SOE 2008 Policy Brief - Ecotourism and Sustainable Forest Management

Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka: State of the Economy 2008 Political Economy Dilemma of Reforms
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13. Ecotourism for Sustainable Forest Management in Sri Lanka

13.1 Introduction The Sri Lankan forestry sector has faced a host of problems over the past few decades. While rapid forest degradation has been the most visible outcome, there are many other issues in the sector which have implications on the sustainability of forest resources. The inability of the present policy and legal framework to adequately address issues of forest conservation and economic development is seen as a major obstacle in this regard. The traditional command and control method of forest management has not been able to successfully conserve forests and provide benefits to society. Critically, the present system has failed to consider local communities as important stakeholders in forest conservation.
Given the inefficiencies in conventional command and control forest management, market based approaches are emerging as alternative tools of forest management today. In this regard, ecotourism is viewed as an important approach for sustainable forest management. As defined by the International Ecotourism Society (TIES), ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the wellbeing of local people. The definition encompasses seven major principles as follows: Contributes to conservation of biodiversity Sustains the well-being of local communities and people Interpretation and education aspects Involves responsible travel from both the tourists and the tourism industry Primarily small-scale Lowest possible consumption of non-renewable resources Active community participation in planning, management and benefit sharing. Accordingly, the sustainability principles of ecotourism fit into aspects of sustainable forest management. Moreover, it has the potential to address issues in the present forest management system in the country, wherever potential exists. Ecotourism, being a fast
For a full version of Sri Lanka: State of the Economy 2008 and other publications of the IPS contact publications@ips.lk , or visit www.ips.lk
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growing market segment in the global tourism industry, provides ample opportunities for positive gains from engaging in it. Thus, ecotourism could be undertaken as a functional tool to capitalize on the potential and prospects that Sri Lanka possesses as a future ecotourism destination.
13.2 Prospects and Potentials in Forest-based Ecotourism Sri Lanka is endowed with rich and diverse natural forest resources, which include a number of national heritage sites as well as world heritage forests. Given the high degree of biodiversity in a small land area, it is considered as one of the top twenty five biodiversity hotspots in the world. In addition, being a small island, the places can be visited within a short time period. The potential for ecotourism is also enhanced by the distinct culture that Sri Lanka possesses.
Ecotourism could also been seen as a potential source of income diversification in forest peripheral villages, where, poverty is a significant issue. In most of the cases, households living in the peripheral villages are dependent on agriculture as their main livelihood. Such areas are characterized by lack of alternative income sources, poorly developed infrastructure, and high unemployment and underemployment rates. Thus, from a socioeconomic point of view, there are prospects for ecotourism to generate economic benefits to the forest peripheral communities by providing alternative employment opportunities and by actively contributing towards infrastructure development in the areas.
13.3 Changing Focus of Sri Lankas Tourism Sector Historically, Sri Lankas tourism activities have been focused on mass tourism. However, due to frequent fluctuations in mass tourist arrivals due both to external and domestic events product differentiation has been identified as an important step forward by the Sri Lankan tourism industry today. With the new slogan Beyond Beaches, Culture, Nature, Adventure, the Sri Lankan tourism sector is in the process of attracting tourists for nature and cultural sites, and to capitalize on it, while retaining its competitive
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advantage in beach tourism. This initiative can provide significant opportunities for the development of the ecotourism sector in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the worlds tourism industry now is driving towards sustainable tourism, where environmental concerns of growing tourism activities receive greater emphasis. It is estimated that ecotourism has been growing by 20-34 per cent per year at the beginning of 1990s,1 as opposed to a 7 per cent rate of overall growth in the global tourism industry in the 1990s.
In line with this, the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) has taken the initiative to promote green tourism, with a view of promoting Sri Lanka as a Tourism Earth Lung destination. Through this initiative, the SLTB aims to establish codes of practice for each of the sub-sectors in the tourism industry in Sri Lanka. Meantime, efforts are also to be made to stop deforestation, ensure reforestation to encourage the use of alternative energy sources, mitigate pollution at their sources through local and regional efforts, and thus to create an Earth Lung Community. This initiative can fit well into the process of promoting ecotourism, since ecotourism by definition is a green initiative.
13.4 Present Situation of Forest-based Ecotourism in Sri Lanka Despite the fact that Sri Lanka possesses a strong potential for forest-based ecotourism, it is nonetheless, still being operated at a primary level. Sri Lankas present forest cover, which includes both dense and sparse forests, is around 29 per cent of the total land area of the country. The Forest Department (FD) and the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) are the main forest resource owners. The total land area owned by the DWLC is around 982,587 ha while the FD owns around 1,582,756 ha. The areas collectively account for over 98 per cent of Sri Lankas natural forests. As such, almost 98 per cent of Sri Lankas natural forest lands are under the state management. Of the lands owned by the DWLC, only the national parks are open for undertaking tourism activities, which amounts to 59 per cent of the total land owned by the DWLC.
1
Cited in The International Ecotourism Society, Fact Sheet: Global Ecotourism, based on a World Tourism Organization, press release, June 2004.
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The two main forest managing institutes in Sri Lanka, the FD and the DWLC have been carrying out forest-based tourism activities over a long period of time. However, lack of community involvement in management and benefit sharing is a significant problem in the state managed forest-based tourism activities. Moreover, the FD is not legally provisioned to invest the tourism income it generates back in conservation activities. Education and interpretation services are also not up to the standard. In addition, the resource owners do not have the required potential and capability to invest in forest-based ecotourism businesses in the country.
More recently, the private sector has been showing growing interest in ecotourism investments given emerging market opportunities in the global tourism industry. However, lack of coordination between the private sector and resource owners in Sri Lanka has meant the absence of a more conducive environment for the private sector to invest in ecotourism. On the other hand, the actual ecotourism product that is offered is a major factor in capitalizing on emerging market opportunities. Mismatches between what is being marketed and the products offered can be an issue. Many private sector players tend to use the ecotourism label without complying with at least the basic criteria of ecotourism. This is viewed as a significant constraint in developing Sri Lanka as an ecotourism destination. At present, however, there are few private sector players offering genuine ecotourism products and earning high profits in the Sri Lankan tourism sector. Successful stories of private sector involvement in ecotourism projects are heard from other countries that have reached high levels of ecotourism development (see Box 13.1). Sri Lanka can learn lessons from such experiences and apply them appropriately to the local set-up.
On the other hand, the private sector in Sri Lanka is not well aware of the present forestry regulations. Identification of forest areas which could be developed as ecotourism sites in the future has to be done on the basis of socio-economic and biological aspects, where
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the FD has a special role. This type of data and information are not available at present, which leads to conflicts between environment agencies and private sector entrepreneurs.
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Box 13.1 Sustainable Ecotourism in Costa Rica

Ecotourism in Monteverde forest reserve is known as the most popular tourist destination for both local and foreign tourists, which could be presented as a model for sustainable ecotourism. The forest reserve is privately managed by a non-profit organization dedicated towards conservation and research. The site is well-known for providing good interpretational services. Well-trained tour guides who are mostly biology graduates provide quality education and awareness raising services to the tourists, particularly on the wildlife and ecological functions of the living components of the forest. It is interesting that guides are bilingual and carry high power binoculars and bird encyclopedias to provide the best possible services to the ecotourists. Revisions on entry fees are made timely, in order to ensure that it is a self-sustaining entity. It charges higher fees for tourists on the assumption that they are willing and able to pay. The revenue generated is utilized for education and provision of information, in addition to sustaining efforts of the forest administration. The latter cost accounts for nearly 17 per cent of total expenditure, while costs of preserving the forest and providing education collectively amounts to 30 per cent of total expenditure. The members of the local community are not charged entry fees as an appreciation of their role in supporting the development of the preserve, and to generate a sense of ownership and interest in sustaining the preserve. With the tourism income, an endowment fund has been created to support the integrity of the forest reserve in the future. The ecological balance is also maintained well with timely revised policies. The carrying capacity of the forest, in particular, is taken into account, especially during the peak season. When the number of visitors exceeds the capacity, some nature trails are kept closed and the number of entries is controlled. Large numbers of volunteers who arrive during the peak seasons also help maintain trails and facilities. Over-expansion of infrastructure and other facilities are avoided, particularly due to the involvement of the community, who are the main owners of the infrastructure. Also, only a section of the park is allowed for tourism activities, indicating that the forest is intended to be a reserve meant for nature protection and biological reserve, while generating economic benefits. This feature has minimized conflicts that might arise due to competing uses of the forest. On the other hand, local communities are also encouraged to get involved in the planning process. The reserve has a substantial economic impact on the local communities through various income generating activities such as local hotels and restaurants, outfits offering horseback riding, souvenir shops, tours to local manufacturing plants, art galleries, butterfly farms, etc. Accordingly, Monterverde reserve provides an example of a sustainable ecotourism project, since it has to a greater extent fulfilled the sustainable principles. Moreover, this is a case of a private reserve setting that could feed lessons for privately managed ecotourism businesses in other countries.
Source: Aylward, B. et al.(1996), Sustainable Ecotourism in Costa Rica: The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve Biodiversity and Conservation, Vol. 5, 315-343. On the other hand, not all stakeholders including the state agencies, private sector and local communities in the ecotourism sector in Sri Lanka have the necessary knowledge
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and awareness of the principles of ecotourism. Often, the term ecotourism is referred to mean traditional nature tourism activities due to lack of understanding on the sustainability principles of ecotourism. Such constraints also contribute to limit the ability to attract the genuine ecotourists.
In addition to state and private sector participation, a few community-based ecotourism projects are also emerging sporadically in several areas. Since rural communities lack necessary funds to invest in ecotourism businesses, the private sector will have to play a vital role in making the business investments in ecotourism, while partnering with the state resource managing agencies and rural communities. It is important to get the rural communities involved in ecotourism at all stages. This is seen as a challenging task in the Sri Lankan context since rural communities are not well-recognized as an important stakeholder in the existing forestry policies and legislations.
Most importantly, the absence of a coordinated effort between the stakeholders is seen as a major drawback in moving forward. The environment and tourism agencies operate within their boundaries, and necessary collaboration required for ecotourism is missing. This has been the main reason for slow progress in ecotourism in the country.
13.5 Enabling Policy Environment for Forest-based Ecotourism in Sri Lanka Ensuring the establishment of a sound policy and legal framework is a key to the successful implementation of ecotourism in any country. In this regard, it is important to have both tourism and environmental policies mainstreamed in order to develop a common vision towards ecotourism.
Although the future focus of tourism provides space for ecotourism development, the tourism policy which is in existence is primarily on mass tourism with no mention about ecotourism. However, having understood the increasing opportunities in global ecotourism, three documents presenting the national ecotourism policy, regulations, strategy and action plans have been formulated by the SLTB under the direction of the
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Ministry of Tourism in 2003. Although nearly five years have passed, the policy is yet to be implemented. The delay in preparing the necessary legislation stands as a barrier towards implementation. Although the above policy documents have been published in order to get comments from relevant stakeholders, they have not been given the intended publicity. As a result, awareness on the policy documents among the resource managing organizations is limited.
In the case of forest policies, forest-based tourism has been identified as a means of generating income from forest resources. However, the policies have not adequately responded to the sustainable principles of ecotourism. Primarily, the FD at present does not have provisions to invest the forest-based tourism income it generates in conservation activities and the entire revenue earned by the FD is sent directly to the Treasury. On the other hand, the Forest Ordinance does not have provisions for the creation of legal partnerships with either the private sector or communities. This is a significant issue in forest-based ecotourism. However, the FD is in the process of making necessary amendments to the present Forest Ordinance to accommodate the said provisions. It is important that the DWLC identify communities as an important stakeholder in managing, implementation and benefit sharing.
Therefore, it is evident that the current policy framework does not adequately present a conducive environment for the development of ecotourism in Sri Lanka. There are conflicts between tourism and environment policies and legislations, constraining relevant stakeholders from working towards a common vision in ecotourism. It is important that the resource managers the DWLC and the FD should have control over the resource to ensure that it is open for sustainable utilization by the private ecotourism operators and service providers.
13.6 Conclusions and Policy Suggestions Despite the presence of strong potential for substantial benefits to be had out of forest based ecotourism, Sri Lanka has not yet paid adequate attention to the issues involved in
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order to reap the expected benefits. Ecotourism is an approach that encourages environmental conservation and generates economic benefits out of environmental resources. Thus, it is necessary to have strong policy and legislative support for ecotourism. The future policy reforms should focus on the following key areas: Establishing a well-coordinated mechanism amongst the tourist agencies and environment agencies should receive a high policy priority. This could be facilitated through an inter-ministerial committee to identify the existing conflicts between tourism policies and initiatives on environment policies. The Tourist Board could play the lead role in this regard. Legalization and implementation of the draft ecotourism policy, strategies and action plan should not be delayed any further. Guidelines should be developed by the FD and the DWLC to include regulations for other stakeholders, specifically for the private sector. In addition, it is necessary to prepare a database on selected forest-based sites (and other ecotourism sites which can be developed as ecotourism sites) regarding the socio-cultural, physical and market characteristics regarding a particular site. Establishing ecotourism certification and monitoring mechanism would ensure that the ecotourism service providers and operators actually fulfill the elements of ecotourism and thus maintain the trust of ecotourists. Ecotourism should be viewed as an integral part of both development plans and conservation plans. This is primarily because ecotourism is a small-scale business, and thus cannot operate in isolation.
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Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka: State of the Economy 2008 Political Economy Dilemma of Reforms

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13. Ecotourism for Sustainable Forest Management in Sri Lanka

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Box 13.1 Sustainable Ecotourism in Costa Rica

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