Lolano P Khuvung
The activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual place of residence for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes constitute tourism. Such visits for being close to nature to enjoy its enormous creations, both biotic and a biotic, in a most environmental-friendly manner, without any adverse impact on the eco-system, are particularly known as eco-tourism.
According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO) “tourism that involves traveling to relatively undisturbed natural areas with the specific object of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural aspects (both of the past or the present) found in these areas” is defined as eco-tourism. Nature Tourism (eco-tourism) is distinguished from mass tourism or resort tourism by requiring less infrastructure development.
The key elements of eco-tourism include a natural environment as the prime attraction, an optimum number of environmental – friendly visitors, activities which do not have any serious impact on the ecosystem and the positive involvement of the local community in maintaining the ecological balance.
Eco-tourism can take many forms and magnitudes for example, losing oneself in a beautiful and natural forest or landscape – watching animals, birds and trees in a forest, corals and marine life in sea, engaging in trekking, boating or rafting, wandering amongst sand dunes – these are some of the common forms of eco-tourism.
OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES
Eco-tourism should try to:
• Make a positive contribution to conservation of nature, natural and cultural resources and stimulate private conservative efforts.
• Promote local development and sharing of economic benefits in a fair manner at national, regional and local levels.
• Increase environmental awareness of hosts and visitors such that it results in a clean, green environment.
• Empower local communities to manage eco-tourism and generate incentives for conservation through alternate and additional livelihood options.
• Provide visitors with a personal experience of nature and culture in ways that lead to greater understanding and appreciation.
Meaningful eco-tourism activities should:
• incorporate policies that encourage reinvestment of revenues and profits back into conservation and community development.
• Regulate access to sensitive areas in meaningful ways supported by appropriate fee structures to fully realise the inherent potential for generating revenue.
• Actively involve local communities and key stake-holders from the planning stages onwards and encourage partnerships across sectors, organisation and individuals.
• Rely on low impact designs and technologies for reducing resource use, managing wastes and promoting energy and water conservation.
• Include and support green ecological sustainable business practices that add value to tourism products and services.
• Ensure accurate marketing leading to realistic expectations.
• Incorporate and implement monitoring and audit mechanisms that assess progress and impacts.
• Focus on interpretation of natural and cultural resources to enhance visitor experience.
• Be sensitive to local cultures and traditions and involve other cultures in non-evasive ways.
• Be supported by research in not only environmental but also social, cultural and economic impacts of tourism.
• Lead to the strengthening and development of institutions that can facilitate linkages between various stakeholders particularly among the conservation community and the tourism industry.
• Give adequate importance to domestic visitors as they are more affected by sustainability issues and are likely to make greater contributions to conservation in the long run.
STRATEGIES FOR THE FUTURE
Action is needed at national, regional and local levels
• Develop state specific eco-tourism policies and strategies with involvement of key stakeholders. The policies must provide regulations for developmental and access, fee structures and specify the roles.
• Explore ways to improve co-ordination and reduce conflicts between different Governmental agencies in order to have better enforcement and development.
• Invest in capacity growth of stakeholders through training programmes and skill building of key personnel to be given high priority.
• Create greater public awareness to overcome obstacles by using the media.
• Design mechanisms to ensure fair benefit sharing at all stages in the tourism chain.
• Customize and deliver training programmes through collaboration with complementary institutions and individuals
• Implementation of eco-tourism projects through private sector sponsorship/bilateral funding in collaboration with local organizations.
• Formation of stakeholder associations at local level.
• Introduce a green rating system for the tourism industry.
• Develop an awareness campaign to highlight economic and conservation benefits of eco-tourism.
• Explore and identify mechanisms to enable local communities and private sector to develop eco-tourism initiatives.
• Development of objective monitoring mechanism for Impact Assessment of Eco-tourism.
• Reduce pressure on natural resources by introducing alternative energy sources and educating the masses.
• Lobby for rationalization of taxes/incentives for eco-tourism.
• Develop a mechanism of incentives /disincentives for positive and negative practices within the sector.
Eco-tourism could generate economic benefits at local and national levels and thus create incentives for action to conserve the resources on which it depended. Since the time eco-tourism was introduced, it has become a buzzword in the lexicon of practitioners, academics, industry and the consumer.
However, the term eco-tourism has different interpretations depending on the purpose and the user. Community based tourism, cultural tourism, rural tourism, village tourism, cultural tourism and responsible tourism are some of the other terms that can confound the initiated.
Eco-tourism is part of the general growth in tourism and reflects increased environmental awareness and the desire for more authentic natural and cultural experiences.
With the advent of better transport, facilities and communication people are traveling further and taking more risks in the choices for a holiday from staying with local people in developing countries to adventure sports in some of the worlds most wilderness areas.
Not surprisingly, various sections of the tourism industry have responded with customized itineraries and eco-friendly accommodation supporting local developmental efforts.
There is considerable potential to provide positive contributions to conservation and development at a variety of scales. Eco-tourism can generate revenues for national Governments that can be reinvested in conservation and at the same time provide income generating opportunities to traditionally remote and marginal communities. The challenge is in developing strategies that help create enabling policy frameworks, support and link the various scales and types of operations that are necessary for successful eco-tourism and create broad based support for eco-tourism objectives and principles.
(A DIPR Feature)
