile, the Smithsonian Institution offers study trips to hundreds of locations including Patagonia, Antarctica and Falklands, the rivers of West Africa, Tahiti and Polynesia, Yellowstone, Baja California, Australia, and the Southern Amazon.

Some ecotours are athletically strenuous, some are luxurious, and some are scientific. There are groups that offer adventures for travelers on all types of budgets. There is also a wide range of ecotourism and outdoor education activities available to high school and college students. Some of these programs, including the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), and Semester at Sea, offer high school and college credit for their courses. Other programs allow students to participate in international conservation efforts and natural science expeditions. Many schools and universities even offer their own off-campus programs to augment natural, environmental, and social science curricula.

It is difficult to place a number of tourists who participate in ecotourism each year because some of the activities that are touted as ecotouristic in nature are all too often just a hotel in an exotic and/or remote landscape, which is actually harming the environment and ecosystem. These environmentally irresponsible activities are sometimes called green-washing. As of 2006, it is roughly estimated that there are over five million ecotourists each year, most of them originating from the United States and Canada, but others also from Europe and Australia.

Resources

BOOKS

Baldacchino, Godfrey. Extreme Tourism: Lessons from the World’s Cold Water Islands. Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Boston, MA: Elsevier, 2006.

Dowling, Ross K. and David Newsome. Geotourism. Oxford, UK, and Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2006.

Editors, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Sustainable Tourism as a Factor of Cohesion among European Regions. Brussels, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2002.

Faiers, Julia. Exotic Retreats: Eco-resort Design from Barefoot Sophistication to Luxury Pad. Mies, Switzerland: RotoVision, 2005.

Harris, Rob, Tony Griffin, and Peter Williams. Sustainable Tourism: A Global Perspective. Oxford, UK, and Bostonn, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002.

Johnston, Alison M. Is the Sacred for Sale?: Tourism and Indigenous Peoples. London, UK, and Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2006.

Page, Stephen. Ecotourism. Harlow, UK, and New York: Prentice Hall, 2002.

Weaver, David B. Ecotourism. Milton, Australia: J. Wiley, 2001.

OTHER

Conservation International (CI). “Home page of CI.” 2006. <http://www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/home> (accessed November 13, 2006).

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES). “Uniting Conservation, Communities, and Sustainable Travel.” <http://www.ecotourism.org> (accessed November 13, 2006).

National Geographic Institution. “National Geographic Expeditions.” 2005. <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngexpeditions/> (accessed November 13, 2006).

The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). “The Leader in Wilderness Education.” 2006. <http://www.nols.edu> (accessed November 13, 2006).

Semester at Sea—Institute for Shipboard Education. “A Voyage of Discovery.” <http://www.semesteratsea.com> (accessed November 13, 2006).

Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Journeys.” October, 2007. <http://smithsonianstudytours.org/sst/start.htm> (accessed November 13, 2006.

United Nations Environmental Programme Production and Consumption Unit, Tourism. “International Year of Ecotourism 2002.” September 30, 2003. <http://www.uneptie.org/pc/tourism/ecotourism/iye.htm> (accessed November 13, 2006).

World Tourism Organization. “Tourism Enriches.” <http://www.world-tourism.org/> (accessed November 13, 2006).

Bill Freedman

Laurie Duncan

The Gale Encyclopedia of Science