Rainforest Ecotourism

Saving What Remains

ECOTOURISM

Ecotourism is rapidly becoming a leading way for developing countries to bring in foreign revenue by preserving their rainforests. Eco-tourists pay to see a country's natural beauty, not the destruction caused by short-run exploitation. Money spent directly in the local economy helps give economic value to forest preservation. The locals, along with the government, can see the importance of keeping the forest intact. Most tourists are willing to pay directly for preservation in the forms of park entrance fees and donations.

Ecotourism can provide local people with economic assistance by offering them employment opportunities as wildlife guides and rangers for parks, and as workers in the service force of hotels and lodges. This employment provides a relatively even flow of income often higher than they would receive from selling their marginal, small-scale agricultural crops at market. With eco-tourism, income is earned from preserving the ecosystem, and forest clearing is discouraged because it is detrimental to income. Similarly, ecotourism can reduce the need for poaching and hunting of forest animals for income. For example, in West Africa, former poachers are hired as park rangers since they have intimate knowledge of local animal wildlife. Ecotourism also provides the opportunity for intellectual advancement for locals educated as wildlife guides. With an education, their children will have a better chance of breaking out of their subsistence lifestyle and improving their livelihood. Finally, local communities can earn supplementary income from the fabrication of handicrafts.

Some hints for successful ecotourism in Madagascar

How to be an ethical traveler

While ecotourism is promising, it must be carefully developed and well planned, because short-term development can doom rainforests just as logging has, with extensive damage to the environment. Several countries, including Costa Rica and Malaysia, are facing adverse effects from tourism (it can no longer be considered "eco"-tourism). Costa Rica is one of the best examples of a tropical country developing its ecotourism potential to its fullest. Every year, hundreds of thousands of foreigners visit Costa Rica's many national parks, making tourism the country's third largest industry behind coffee and bananas. However, some of the parks are being overwhelmed by the mass numbers of tourists and are consequently losing species which seek out areas away from noisy, intrusive humans. Meanwhile, in the Bornean parts of Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak, environmentalists are concerned over extensive new development for tourism. Construction requires locally cut wood, resulting in deforestation, while pollution and sewage are a problem in otherwise pristine environments. A mass inflow of tourists can also be damaging to forest trails and frightening to wildlife.

To be sustainable, ecotourism requires careful planning and strict guidelines; short-term development can doom forests as easily as unsustainable logging. Too many people, inadequate facilities, and poor park management can spell the end for the "eco" in ecotourism. Eco-tourism, when carried out in a sustainable fashion, can be very beneficial to local people, the economy, and the environment. It should not be restricted to legally protected areas, but should also be promoted in natural areas that lack protection. The presence of tourists, when properly managed, protects the area from over-exploitive activities.

Review questions:

How can ecotourism help the environment?

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Continued: Structure of the tropical rainforest—Part II

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