География и геология/1.Регионоведение и региональная организация общества.
Senior Teacher Chala K.
Student Batun V.
National University of Food Technologies, Kyiv, Ukraine
Pros and Cons of Ecotourism
Ecotourism is defined as tourism that allows
travellers to visit untouched parts of the world to enjoy the nature and
traditional culture without impacting upon it. Those with sufficient wealth to
be able to enjoy such tourism can do so with the added feel-good factor that
their money is helping the local environment and indigenous population without
changing it or influencing it for the worse.
Since it first became trendy in the 1980s, ecotourism
has expanded rapidly and is now the fastest growing sector in the industry. It
is now so important that the IMF includes ecotourism in its preconditions for
lending money to developing countries.
But there are pros and cons as well.
The Pros of Eco-tourism.
If done rightly eco tourism has several advantages. It
is more concerned with the environment and does encourage developers to build
with more consideration for the natural environment. This means that more
natural habitat is preserved and that the resources for building come from
sustainable sources. This is the theory anyway.
Another advantage is that eco tourism provides an
income for local inhabitants in an area. The argument is that if the local
people can generate revenue from showing tourists around a jungle, lake,
savannah etc. then it is much better than killing elephants for their ivory or
capturing gorillas to sell on the black market. Moreover, showing people a
rainforest rather than logging the forest is a good compromise if the forest is
preserved.
People in the developed world through eco tourism get
to experience places of great natural significance as well as interact with
local and indigenous people. It is hoped that this contact will benefit both
parties, fostering better understanding of the issues on the ground, and
overcoming prejudice.
The Cons of Eco-tourism.
It is felt by some environmentalists that there should
be some parts of the world that are ‘off bounds’ for any tourists as any human
activity will damage the eco system and disrupt the routine of the animals.
Although scuba divers try to be careful, any tourist
scuba business is going to have a negative impact on fragile coral marine
environments. Although, people walking carefully through the forest might not
do much harm, building their eco lodges does.
A good example of this is the safari business in
Africa. Tour jeeps going across the savannah scare off the animals that the
lions rely on catching. The result is that lions can no longer hunt in parts of
Kenya and Tanzania during the morning when the tour jeeps are out. They have to
wait until the hottest part of the day to hunt. This is draining for them and
affecting lion numbers.
The Masai people in Kenya have been moved out of their
traditional lands because of the demarcation of National Parks for eco tourism.
They are settled on land next to the reserves. Much of the best land next to
the reserves has gone to non-local people and eco tourist operators. When
animals come on to this communal land any damage caused by the animals is not
compensated by the government. The result is that the Masai who once co-existed
with the animals of the savannah now come to regard them as pests.
Another issue for the Masai and other indigenous
people is that they have become ‘tourist attractions’ that are expected to pose
for the cameras and perform dances etc. for money. Not only is this extremely
patronizing, but it is discouraging the Masai and other indigenous people from
pursuing their traditional life styles. Unwittingly the tourists are destroying
the culture that they are paying to preserve.
The places visited by ecotourism are usually not
well-policed and tourists can become the victims of crimes, including
kidnapping and murder, all too easily. The seas around Somalia are pretty much
a no-go area because of gangs of pirates who see rich Westerners and their
yachts as easy pickings.
In conclusion
On balance, the cons often outweigh the pros. Whilst
it is undoubtedly better to shoot animals with a camera, rather than a gun, the
very presence of tourists upsets the delicate balance of the local ecosystem
and impacts upon the lives of local people, not always for the better.
There are also reports of ecotourism firms failing to
deliver on what they have promised. Perhaps ecotourism itself requires closer
regulation and should be approved on a case-by-case basis; including
consultation with local people.
References:
1. http://gladsoles.com/essay-pros-and-cons-of-tourism
2. http://apecsec.org/pros-and-cons-of-ecotourism
3. http://www.efdinitiative.org/news/archive/pros-and-cons-ecotourism-local-communities