A Portal on Sustainability

Ecotourism

04.05.2005 · Research Group on the Global Future

Today, tourism is one of the leading global industries, with an 11 % share of global GDP, and one of the major migratory movements in modern society, with approximately 700 million travelers in 2001. While tourism is an important means for awareness building, cultural exchange and the learning process for both guests and hosts, it also – like any other major industry - has detrimental effects on the environments by increasing, e.g., pollution and resource consumption. In response to these developments, international institutions have developed concepts of sustainable tourism such as, e.g. ecotourism.

The term ecotourism does not simply mean to travel to a natural area. To be ecological, travel must support the conservation of biodiversity, bring benefits to local host communities, and lead to greater understanding of the natural or cultural environment visited. This is how Elizabeth Halpenny and Nicole R. Otte define ecotourism. In Our Planet's issue on tourism they discuss its benefits and drawbacks. Other topics from this issue include companies' responsibility for protecting the environment, what airlines can do to improve their ecological impact, and what positive side-effects ecotourism can have on a country's economy and environmental sustainability.

UNEP has been appointed by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development as the lead agency responsible for the implementation of Agenda 21 issues on tourism; with a particular focus on ecotourism.

Conservation International is a private, non-profit organization that is working on biodiversity and tourism - an unusual combination. The organization develops and supports ecotourism enterprises that contribute to biodiversity conservation, and seeks to influence the tourism industry towards greater ecological sustainability, e.g. by launching a program called "The Green Host Effect" hosted by the organization's Ecotravel Center.

Ecotourism in practical terms is the focus of a study by IISD on ecotourism and biodiversity in Australia, published on the Australian Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories' site. The paper shows that the national tourism industry makes major use of biological resources on a mutually beneficial basis.