Ecotourism is travelling to natural areas with the specific objective of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural manifestations (Buckley, 2010). Ecotourism is now perceived as an attractive and sustainable alternative to mass tourism destinations. It can allow careful use of natural resources without degrading the environment, and can help conserve the remaining unique habitats in the world. However, ecotourism is not free of negative consequences, especially for less skilled managers in developing countries, because economic benefits may be outweighed by environmental impacts (Tona Amenu, 2017). Ecotourism is an issue that is growing in importance, both as a global trend and as a focus of scholarly interest. However, as this article makes clear, defining ecotourism is not easy. It is both a simple and an exceedingly complex term. Eco-tourists are those who attempt to marry sustainability, life-styles and nature-based tourism. Whether actively seeking for it or innocently falling into it, eco-tourists want experiences in natural settings. Despite successful attempts to quantify tourist numbers under the ecotourism banner, any estimation of what actually constitutes ecotourism is highly fraught, contested and controversial.
Many definitions focus on minimal negative environmental and cultural impacts and maximum positive economic impacts. The most widely used broad definition is by the International Ecotourism Society (TIES), which states that: “Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” The organization of travel activities to natural areas to conserve natural resources, wildlife and indigenous cultures and to minimize adverse effects has become popular. However, the unique sense of ecotourism is vague with no consensus invited some negative consequences for the concept of ecotourism, and perhaps the movement as a whole. Ecotourism is a good word but a bad vehicle because of inconsistent data, poorly defined indicators and controversy over definitions. Another early definition of ecotourism, and essentially similar to the IUCN declaration, is produced by the Nature Conservancy. Ecotourism is defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people”.
Definition and Principles
Ecotourism is defined as responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people (Tona Amenu, 2017). It is a design component (or type) of sustainable tourism planning and development, which emphasizes the need for consideration of the natural and socio-cultural environments of destinations, informing and involving stakeholders as both contributors and beneficiaries of the process. Ecotourism is also a multi-dimensional philosophical concept, which is a component of eco-development and requires planning based on strict guidelines and regulations that will enhance the sustainable operation (Buckley, 2010). Planning and development of nature tourism, ecotourism and recreation is a perception with the low impact on physical natural and socio-cultural environments. It also provides a potential that allows the opportunity to benefit stakeholders from tourist expenditures in the sector.
Ecotourism is the aggregate of all environmental changes resulting directly or indirectly from the successful attraction, establishment, and maintenance of nature-based tourism, ecotourism, and recreation. Nature areas involving major ecological structure changes and degradation resulting from unsustainable tourism development for their potential of desirability by society and for their vulnerability by nature are termed. General guidelines refer to the recommendations with flexible applicability to tourism development plans globally; certain advisories may require adjustments to local conditions or may be diffused with additional regulations. Guidelines on the planning and sustainability of general tourism development vary in scope, flexibility, and strictness. They can be estimates of the environmental adaptation of tourist development towards community objectives formulated by tourism establishments, local/national governments or international organization, such as the World Tourism Organization (WTO) or the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Environmental Benefits of Ecotourism
Ecotourism is often touted as a way to promote conservation of natural areas and biodiversity. Whether such a link exists is examined in a recently published collection of case studies from Costa Rica. This collection offers both positive and negative examples of the environmental impacts of ecotourism and underlying social dynamics, particularly with regard to areas of biodiversity that are receiving tourism pressure.
In Costa Rica, the species-rich and ecotourism-promoted tropical dry forest ecosystems have been subjected to potential negative impacts of this development. In other countries, areas of comparable biodiversity at risk from ecotourism pressures, such as the forests of Bhutan and mangroves in Ecuador, are also notably reported upon. Costa Rica has long advertised itself as an ecotourism destination. In Goodwin’s article, the growth of ecotourism, definitions of ecotourism, and the impacts from ecotourism are analyzed (McKeone, 2011).
Goodwin, in brief, notes that ecotourism has grown over 800% in the last 20 years, making it the fastest growing sector of the tourism industry. Definitions of ecotourism abound, including those in the periphery of the concept, such as “wild nature tourism.” There is still debate about what tourism qualifies as ecotourism. Goodwin cites “safari” tourism in Tanzania as an ecotourism type par excellence, qualifyably so under strict definitions but conflictual under wider ones. Campaigns of fears that the “industry” will explode raise hopefulness of gain but doubts that ecotourism may worsen current problems. Ecotourism may be the industry’s growth but also a different type of tourism seen as more benign politically and environmentally. Despite attempts to regulate the industry and make it truly ecoturistic, McKeone notes that it must swim against current capitalistic currents.
Conservation of Biodiversity
Biodiversity is defined as the variety of living organisms on Earth, including the diversity of ecosystems, species, and genetic variations (Buckley, 2010). Biodiversity is one of the earth’s most vital assets. It keeps biological life balanced, helps in the development of new medicines, protects watersheds, and acts as a buffer against natural disasters. It is estimated that there are approximately 13 million species of flora and fauna on the earth but only 1.4 million of them have been formally categorized. Biodiversity is on the decline slowly and steadily. During the past few decades, industrial and commercial activities have uncovered the world’s finest biodiversity resources. Today the world is on the verge of a mass extinction of organisms like never before.
Ecotourism has played a considerable role in the conservation of biodiversity. By focusing on the unique plants and animals, their habitats, and appreciating their beauty, ecotourism strives to raise awareness for the need to protect these species. Ecotourism often supports the local economy with the money generated from visitors and spreads awareness about diverse species by offering educational facilities. Many still wonder what makes the wildlife unique and why it had to be preserved. There are many reasons by choosing to protect (or at least preserve) a plant or animal means to protect whole ecosystems, for they are a part of that overall ecological system (A. Tisdell and Wilson, 2001).
Socio-economic Impacts
Ecotourism represents an opportunity to empower local communities through a variety of avenues, including education, sustainable development, and economic opportunities. Many communities, however, are either unaware of their potential for ecotourism or lack the capacity to negotiate benefits from tourism (Z.A. Odede et al., 2015). Some ecotourism projects have benefited local people more than others. This variation reflects the significance of community empowerment for ecotourism interventions (Xaba (PhD Candidate) et al., 2018). The socio-economic aspects of ecotourism implementation were investigated in four communities near nature-based attractions in Kenya. Local communities had a variable level of authority in terms of membership, benefit distribution mechanisms, financial contribution to the ecotourism facilities, and control over income generated by the enterprises. It is argued that in situations where benefits, rights, and commitments are skewed in favor of the private sector, ecotourism efforts are unlikely to improve the well-being of communities and that communities need to operate on an equal footing with the project proponents (government or private tour companies) to reap benefits from ecotourism.
Empowerment of Local Communities
Ecotourism initiatives must prioritize the empowerment of local economies and communities that are in close proximity to natural areas. Local residents whose livelihoods depend on the natural environment need to be actively involved in ecotourism projects so that they share in the benefits tourism can bring (Xaba (PhD Candidate) et al., 2018). According to the notion of community conservation, the responsibility of managing ecotourism should no longer rest solely with the national government and foreign investors. Instead, local residents must be empowered to participate in the development decisions governing the protected area and the tourism activities within it, thus having a direct say in the distribution of benefits as well as the sustainable use of the environment upon which their livelihoods depend.
Well-implemented ecotourism initiatives are likely to mitigate poverty and unemployment in rural areas, since employment opportunities provided to a population would allow for increased household income. Such opportunities would in turn enhance the well-being of families, enabling them to participate in the market economy and take part in community initiatives such as schooling, road and infrastructure development, and collective business ventures. Fishermen employed in parastatal companies operating hotels and lodges within the protected area, for instance, remarked that they are better off than before finding formal employment away from fishing, as they can now afford to save money and purchase valuable assets such as houses and bicycles and also support children’s schooling. Moreover, a condition for selecting employees was high school education, thereby enhancing the level of schooling in households previously dominated by unskilled manual labor. Potentially destructive and exploitative economic activities such as poaching and illegal fishing as a way of earning a living might also diminish if the majority of the rural population are wage earners within parastatal tourism companies, thus contributing to the long-term sustainability of ecotourism (G, 2015).
Cultural Preservation
Throughout the world much of the cultural heritage of mankind’s oldest civilizations and indigenous peoples now exist in a fragile state and are becoming increasingly threatened. Urbanization, development and change pose increasing pressures on an already threatened global environment. Cultural diversity is an essential component to the richness and character of our planet’s environment and our cultural heritage is irreplaceable. It can be argued that many of the world’s ancient cultures, heritages and traditions require the most urgent care in order to ensure their preservation for future generations to learn about and appreciate.
Ecotourism offers one possible way to safeguard these now vulnerable cultures. When properly designed and implemented, it has the potential to be a powerful mechanism for enhancing awareness of indigenous cultures and traditions. Extending a financial incentive to protect as well as promote these cultures may serve to safeguard these cultures which would otherwise not be viable in a more homogenized world or which are under direct threat from development pressures. Historically, many cultures have disappeared or been irrevocably changed by globalisation as the dominant culture enforced its own values and traditions onto those of others (M. Snow and K. Snow, 2003). This has particularly been the case with colonialism, with the more developed nations imposing their social systems and economic ideologies on less developed ones. However, colonialism also created a wide awareness of other societies, often providing opportunities for indigenous peoples to voice their interests to the outside world. During this time many aspects of traditional cultures were recorded, documented and analysed. While idealistic and ethnocentric western views often distorted an understanding of the dynamics of these societies and their cultures, these studies did nonetheless provide a wealth of invaluable background information. However often these studies were then used as a means to dismantle, control or change these societies using the supposed superiority of one culture over another to justify actions which devastated these indigenous nations (Tona Amenu, 2017).
Today many of the world’s pristine and remote regions which have historically escaped modernisation are now being opened up to the forces of development. For many of these regions tourism is the first encounter with the outside world and it is likely to be much different than either the indigenous peoples or the tourist would have expected. Where countries had previously been viewed as politically and socially isolated, they are now being seen as landscapes of hopes and opportunities with desires for the exotic and the “untouched”. The desire of the adventurer to visit remote areas is reinforcing the cultural image of certain regions being neglected by the passage of time and modernisation. There is a certain mythology or romanticism surrounding these areas which creates strong desires to experience what appear to be “lost worlds” there. To enter into this new and exotic world, the tourist must often drastically change their lifestyle and physical appearance. Their adapting to the environment is often done by adopting a certain clothing which after having experience in both urban and rural areas has become a symbol of class and wealth. In order to undertake such expeditions individuals must possession of such items as hard-shell backpacks, trekking shoes, fancy hiking gear and sun-glasses. The most normally encountered attire amongst the indigenous peoples of these lands would be more tattered yet colourful and naturally adapted to social and physical surroundings. To cross cultural boundaries in such a manner creates an anthropological paradox, or cultural dilemma.
Promotion of Indigenous Knowledge
In the context of ecotourism, the preservation of cultural knowledge arises from the social circumstances of the ecosystem and the cultural context of the social systems related to it. Indeed, while one can identify what worldviews would potentially respect nature, these words were all envisioned in order to frame, support, and develop ways of life that would apply to the nature and mundane of specific peoples. Therefore, there is a need to pay attention to the cultural trajectories leading ‘the other’ to think, frame, and represent the ‘natural’ (Varumo, 2016).
The worldviews common to the Kasungu and Wattumwa’s ideas on conservation involve cultural notions of time. In brief, there is an historical past when nature was regarded with veneration and respect, followed by a dystopian present when ignorance and dysfunction have led to corruption. There is a moral value to restoring, and at the heart of the restoration there is knowledge held by a few who need to be respected, listened to, and provided with prominence concerning nature. In this sense, the wisdom and knowledge of ‘the other’ resonates in discourses on the importance of indigenous knowledge and respect for indigenous peoples. Such worldviews can be conceived as generative of ecotourism and bioprospecting. By amounting the view on contemporary context the value of ecotourism emerges as it would support the sharing and preservation of cultural knowledge, and hence, underline the importance of providing anonymity.
Challenges and Future Directions
Ecotourism, and community-based ecotourism in particular, are promoted as solutions to the social and environmental problems caused by a discriminatory tourism industry. Granting local stakeholders ownership of tourism businesses and control of tourism management processes is expected to distribute tourism revenues equitably in host communities. It is also expected to lead to more environmentally and culturally sensitive tourism development. However, in reality, it is often the more powerful individuals and groups in a community who dominate the ownership of ecotourism enterprises and the planning and implementation of ecotourism initiatives, so that those who gain most from ecotourism are often the same groups who were better off to begin with. NGO and government organisations involved in the promotion of ecotourism sometimes overlook the persistence of inequality within communities. They tend to assume that if there is any ecotourism development it will automatically benefit the whole community, which may not be the case. The community at-large may even be rendered worse off as a result of ecotourism.
The above questions highlight the inequitable distribution of tourism-related costs and benefits and the sociocultural changes triggered by tourism development. In order to understand more about the issues raised in the above questions, it is useful to take a step back and examine tourism critically. Much of the existing literature on ecotourism, community-based ecotourism, participatory planning, and related concepts appears to take a naive and uncritical view of tourism, suggesting that it is inherently good and that the proposed changes can occur successfully. Some workers implicitly regard tourism as a universal good entity, expecting that it will automatically lead to equitable socioeconomic development and environmental conservation. Such a deterministic view is, however, highly problematic. Tourism development is not necessarily beneficial to local communities (McKeone, 2011) , (Burleson and Smith, 2019). Observing areas that have used tourism as the principal tool of destination development reveals many substantial, and often unexpected, negative effects and consequences stemming from tourism development.