Ecotourism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ecological tourism, usually shortened to ecotourism, is a form of tourism which aims to be ecologically and socially conscious. It is defined both as a concept-tourism movement and as a tourism (specifically sustainable tourism) section.
Generally speaking, ecotourism focuses on local culture, wilderness adventures, volunteering, personal growth, and learning new ways to live on the planet; typically involving travel to destinations where the flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions. Responsible ecotourism includes programmes that minimize the adverse effects of traditional tourism on the natural environment, and enhance the cultural integrity of local people. Therefore, in addition to evaluating environmental and cultural factors, initiatives by hospitality providers to promote recycling, energy efficiency, water reuse, and the creation of economic opportunities for local communities are an integral part of ecotourism[citation needed].
Many global environmental organizations and aid agencies favour ecotourism as a vehicle to sustainable development[citation needed].
Ideally, true ecotourism should satisfy several criteria[citation needed], such as:
- conservation (and justification for conservation) of biological diversity and cultural diversity, through ecosystems protection
- promotion of sustainable use of biodiversity, by providing jobs to local populations
- sharing of socio-economic benefits with local communities and indigenous people by having their informed consent and participation in the management of ecotourism enterprises.
- increase of environmental & cultural knowledge
- minimization of tourism's own environmental impact
- affordability and lack of waste in the form of luxury
- local culture, flora and fauna being the main attractions
For many countries, ecotourism is not so much seen as a marginal activity intended to finance protection of the environment than as a major sector of national economy and as a means of attracting tourists. For example, in countries such as Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nepal, Kenya, Madagascar and Antarctica, ecotourism represents a significant portion of the gross domestic product (or in Antarctica's case, economic activity)[citation needed].
The concept of ecotourism is widely misunderstood[citation needed] and, in practice, is often simply used as a marketing tool to promote tourism that is related to nature. Critics claim that ecotourism as practiced and abused often consists of placing a hotel in a splendid landscape, to the detriment of the ecosystem. According to them, ecotourism must above all sensitize people with the beauty and the fragility of nature. They condemn some operators as "green-washing" their operations — that is, using the label of "ecotourism" and "green-friendly", while behaving in environmentally irresponsible ways.
Although academics[citation needed] argue about who can be classified as an ecotourist, and there is precious little statistical data, some estimate that more than five million ecotourists — the majority of the worldwide population — come from the United States, with other ecotourists coming from Europe, Canada and Australia.
Currently there are various moves to create national and international ecotourism certification programs, although the process is causing controversy. One example of ecotourism certificates has been put into place at Costa Rica, though the program has been dismissed as green-washing by others.
Another problem is that some of the destinations visited by ecotourists are extremely sensitive to environmental impact from human use (e.g. Antarctica, Amazonian rainforest, bird breeding colonies) and can be damaged even by careful travellers.
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[edit] History
Born in its current form in the late 1980s, Ecotourism came of age in 2002, when the United Nations celebrated the "International Year of Ecotourism." The meeting was a watershed event, but it was not created with those who had pioneered the niche[citation needed].
[edit] Environmentally responsible hotels
Examples of green practices some hotels have adopted include:
- rerouting waste water to irrigate their golf courses and salvaging the sludge to use as fertilizer
- reducing laundry water temperatures from 90 °C to 60 °C
- replacing incandescent lights with compact fluorescent lamps
- installing low-flow shower heads and low-flow toilets
- offering a sheet and towel reuse program whereby guests have their linens exchanged every two to three days instead of daily
- installing solar panels to heat water
- implementing a hotel-wide recycling program
- and replacing individual soaps and lotions with wall dispensers.
Adoption of green practices typically helps hotels realize considerable savings that can range from several thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year[citation needed].
[edit] Criticism
One criticism against ecotourism is that the air travel required for many tourist destinations is not included in the "environmental impact calculation". A journey to a place 10,000 kilometers away from home consumes about 700 litres of fuel per person. This issue was discussed in detail during the Environmental Impact of Transportation E-Conference [1]. However there are now hundreds of websites that enable travellers to offset their carbon emissions.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- http://www.ecotourism.org (The International Ecotourism Society)
- Ecotourism definition - Ecotourism definition and literature review.
- Rural tourism project - A spanish project of ecotourism associations and small companies.
- http://www.ecotourisme.info (Ecotourism France)
- Ecotourism Resources
- http://www.goeco.org (Ecotourism in Israel & around the world)
- http://ethicaltravel.wikispaces.com (Wiki guide to travel without flying)
