EcoTourism… Can Travel and Sustainability Coincide?
Anyone who has walked a nature preserve trail or been camping in a state park can recite the golden rules of interaction with nature and wildlife.
“Do Not Litter”, “Do Not Light Fires”, “Stay on the Trail”, and “Do Not Feed the Animals” are rules we are expected to adhere to when visiting natural areas. Reasonable people are generally respectful toward the habitats of other species and diligently try to leave behind no evidence of their presence.
What many may not realize is that humans can impact natural environments simply by being there. Additional buildings and roads are constructed to accommodate tourists, increased demands for food and water can strain local resources, and wild animals can become less averse to human activity, creating a danger for themselves and us. How might we continue to travel while allowing these treasured places to maintain their natural environments and cultures? Ecotourism will only be sustainable if its growth in untouched pristine areas remains minimal and its principles are practiced in the general tourism industry.
There are two types of nature tourists.
The most common is the mainstream traveler who seeks to relax or recreate in nature. Some nature-based recreational activities are fishing, whitewater rafting, canoeing, bicycling, backpacking, mountain climbing, camping, hiking, swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, and camping. The ecotourist is a less common but growing traveler. Ecotourism is defined by The International Ecotourism Society as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people” (The International Ecotourism Society) The ecotourist seeks to learn about the natural environment and local customs, prefers small-scale operations, and wishes to leave little adverse impact on the area.
The Sierra Club, the largest and oldest environmental organization in the United States, offers 350 outings worldwide.
Of its 290 U.S. trips, 47 are service-oriented.
These trips allow travelers to volunteer during their vacation time by providing hands-on work toward maintaining the nation’s parks and other wilderness areas.
Recreational activities include “building and maintaining trails, repairing meadows, helping archaeologists, and eradicating non-native vegetation.” (Sierra Club Outings) These volunteer vacations offer a unique way for people to experience ecotourism while positively impacting the environment. This type of travel could be brought into the mainstream by offering discounted packages to people who volunteer part of their vacation in service work to offset any adverse environmental impact of their recreational activities.
For developing and non-developed countries, as well as economically disadvantaged regions of developed countries such as sections of Appalachia in the U.S., ecotourism can offer some protection of natural resources from industries based solely on resource extraction. A qualitative study found that 80 percent of the 120 Costa Rican residents in the Drake Bay region saw a decrease in deforestation and hunting since ecotourism was created. (Stem, Lassoie and Lee) Although most of those surveyed believed the decrease was due more to regulation than to an increased awareness from ecotourism, it is not unreasonable to theorize that regulation and awareness go hand in hand.
One principle of eco-tourism is to “[b]uild environmental and cultural awareness and respect”. (The International Ecotourism Society)
It is believed that ecotourists develop greater concern for the areas they visit and their home communities, thereby creating a new wave of activists concerned with and involved in conservation issues. (Stem, Lassoie and Lee) For ecotourists and other nature seekers to appreciate the environmental diversity and protection of a given region, those involved in the tourism industry must be able to provide adequate information.
The Costa Rican study results were mixed in this regard. Drake Bay residents believed that tourism industry personnel were ill-equipped with environmental and conservation knowledge, leading to substandard education for tourists. (Stem, Lassoie and Lee) Residents of Amistad, on the other hand, were more positive about the role that tourism personnel play in educating visitors. (Stem, Lassoie and Lee) While the study indicated factors such as animosity because of land use restrictions placed on Drake Bay locals, it seems the presence of third-party educational and resource organizations is helpful to communities and businesses looking to put the eco in tourism. (Stem, Lassoie and Lee)
All aspects of a community’s ecotourism industry should be carefully considered and periodically reviewed so that impacts can be studied and corrected. A successful example is the case of Jahadi Indigenous Tours in Tasmania. This native-run operation previously included tourists to participate in Tasmanian culture by inviting them to traditional hunting and gathering rituals. The tourist would also receive a meal of cooked mutton bird. This practice was halted when it was feared that the mutton bird population would decrease significantly enough to affect the natives’ abilities to hunt the bird for their own needs in the future. (Liston-Burgess)
The ecotourism industry has steadily grown in popularity and many operations authentically cater to this preference. However, as with any industry, there are those whose intentions are focused more on profit than on the integrity of ecotourism’s core principles. Some have greenwashed their itineraries and practices to appeal to a larger market of unsuspecting travelers. These unscrupulous organizations profit from the appeal of an eco-friendly sounding operation but use the least effort and cost possible to develop excursions aligned with ecotourism and sustainability. (Honey) Travelers need to be aware of this kind of “shallow ecotourism.” (Stem, Lassoie and Lee)
According to a report by the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development (CESD) and The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), an overwhelming majority of travelers from the U.S., Australia, Great Britain, and Germany believe that hotels should be responsible for reducing their environmental impact. Conversely, far fewer people inquire about practices when booking accommodations. Travelers must take an active role by learning about a business’ sustainability practices and making it known that they prefer to patronize those that are eco-friendly.
The mass growth of ecotourism may have a backfiring effect on the regions incorporating eco-tourism or wilderness recreation into their economies.
Large numbers of well-intentioned travelers can inadvertently affect ecosystems simply by being a persistent presence in natural areas. (Stem, Lassoie and Lee) Increased solid waste from tourists can be problematic for communities that lack the infrastructure needed to recycle and dispose of waste.
Limiting the growth of a region’s virgin tourist industries would keep natural areas as pristine as possible while still allowing nature lovers to experience wild places. For example, the Jahadi Indigenous Tours in Tasmania operates only three times per week for seven months of the year, enabling its fragile ecosystem to recover and sustain itself. (Liston-Burgess) Ideally, as demand for environmentally friendly travel continues to grow, traditional tourism businesses will become more sustainable and education-oriented in their daily operations. By mainstreaming the principles of eco-tourism, companies could engage in a race to the top and, thus, be more inclined to give less environmentally-aware patrons the information and tools needed to reduce their environmental impact.
Third-party non-governmental organizations are important actors in setting standards that tourism workers can turn to for education and network support. The International Ecotourism Society offers resources such as training courses, conferences, and literature to industry workers and tourists. Also available is a certification process that ecotourism businesses can apply for. The certification adds a layer of credibility and can be an important marketing tool for companies dedicated to ecotourism principles. (The International Ecotourism Society)
While communities can benefit from eco-tourism and wilderness recreation with little environmental impact in the short term, limiting recreation growth may be a necessary long-term solution.
If ecotourism and nature recreation are allowed to grow faster than natural resources can replenish themselves; if the industry becomes larger than what a community’s infrastructure can handle, then failure is inevitable.
Because every step we take in our journey to discover and experience Earth’s beauty is intricately connected to each subsequent step, the responsibility of sustainable ecotourism rests upon all of us. The traveler relies upon the host to provide an environmentally responsible and rewarding experience just as the host relies upon the traveler to request and insist on it. Because the needs and resources of each community are unique, citizens, governments, businesses, and NGOs need to collaborate on solutions and programs that fit into the community’s plan for sustainable tourism, while maintaining cultural and environmental integrity.
Author, preservationist, and Sierra Club founder John Muir captured our need for rejuvenation through nature when he said:
“[e]verybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”
(Sierra Club Sierra Club Conservation Policies - Environmental Justice)
We must work to keep our natural areas as pristine as possible if we want ourselves and future generations to continue benefitting from nature’s beauty, serenity, and rejuvenation abilities.
Works Cited
Honey, Martha. "Protecting Eden Setting Green Standards for the Tourism Industry." Environment 45.6 (2003): 8.
The International Ecotourism Society. <http://www.ecotourism.org>,
Liston-Burgess, Gail. "Venturing out in Dreamtime Business." Ecos (2007): 26-29.
Sierra Club Sierra Club Conservation Policies - Environmental Justice <www.sierraclub.org/policy/conservation/justice.aspx>.
Sierra Club Outings. <http://www.sierraclub.org/OUTINGS/>.
Stem, Caroline J., et al. "How 'Eco' is Ecotourism? A Comparative Case Study of Ecotourism in Costa Rica." Journal of Sustainable Tourism 11.4 (2003): p322, 26p.
