Ecotourism - LIME

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Travel to places of ecological significance, done in a way that attempts to minimize one’s impact on those places.

Proponents of ecotourism encourage travel to places of ecological significance with the twin goals of learning about the unique natural wonders of those locations while simultaneously preserving them. Examples of ecotourism might include visiting a rainforest preserve in Brazil or a wildlife reserve in South Africa, if one minimizes one’s impact upon these protected and often biologically diverse natural places while spending time there. The rainforest example illustrates another allied goal of ecotourism, which is to foster responsible tourism as an economic alternative to destructive practices such as farming through deforestation. In this way, a cultural aspect to ecotourism can arise as well, since it can help preserve a traditional way of life for indigenous people. While the term "ecotourism" may have originated to describe travel to more distant or exotic ecological wonders, such as equatorial rainforests, ecotourism needn’t be international or involve a destination that’s hard to reach. Hiking among California redwoods, bird watching in Arkansas, and sea kayaking in Maine are also forms of ecotourism, provided that you leave no trace on the land. Indeed, there are eco-destinations on every continent. The key to successful ecotourism lies in balancing the educational, economic, cultural, and ecological needs and opportunities of a given natural area.

History

Ecotourism has roots in the 1970s environmental movement, but it gained momentum in the 1980s and 1990s as awareness of issues such as global warming and preservation of the incredible biological diversity that exists in rainforests began to grow. The first full-length TV documentary on ecotourism, The Environmental Tourist, was produced in 1989 for PBS by Megan Epler Wood, who later co-founded one of the best recognized organizations in this field, The International Ecotourism Society (TIES). Epler Wood also founded EplerWood International, a company that helps build sustainable tourism markets, which remains influential in developing standards for this segment of the travel industry. The U.N. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) independently declared 2002 the International Year of Ecotourism, and held a World Ecotourism Summit in an effort to further promote environmentally responsible tourism as an economic development tool.

Eco-tourism now accounts for the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry, according to the UNWTO and Nature Conservancy. The number of businesses globally that claim to be eco-resorts has leapt into the hundreds, compared to 50 or so just a few decades ago. As the desire for responsible travel moves into the mainstream and beyond the original trailblazers of hikers, campers, and outdoor adventurers, high-end ecotourism has also begun to grow, representing the latest wrinkle in this phenomenon.

Context

As admirable as ecotourism’s goals are, it is not without controversy. The extent to which ecotourism should or must involve programs to help preserve the natural regions they promote, and truly sustain the local communities, is a subject of much debate. Ecotourism ideally includes an education component, as well as investment of money into protecting resources and providing training and jobs to local people to help preserve their resources for the future. TIES works to “make tourism a viable tool for conservation, poverty alleviation, protection of culture and bio-diversity, sustainable development and educational, as well as enjoyable, travel.” But many supposed promoters of ecotourism are not as high-minded.

Some hotels and companies have capitalized on eco-tourism by calling themselves “eco-resorts” or “eco-lodges.” Unfortunately, not all merit the label. Establishments that merely offer a chance to view nature up close—with no consideration of sustainable development--defy eco-tourism’s most basic tenets; rather, they might even draw people to unique ecological landscapes that then suffer from the added human impact. Some critics have pointed out the inherent contradiction in flying to far-flung ecotourism destinations, thereby adding pollution and greenhouse gases to the environment. Carbon-offset programs offer the best existing solution to date, short of rowing across oceans or bicycling across continents.

Groups such as TIES and the Rainforest Alliance are working to help establish standardized certification programs for ecotourism, because existing certifications vary widely by country, and may cover everything from ecotourism to "green" or energy-efficient hotels under the broader label of sustainable travel. It can be daunting to research the eco-status of a particular destination or travel provider, but the links below should help.

External Links:

Wikipedia - Ecotourism

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES)

Nature Conservancy’s Ecotourism Resources

Natural Habitat Adventures

Planeta – The Global Journal of Practical Ecotourism

EplerWood International

World Expeditions

United Nations Environment Programme’s About Ecotourism page

Sustainable Travel International

Department of State’s Overview of Sustainable Ecotourism in the U.S.

Global Development Research Center’s Sustainable Tourism page (numerous links)