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 ecotourism 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
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.
Author: BBC Green
Posts
