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Discover the Benefits of Ecotouri­sm for Sustaina­ble Travel

770 Words / ~2 pages sternsternsternsternstern_0.5 Author Adam M. in Sep. 2010
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Ecotourism and sustainability

The discussion about ecotourism is related to the discussion about sustainability. Cater 2001 asserts that ecotourism is a ‚form of sustainable tourism‛ (Cater 2001, p. 4165). Ecotourism as defined by the IUCN Ecotourism Programme is ‚environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed areas in order to enjoy and appreciate nature‛ (Ceballos-Lascuráin 1996, p.20).

Conservation, low visitor impact and the involvement of the local population are the main issues that should be considered. One of the most common definitions for ecotourism is the one by the Ecotourism Society (TIES 1990). It says that ecotourism is ‚responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people‛.

This definition focuses on the same main aims as the IUCN definition. Important factors are ‚conservation, communities and sustainable travel‛ (TIES 1990). Therefore, to be sustainable, ecotourism should be successful, avoid any damage to the natural environment, involve local communities and profits should be created for all stakeholders.

The involvement of the locals is especially important to make an ecotourism project successful as social problems could result from their exclusion.

There have been many attempts to figure out if ecotourism is sustainable or not. Similar to the discussion of sustainable development there is a distinction between ‚soft‛ and ‚hard‛ ecotourism (Weaver, Lawton, p. 1170).

The distinction highlights the fuzzy line between the different forms of tourism. Soft ecotourism tends to implement mass tourism structures (Weaver, Lawton 2007). A good method for looking at sustainability is the ecological footprint although, there is still the need for more research to adapt calculation methods.

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The better part of this high EF is due to ‚long-haul‛ flights. This seems not to be very sustainable, however, the overall EF for ecotourism is lower than the EF for mass tourism (Hunter, Shaw 2005). In this context it is of particular interest, that according to the WTO (2010) long-haul travel will increase about 5.4% per year between 1995 and 2020.

Krüger (2003) ascertained that by analysing 251 case studies, there are differences in sustainability between different habitats and continents. According to that ecotourism projects in South America and Asia are less sustainable. Islands and mountain habitats are less sustainable as well because they are more sensitive.

Critical factors for success are the availability of ‚flagship species‛ (e.g. birds, mammals) that are easily visible to attract tourists (Krüger 2003, p. 579) and the quality of the product as well. For Buckley (2003) the main issue is accounting.

He stresses the significance of a positive triple bottom line for the output of ecotourism. He defines the output as ‚social costs affecting societies and the natural environment‛ (Buckley 2003, p. 78). Only if all three main parts, e.g. environmental, social and financial, are sustainable, the triple bottom line can be positive.

The Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest Reserve is an example of how the concept of ecotourism can work by community integration. Since 1980 the area has had conservation status to protect raptors. In the beginning there were problems with the locals as their original source of income, logging, was taken away.

WWF Greece, who managed the program, built ecotourism facilities with EU funding as well as an ecotourism shop selling local products. Altogether about 50 full and partime jobs were created (Svoronou and Holden 2005, p. 461). However, due to increasing visitor numbers, permanent monitoring is very important.

There are also negative examples, such as ‚cruises and walks in wetland habitats‛ that can lead to serious damage from trampling (Sandilyan et al. 2008, p. 1511). According to Sheng-Hshiung et al. (2004) the main problem causing unsustainable businesses is a lack of assessment.

Whether ecotourism is sustainable or not depends on whether the 3 main issues are implemented into the strategy or not. The integration of local communities, environmental and economical sustainability on all scales is essential.


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