Ecotourism

M.M.C.B Ehelamalpe
Ecotourism- Definition
 Ecotourism is now defined as "responsible travel to
natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains
the well-being of the local people, and involves
interpretation and education" (TIES, 2015). Education
is meant to be inclusive of both staff and guests.
Principles of Ecotourism
 Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities,
and sustainable travel.
 This means that those who implement, participate in and
market ecotourism activities should adopt the following
ecotourism principles:

 Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological

impacts.
 Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect.
 Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.
 Provide direct financial benefits for conservation.
 Generate financial benefits for both local people
and private industry.
 Deliver memorable interpretative experiences to
visitors that help raise sensitivity to host countries'
political, environmental, and social climates.
 Design, construct and operate low-impact
facilities.
 Recognize the rights and spiritual beliefs of the
Indigenous People in your community and work in
partnership with them to create empowerment
Conservation
 Offering market-linked long-term solutions,
ecotourism provides effective economic incentives for
conserving and enhancing bio-cultural diversity and
helps protect the natural and cultural heritage of our
beautiful planet.
Communities
 By increasing local capacity building and employment
opportunities, ecotourism is an effective vehicle for
empowering local communities around the world to
fight against poverty and to achieve sustainable
development.
 Interpretation
 With an emphasis on enriching personal experiences and
environmental awareness through interpretation,
ecotourism promotes greater understanding and
appreciation for nature, local society, and culture.
Segments of Ecotourism

 Ecotourism in wildlife
 Eco Adventure travels
 Sustainable tourism
 Responsible tourism
 Nature base travels
 Green travels
 Cultural tourism
Ecotourism in wildlife
 Wildlife tourism can be an eco and animal friendly
tourism, usually showing animals in their natural
habitat. Wildlife tourism , in its simplest sense, is
watching wild animals in their natural habitat.
Eco Adventure travels
 Eco adventure is the combination of adventurous
activity with environmentally responsible awareness.
 floating a raging river
 soaring through the tree canopy
Sustainable tourism
 Any form of tourism that does not reduce the
availability of resources and does not inhibit future
travelers from enjoying the same experience.
 If the presence of large numbers of tourists disturbs an
animal's mating patterns so that there are fewer of that
species in the future then that visit was not
sustainable.
Responsible tourism
 Tourism which operates in such a way as to minimize
negative impacts on the environment.
 A wilderness camping trip using "leave no trace" ethics
would be considered responsible tourism while dune
buggy tours would not.
Nature based tourism
 A more generic term for any activity or travel experience
with a focus on nature.
 Remote jungle lodges fall into this category as do cruise
ships to view penguins in Antarctica.
 These types of trips may or may not be environmentally
sustainable or responsible.
Green tourism
 Often used inter-changeably with eco-tourism and
sustainable tourism but more accurately described as
"any activity or facility operating in an environmentally
friendly fashion".
 A lodge with composting toilets, gray water system,
and solar powered lighting is probably "green".
Cultural tourism
 Interacting with, understanding and learning about
unique cultures is the focus of this style of trip.
 The concept of learning from other cultures to
broaden ones’ perspective is usually a core value.
Ecotourism and Tea industry
 In the context of tea industry in Sri Lanka, ecotourism
has been recognized as an economically viable,
environmentally friendly and socially acceptable non-
crop diversification mechanism to increase profits.
Natural resource management
 Natural resource management can be utilized as a
specialized tool for the development of ecotourism.
 There are several places throughout the world where the
amount of natural resources are abundant.
 But, with human encroachment and habitats these
resources are depleting. Without knowing the proper
utilization of certain resources they are destroyed and
floral and faunal species are becoming extinct.
 Ecotourism programmers’ can be introduced for the
conservation of these resources. Several plans and proper
management programmes can be introduced so that these
resources remain untouched.
Negative impact
 One definition of ecotourism is "the practice of low-
impact, educational, ecologically and culturally
sensitive travel that benefits local communities and
host countries”. Many of the ecotourism projects are
not meeting these standards. Even if some of the
guidelines are being executed, the local communities
are still facing other negative impacts.
 including forcing people to leave their homes, gross
violations of fundamental rights, and
environmental hazards—far outweigh the
medium-term economic benefits
 Most forms of ecotourism are owned by foreign
investors and corporations that provide few
benefits to local communities. (No reinvestment
into the local economy or environmental
protection.)
 Displacement of people
 Threats to indigenous cultures
 Mismanagement
Environmental hazards
 The industrialization, urbanization, and unsustainable
agriculture practices of human society are considered
to be having a serious effect on the environment.
 Ecotourism is now also considered to be playing a role
in this depletion.
 These invasions often include deforestation,
disruption of ecological life systems and various forms
of pollution, all of which contribute to environmental
degradation.
Environmental hazards…
 The number of motor vehicles crossing the park
increases as tour drivers search for rare species. The
number of roads has disrupted the grass cover which
has serious effects on plant and animal species.
 These areas also have a higher rate of disturbances and
invasive species because of all the traffic moving off
the beaten path into new undiscovered areas.
Thank You