Ecotourism

Nowadays, many of us try to live in a way that will damage the environment as little as possible. We recycle our newspapers and bottles, we take public transportation to get to work, we try to buy locally produced fruits and vegetables and we have stopped using aerosol sprays years ago. And we want to take these attitudes on holiday with us. This is why alternative forms of tourism are becoming more popular all over the world.

But what is ecotourism?

There are lots of names for these new forms of tourism: responsible tourism, alternative tourism, sustainable tourism, nature tourism, adventure tourism, educational tourism and more. Ecotourism probably involves a little of all of them. Everyone has a different definition but most people agree that ecotourism must:

1. conserve the wildlife and culture of the area

2. benefit the local people and involve the local community

3. be sustainable; that is, make a profit without destroying natural resources

4. provide an experience that tourists want to pay for.

So for example, in a true ecotourism project, a nature reserve allows a small number of tourists to visit its rare animals and uses the money that is generated to continue with important conservation work. The local people have jobs in the nature reserve as guides and wardens, but also have a voice in how the project develops. Tourists stay in local houses with local people, not in specially built hotels. So they experience the local culture and do not take precious energy and water away from the local population. They travel on foot, by boat, bicycle or elephant so there is no pollution. And they have a special experience that they will remember all their lives. This type of tourism can only involve small numbers of people so it can be expensive. Choose your holiday carefully. Don’t be afraid to ask the holiday company about what they do that is ‘eco’. Remember that ‘eco’ is very fashionable today and a lot of holidays that are advertised as ecotourism are not much better than traditional tourism.