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Ecotourism is one of the fastest growing areas of the tourism industry. Whereas the tourism industry is growing at a rate of 4 per cent a year, ecotourism is growing at rates of between 10 and 30 per cent a year. It’s great that people are choosing to travel responsibly to areas of conservation which aim to conserve the environment and sustain the well-being of local people. The success of ecotourism though is causing problems.
What with the industry being so lucrative, people are being duped into believing that their holiday is beneficial to people and places other than the travel company. Even where no such ‘green washing’ is taking place, and travelers do take part in what are considered legitimate projects, the mere presence of visitors can have negative impacts. Some people argue, for example, that the mere presence of visitors to the Rainforest can change the behaviour of animals in what is their natural habitat. And in Costa Rica, the popularity of the Manuel Antonio natural park led to developers building a large number of hotels in the area. Limiting the amount of visitors to a place is tricky as there is no consensus on where visitor numbers should be capped. Furthermore, the temptation to give into demand for financial reasons can be large, especially in poorer countries where tourism is often the biggest source of income. Where governments do have policies on limiting development within important ecological systems, systems must also be in place to deter officials taking bribes and allowing poaching or illegal logging.
People’s perceptions of ecotourism alone can cause problems. A common view is that and ‘eco holiday’ involves flying to Borneo and building climbing frames for orphaned orangutans. Flying is hardly the most environmentally friendly form of transport, quite the opposite in fact, given that flight emissions count for around 10 per cent of greenhouse gases. Spending ‘eco holidays’ closer to home, and traveling by train, bus or car, is much less polluting. For those who are set on traveling to far away places though, participating in carbon offsetting programmes can relieve the guilt.
In terms of ensuring companies don’t fool travelers into taking part in programmes which are hardly eco friendly and possibly even harmful, it’s up to the individuals to ensure they take part in sustainable projects. Rating systems have been created to highlight how environmentally friendly and genuinely sustainable different programmes are, and eco-labels have been given by independent assessors to companies who fit the criteria of providing sustainable programmes. Another way travelers can check the credibility of ecotourism companies is to check whether they are affiliated with TIES (The International Ecotourism Society).
Despite the very real problems of ecotourism, such as the worry that the mere presence of humans in a particular environment can be detrimental to that environment, the industry’s many benefits do outweigh the negatives. The problems must be addressed though, and a good starting point is for every traveler to consider how they can offset their travel carbon emissions and check that the programme they participate in, isn’t one they will regret allowing the progression of.
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