Eco-tourism: fact or myth?

Can tourism and the environment live peacefully together? Can your budget holiday still be a responsible one? Good news for travellers with a conscience...

Like all important ideas, ‘eco-tourism’ is the subject of heated debate. This has to be a good thing because it’s too important an idea to go unchallenged. In this article we’ll take a tour around some of the major claims and counter-claims surrounding the concept, to make sure that along with your sun lotion and insect repellent, you’ll travel the world armed with all the facts!

Some people argue that using tourism in an attempt to repair the damage done by previous tourism is a bit like using petrol to put out a fire. After all, isn’t tourism still tourism, no matter what we call it? If you care about the world (and you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t) then you care about the answers to these questions. So have a read and decide for yourself.

Some people argue that using tourism in an attempt to repair the damage done by previous tourism is a bit like using petrol to put out a fire. After all, isn’t tourism still tourism, no matter what we call it? If you care about the world (and you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t) then you care about the answers to these questions. So have a read and decide for yourself.

Before we decide if it’s possible we should probably define what we mean when we talk about eco-tourism. Conservation international defines it as “responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people”, and who are we to argue. Now, I’ve got my magnifying glass at the ready, so let’s investigate!

Can tourism ever be the answer?

Against

Surely it’s tourism’s fate to destroy what it craves. No matter how carefully we try we can’t help but leave a footprint in the sand and we are bound to damage the places we visit. Tourism of whatever kind nearly always leads to the introduction of buses, cars and aeroplanes into fragile eco-systems. In fact, everyone who travels abroad is responsible for a part of the carbon emissions of the planes they travel on. Good intentioned or not, some people believe that our very presence in these places causes more harm than we can possibly repair.

For

There are good and bad examples of eco-tourism but agencies such as USAID have identified eco-tourism as an enterprise with a great potential for conserving natural habitats. Eco-tourism can play a valuable role in raising local awareness about the value of biological resources, increasing participation in conservation and generating income for conservation areas. With international tourism growing at around 4% each year the desire to explore the world shows no sign of abating, so we have no option but to orientate this pioneering spirit towards environmentally beneficial types of travel. On the issue of carbon emissions, air travel actually contributes less than 5% of carbon dioxide emissions and there are cunning ways of reducing the impact further; at Climate Care allows you to calculate and then offset the carbon emissions of your flight.

Can we trust companies?

Against

While tourism has a distinct interest in protecting the integrity of beautiful destinations around the world, it also has another interest; profit. To expect the tourist industry to put others first is expecting too much. After all, what sort of company can put anything before profits? They use greenwash to pretend that their interests lie with the preservation for areas of natural beauty but actually it is all just a marketing exercise. Eco-tourism done badly can be exploitative, and damaging; for example, one of our best loved cartoon companies tried to cash in on the ‘green revolution’ with an ecotourism theme park which promised American’s a safari experience in their own country. 500 acres of central Florida cow pasture were turned into an African savannah, with fake trees, a Zulu village and animals imported from Africa. Needless to say its environmental credibility is highly doubtful.

For

Even though companies care about profits most also take a long-term view and are aware that their industry will only survive if areas of natural beauty do too. The truth is that the need to turn a profit actually means they need to listen to us and match our desire to protect the environment with action. What’s more, plenty of organisations have produced the tools with which to assess the validity of claims made about responsible travel, like Greenpeace’s greenwash detection. Do your research and consult experts like Kate Simpson and you’ll find it easier to identify the greenwash. Also, don’t forget the good effects of eco-tourism, like in the Maquipucuna Reserve in Ecuador. This is a 10,000 acre region of cloud forest that welcomes a manageable number of visitors, employs local guides and provides vital rehabilitation work with the region’s animals.

Our view

Needless to say eco-tourism is not perfect and there are plenty of people who give it a bad name. When a country’s tourism is controlled by those who only care for profits such as big chains and urban investors, as much as 70% of the tourist dollar can leave the country. However, when done well, eco-tourism has the potential to build sustainable tourist sites that attract money and make sure it stays in the local community. They give the community a real stake in the project and with it, a motivation to keep on protecting it. If money stays in the national economy it can then be directed towards protecting natural habitats for future generations.

http://www.i-to-i.com/a-little-bit-of-everything/

http://www.wwf.org.uk/

http://http://www.corpwatch.org/

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