By Jim Motavalli 
At 7,000-feet elevation in the Southern Sierra Madre de Chiapas Mountains youll encounter the magical 300,000-acre El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve. This cloud forest is home to the elusive tapir and jaguar, as well as one of natures most beautiful birds, the resplendent quetzal. The lure of such incredible flora and fauna attracts ecotourists by the thousands to this unspoiled corner of Mexico, and theres no shortage of tour operators to ease your way.
But will your trip be arranged by a fast-buck artist who maximizes his own profits while exploiting the local community, or will you go with a dedicated, conservation-minded tour operator like Boulder-based Emerald Planet? The tragic fact is that youre more likely to hear about the high-volume commercial service, because they advertise widely.
According to Emerald Planet partner Mark Willuhn, Linkage to the market is our biggest problem. In the protected areas of the world, anyone can come up with great itineraries because the natural resources are so spectacular. But the big firms spend millions of dollars a year on marketing; they have beautiful catalogs and ads in national publications. With each trip, we generate $2,000 to $6,000 in revenue for our local partner organizations, which cuts into our profitability. We persevere out of dedication. Emerald Planet conducts 60 trips a year; some of the large ecotourism companies handle thousands of them.
Welcome to ecotourism in 2002, the year its all supposed to come together. This is the International Year of Ecotourism (IYE), and never has there been a more intensive discussion about defining what green travel is, or more questions about how to certify it as both protective of natural areas and beneficial to indigenous communities. According to The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), the concept can be summed up in a single sentence:
Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people.
But in reality, the term ecotourism has been applied to a wide range of travel options, some far more green than others. A beachfront hotel tower built of imported materials with absentee owners and no local employees is not an eco-resort, even if it does offer its guests the option of not washing their towels.
The United Nations IYE designation is not a blanket endorsement. Not just an opportunity to celebrate all that ecotourism operators have accomplished, its also meant to be a time for reflection about what has gone wrong. As the World Tourism Organization (WTO) describes it, The United Nations General Assembly wished to draw the attention of governments, and the international community, to the potential impacts (both positive and negative) of ecotourism on the natural environment, biodiversity conservation, and the social and cultural fabric of host communities.
A Growing Market Share
Recent studies indicate that a full four to seven percent of all tourism worldwide operates under a green label. By 1992, according to one survey, eight million U.S. travelers had taken at least one ecotourist holiday, and by 1994, 77 percent had taken a trip involving nature and the outdoors. In the Asia-Pacific region, ecotourism accounts for 20 percent of all travel. In South Africa, where most visitors travel to nature reserves and game parks, the figure is even higher. (The Kenya Wildlife Service estimates that 80 percent of visitors come to see wildlife. And TIES says 20 to 40 percent of all American tourists can be classified as wildlife-related.) But without a generally accepted set of guidelines, hotel operators who practice business-as-usual are free to ride on the goodwill created by genuine ecotourism.
Theres a sharp contrast between real conservation-oriented trips and traditional adventure touring. In our experience, the average adventure tourist wants a physical challenge and an adrenaline rush, says Jeff Hall of major tour operator GAP Adventures. They want to bungee jump Victoria Falls, or go whitewater rafting on the Zambezi River. Hall says adventure tourists are usually sensitive to environmental concerns, though this isnt always apparent in adventure-oriented publications like Outside magazine.
According to the United Nations, successful ecotourism needs to include all of these elements:
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At Kapawi Ecolodge in Ecuador, the thatched-roof cabanas are solar-powered and offer hammocks for restful contemplation. |
Its main motivation is the observation and appreciation of nature as well as the traditional cultures prevailing in natural areas;
It contains educational and interpretation features;
It is organized for small groups by specialized and small, locally owned businesses;
It minimizes negative impacts upon the natural and socio-cultural environment;
It supports the protection of natural areas by
1) generating income for host communities;
2) providing alternative employment and income opportunities;
3) increasing awareness of the need for conservation of natural and cultural assets.
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Costa Rican Howler Monkey |
But these principles are frequently ignored in practice. Wendy Brawer, creator of New York Citys environmental Green Apple Maps, says she was chagrined when she first heard about the 2002 IYE designation. She decries, The roads cutting through pristine forests for greenwashed hotel development, indigenous rights pushed aside by snap-happy bio-pirates masquerading as awe-filled ecotourists, the tons of carbon dioxide expended flying there– the momentary pleasure seeker inadvertently obliterating the eternal. Even those who prepare carefully can leave an oversized eco-footprint behind.
A Long Process
Planning for the IYE began in 1998, when the UN Economic and Social Council first proposed to the General Assembly that a year be so dedicated. UNEP is working with TIES, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and Ecological Tourism in Europe (ETE) on a full program of activities. In preparation for the major World Ecotourism Summit in Quebec, Canada last May, there were a series of events on such subjects as Europe (St. Johann, Austria, September 2001); NGOs and Grassroots Organizations (New Delhi, September 2001); Central America (Belize City, November 2001); Small Island Developing States (Seychelles, December 2001); South Asia (Gangtok, India, January 2002); South America (Cuzco, Peru, February 2002); Southeast Asia (Chiang Mai, Thailand, March 2002); East Africa (Nairobi, Kenya, March 2002); and the Arctic Circle (Hemavan, Sweden, April 2002).
UNEP has also prepared The UNEP Manual for the International Year of Ecotourism and a handbook, Ecotourism: Principles, Practices and Policies for Sust
ainability.
During the IYE, workshops and events will be coordinated with such concurrent activities as the International Year of the Mountain, the Carpathian Ecoregion Initiative, the Sport and Environment Initiative, the Great Apes Survival Project, and several initiatives on coral reefs and the worlds seas. The crowning event, last months Summit in Canada, was the largest worldwide gathering on ecotourism ever held.
Ecotourism: Hope and Reality
The events of September 11 led to an overall 10 percent decline in global tourism and an estimated loss of 8.8 million related jobs worldwide, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
They expect the picture to improve, albeit slowly, as consumer confidence about safety and security recover. Travel and tourism will remain one of the worlds biggest industries, generating more than $3.5 trillion in economic activity annually. The travel industry represents more than 11 percent of the worlds gross domestic product, and it employs 8.2 percent of the worlds workforce — some 207 million people.
The WTO estimates that 75 percent of all travel is for leisure. Globally, there were 698 million international tourist arrivals in 2000 — a new record and up 7.4 percent over 1999 — and that represents only a quarter of the tourist travel that does not cross a national border. For 83 percent of countries worldwide, tourism is one of the top five sources of foreign currency. In the Caribbean (badly hit by the fallout from September 11), tourism provides half of the total gross domestic product. The destination for three quarters of all international travelers, however, is the U.S. or Europe.
Ironically, the huge biodiversity that still exists in many parts of the world is both a draw for tourists and is to some degree threatened by them. The World Tourism Organization notes that between 1980 and 1998, visitors to seven ecotourism destination countries with high levels of biodiversity — Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa and Thailand — rose 242 percent. But these are some of the same countries experiencing massive biodiversity loss, partly because of the increase of tourism. The effect is complicated and hard to measure, especially since tourism dollars also support conservation of protected areas in many countries.
Sue Wheat, editor of In Focus, a magazine published by the UK organization Tourism Concerns, offers some examples of tourism straining such basic resources as land, water and energy. On the Mediterranean coast, for instance, she notes that three quarters of the sand dunes have disappeared largely because of the construction of hotels and holiday flats. In the popular resort city of Goa, India, she adds, new five-star hotels consume as much water as five villages. Tourist visitors to Goa use 28 times more electricity than local residents. And because Goa has no garbage collection, the detrius of tourism — plastic bags, cans and bottles — is often simply dumped at sea.
A British-led plan to build a 14 billion tourist development in the north of Zanzibar, which would have endangered the islands coral reefs, destroyed the local fishing and farming industries and compromised water supplies, was halted after major public campaigns in Britain and Zanzibar. The lack of discipline of government and the demand for growth will undermine efforts to create sustainable ecotourism economies that are small but beautiful, says Megan Epler-Wood, president of TIES. Overbuilding and land speculation will continue to destroy once-tranquil zones. As noted in the book Managing Tourism Growth: Issues and Applications, however, effective strategies — including zoning controls, self-imposed visitor limits and design plans — can be put in place to limit the damage. Some 29 international NGOs recently signed a letter citing several examples, especially in Asia, where so-called ecotourism projects are clearly working against the interest of the environment and local communities. In projects in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, for example, plans center on the construction of vast development corridors that include airports, large dams and other facilities. Some 60 million ethnic highlanders could be displaced by the projected corridors.
Wangari Maathai, who founded Kenyas Green Belt Movement, notes with some heat that many of the countrys ecotourists never interact with Kenyans. They fly to Nairobi, then fly to the animal reserves without seeing or interacting with the people of the country to whom this rich and wonderful heritage should belong, she says. The government gets the tourists dollar and uses it to enrich itself. But if the people benefited from tourism, they would attach more value to the animals.
Tourism Concerns Patricia Barnett says, The mass tourism operators have learned the language of sustainable tourism, or whatever you want to call it. But little has really changed. She notes that the ecotourism industry in the Balearic Islands fought bitterly against a government-proposed tourist eco-tax of less than $1 a day to help offset environmental damage caused by tourist development. People talk about ecotourism, but the fact is that the tourism industry is always looking for a quick buck, adds Doug Rhodes, who owns Hotel Paradiso del Oso in Chihuahau, Mexico, where many ecotourist hotels lack waste disposal facilities and therefore throw their waste into local canyons or near community wells.
Models to Follow, Pitfalls to Avoid
Even the severest critics of questionable ecotourism would not want to see it disappear entirely. Traditional tourism, which would inevitably take its place, is hardly an improvement. Rather, they see the International Year of Ecotourism as an opportunity to reform and root out the worst offenders.
IYE is important because it can educate the consumer and help change government policy, says Bruce Poon Tip, CEO of GAP Adventures, who points out that he practices what he preaches. We set our own standards for sustainable travel. We incorporate local transportation in all of our tours, use locally owned hotels and pay guides and drivers cash in hand. We pulled out of Burma because the government wouldnt allow us to pay the wages we wanted. They wanted us to pay the government, and then they would disperse a minimal wage to employees.
Poon Tip says hes seen many environmental crimes committed in the name of ecotourism. Its incredible how some companies package holiday ecotours on a cruise ship, he says. Excursions in nature may follow an environmental slant, like a bus of 50 people visiting a beach where turtles nest, but they dont always follow ecotourism principles. In fact, greater harm can be done with the number of people who visit these sensitive areas and give nothing back to the communities or the wildlife.
Martha Honey, director of the Ecotourism and Sustainable Development Program at the Institute for Policy Studies, says the Galapagos Islands and Costa Rica are good examples of countries that have taken a positive approach to ecotourism. Costa Rica got the right stakeholders together, developed good guidelines and certified 50 hotels, she says. Now theyre working on certifying tour operators and guides. You need a strong national park system and a good infrastructure to serve as a backbone to sustainable travel. Honey adds that, as in other countries, there is tension in Costa Rica between the tourism and environmental ministries, with the former wanting to increase tourist numbers and the latter wanting to protect natural resources.
Fergus Maclaren, director of TIES IYE program, agrees that Costa Rica is a good example of how to practice ecotourism. Costa Rica has a better infrastructure for environmentally minded travelers than some of the emerging countries in South America, he says. And theyre working to sustain their park land. Iron
ically, however, Costa Rica has a rather high rate of deforestation outside its parks. He also cites the Galapagos, Belize and some sectors in Kenya for trying to encourage a conservation partnership model that adheres to ecotourism principles. You dont have to chop down trees to achieve value, he says.
Who Owns Paradise? |
Strong Certification Programs Separate Genuine Ecotourism from Greenwashing Fast-Buck Artists For the traveling public, the challenge is to find the environmentally and socially responsible companies that can provide a great holiday. And thats where the concept of certification — eco-labeling — comes in. All tourism certification programs are voluntary, market-driven initiatives, which means companies choose to be certified and consumers pick labeled products. |
Certification is a hot topic, and will get hotter during IYE, says Martha Honey, co-author of the Institute for Policy Studies report, “Protecting Paradise: Certification Programs for Sustainable Tourism and Ecotourism. There is widespread recognition that certification is necessary to help the responsible traveler and hold the industrys feet to the fire. Epler-Wood of TIES adds, however, that this recognition has not yet extended to Asia. There was little knowledge of certification in the stakeholder meetings held there, she says.
The way forward could perhaps be modeled on Kenyas experience. As the second largest tourism destination in Africa (behind South Africa), Kenya receives 700,000 visitors annually. Though the money they spend is vital to Kenyas economy, the Christian Science Monitor reports that the tourists take a toll.
But theres been some improvement, however incremental. Judy Gona, executive director of the Ecotourism Society of Kenya (ESOK), says, The future of Kenyan tourism is green. ESOK has 80 members, the majority of which call themselves ecotourism destinations.
IYEs goal is to help make solid ecotourism the rule, rather than the exception. Theres no question that ecotourism is wildly popular, but that in itself is not enough. As more and more of the worlds tour operators are beginning to acknowledge, ecotourism has to live up to its green claims.
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JIM MOTAVALLI is editor of E Magazine and is a frequent ecotraveler.
Excerpted FROM E Magazine, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner.
Full story: http://www.emagazine.com/july-august_2002/0702feat1.html
CONTACTS:
The International Ecotourism Society: www.ecotourism.org
Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council:www.rainforest-alliance.org/programs/sv/index.html
RARE Center: www.rarecenter.org
Tourism Concern: www.tourismconcern.org.uk
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