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Ecotourism uncovered by BBC Green
ECOTOURISM
UNCOVERED
From
sustainable safaris to eco beach breaks responsible holidays are more
popular than ever, but do they really deliver what they promise? What is
ecotourism?
The
closest thing to an official definition of ecotourism comes from The
International Ecotourism Society's: "Responsible travel to natural
areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local
people".
In other
words, ecotourism is about making trips that support the ecology and people
of the area. What are the rules?
There
aren't any - unlike organic or Fairtrade, the term ecotourism isn't legally
binding or controlled by certification bodies. In the words of
EcoTravel.com:
"The
problem is there are no universally accepted standards for the definition
of ecotourism. This is how an 'eco-lodge' may dump untreated sewage in a
river and still call itself 'eco' simply because it is located in a natural
setting."
That's
not to say that many eco tourism operators are unethical, just that using
the phrase guarantees nothing. Moreover, even if there were a formal set of
rules and an official ecotourism logo, there would still be at least one
obvious ethical conundrum: flying. Can a holiday be responsible if you need
to fly to get there?
In an
era of climate change, this is the elephant in the room. Two flights from
London to South Africa release the equivalent of around six tonnes of CO2 -
as much as a UK home causes annually. (Read more: Should I Give up Flying)
Climate
change is expected to drive a third of land animals and plants into
extinction by 2050 - shocking facts like this make long-haul holidays and
environmental protection hard to reconcile. Of course, it's possible to
offset the damage caused by your flights, but whether this is a legitimate
response is open to debate (Read more: 60 Second Guide to Carbon Offsetting
and The Truth About Carbon Offsetting). How can tourists preserve
environments?
Advocates
of ecotourism argue that, despite the impact of aviation, travellers can
make a positive different to the environments they visit. It is certainly
true that nature tourists can provide an economic incentive for landowners
and governments to protect ecosystems.
If
tourists are coming to admire flora and fauna, and spending money while
they're there, then the value of those plants and animals increases.
Naturalist Sir David Attenborough is among those who believe there would be
no mountain gorillas left were it not for ecotourism.
But
critics say that the environment doesn't always benefit. With no reliable
certification body, it can be hard to distinguish between a genuine
eco-trip and an unscrupulous tour operator jumping on the "green"
bandwagon. Many so-called ecotourism businesses are owned and controlled by
foreign companies who are more interested in profit than conservation.
When the
proceeds from ecotourism are not retained in local communities and
environments, the results can be detrimental.
Then
there's the extra environmental impact of flying to consider. Whether any
eco benefits from the trip can outweigh the damage simply caused by getting
to that destination is for each person to decide. What about the impact on
local people?
Travel
companies offering ecotourism trips usually make claims about the benefits
provided to the local communities in the places visited. Some even go so
far as to refer to their holidays as being fair trade.
Generally,
such claims are based on the company favouring small-scale, locally run
hotels and other services, rather than relying on corporate or
foreign-owned establishments.
Not
everyone is convinced about the social benefits of ecotourism. Survival
International and others campaigning for the rights of indigenous people,
claim that conservation of areas has been linked with uprooting tribal
people from their ancestral land. Does ecotourism open up new tourist
areas?
One
other bone of contention around ecotourism is the long-term impact of
establishing tourist destinations in largely undeveloped areas. Even if the
first companies to explore an area operate ethically, they may encourage
other, less scrupulous, operators to set up in the similar locations.
A study
by Conservation International and the United National Environment Program
found that holidays to biodiversity hotspots more than doubled in the 1990s
alone, with rises as high as 2000 per cent in some Asian regions. Growth
such as this raises questions about the sustainability of nature travel -
and not just in terms of aviation.
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