ec·o·tour·ism
/ˌekōˈto͝orizəm/
Noun
Tourism in exotic, often threatened, natural environments, esp. to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife.
The definition of ecotourism relates to natural environments, but what about historic buildings, man made, centuries ago that is also being destroyed by tourists. Although they are being revamped it is not the original state of the building. What are your thoughts and comments on that and what about artefacts, etc, especially those that aren't being preserved in a proper manner.
Reply to this Everything changes with time, some environments that used to be considered natural are now known to be the result of management by aboriginal peoples.
If we're trying to ascertain if tourism has a positive or negative impact imagine what a place would be like without tourists.
Would a coral reef be dynamited for it's fish versus the impact of scuba diving tourists?
Would Angkor Wat be slowly engulfed again by the jungle versus restored for the benefit of tourists?
Would the government of Ecuador be eradicating invasive species on Galapagos without the boon of tourist dollars?
Reply to this Well said, Ali. However, tourism in some instances can destroy the environtmental resources if not handled correctly.
Likewise a small example: the original stairs of some of the historical buildings have been worn away by all the people walking through them daily.
In areas such as the Red Sea, on any given day there are at least 4000 people diving/snorkelling in it - granted the Red sea covers a huge area, but there is definitely destruction on the reefs and wrecks.
At the same time as you so rightly say, if it weren't for tourism there wouldn't be any improvement in other areas and it raises awareness to certain issues.
Quite a complex situation!
Reply to this Great answer Ali. I often think of the answer to this in terms of Ningaloo Reef...the Pristine wild Ningaloo that we made into a world heritage marine park is actually far from pristine and not by ancient aboriginal settlers either. I worked on a project there for a few years to try and get an eco resort built there as the damage from unmanaged camping is slowly but surely impacting the reef and will continue to do so thanks to a ridiculous campaign with celebrities jumping on board spouting about the Pristine (I came to hate that word) environment......it was a bloody bombing range for the US navy in the 60s and early 70s and was drilled for oil in the 1950s...how does that equate to Pristine?
As far as mass tourism impacts go, we can look to Bhutan and their model of high value low impact V say Bali or Laos where its cheap as chips get happy get high get out alive...but at what cost to the local culture and environment.
The other issue is the real driving ethos behind each eco tourism experience...particularly those organisations calling for volunteers to help with rehabilitated apes or orangutans. Are they all legit and all purely focused on conservation works? if so, any pair of hands to help would..should..be welcome as long as food costs are covered I am suspicious of places who email seeking volunteers for a two week turtle hatching program but want a $2500 contribution as well as you getting yourself there and back.
Lots of thoughts on this one.
Reply to this I always feel like such a fraud being an eco-tourist. I recently watched a documentary about David Attenborough where he basically said if people truly cared about the environment, they sure as hell wouldn't be traveling. Point taken, David. Lord knows you have raped and pillaged the world with your travels in order to broadcast them into our living rooms. It makes me wonder, if travel is such a drain on our world why do we do it then? I'm on the fence, I think travel gives people the empathy towards a region they would never had had they never seen it in person. You?
[Edited: 2013 Feb 16 06:36 - cabochick:5863 ]
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