Repeating the last Lecture

• Which impacts are direct?

• Money spent for shuttle service
• Money spent for accommodation
• Money spent at a restaurant
• Money spent for guide

• Which impacts are indirect?

• Restaurant buys goods and services (inputs)
• Accommodation pays for blanket – mattress, towel
etc.
 Which activities benefit from ecotourism?

• hotels, motels, guest houses, farm stays, etc.;

• local businesses (e.g. medical, banking, car hire, cottage

industries, souvenir shops, tourist attractions);

• local producers of goods

• local labour and expertise (ecotour guides, retail sales assistants,

restaurant table waiting staff);

Which effect the duration of stay does
have?

• The longer duration of stay promotes to deeper

understanding between the individual ecotourist
and individual community members
Are the job opportunities higher in ecotourism?
• Compared to other activities, the employment
opportunities in ecotourism are limited, and the jobs
have relatively low pay
Why training programs are held for local
communities?
• To provide the necessary language
• To provide information about natural history
• To develop environmental skills
Which negative effects can be made towards
communities?

• They may have lost access to land and resources they had
previously enjoyed
• Their own social values and behaviors which can be distorted
• Prices of some goods (vegetables) can rise
• In some cases community members percieve that the area
has been developed for foreigners only /feeling of resentment
• Another tension: In rural areas tourists are on holidays while
the community members must continue with their work
(most vulnerable group are youth)
• If social behavior/values is affected or partially changes
due to tourism, how this process is called?

• Acculturation
How direct and indirect impacts of ecotourism
are different?
Which areas experience the leakage of finance
to other regions much heavily?
Which factors have a negative social impact on
local communities?

(distortion of habits, acculturation,

unfair distribution of money, weak
participation in decision making )
• Which activities of tourists may create
discontent by local communities?

filming, photo, crying, laughing, tasting, picking

a fruit from a tree, watching working, crowding,
bad response to begging, speaking at different
language, breaking dress code
• How environmental impact of ecotourism may
take place?
Show examples

(undesired visits during winter season when animals are

sleeping in their dens,
vegetation cover is damaged more intensively in winter
and spring seasons,
summer season when big mammals usually are
observed with their cubs,
migration of some species crossing the highway)
• How using of motor vehicles in ecotourism can
be justified?
Which factors define the degree (high or low) of
environmental impact of ecotourism?
How negative impact on the wildlife depends on
the seasonal factor?
How accommodations have a negative impact in
ecotourism?
How would you compare the impacts
made by ecotourism (I) and other types of
tourism (II)?

Low impact by ecotourism (also per capita)

Not mass character
Ecotourism relates to areas of conservation
value (therefore vulnerability and risk of
environmental damage is high)
Why environmental impacts of
ecotourism is not the same
everywhere?
From which factors the negative impact of
ecotourism depends on?

•type of activity (hiking or helitouring);

•type of ecosystem (forest or field);
•ecosystem component (wildlife or water quality);
•scale of impact;
•duration of impact etc.
Why the same behavior of ecotourist can
cause different effects in different places ?
because…
• The impact depends on what ecotourism is
• Also because different activities cause different impacts
in different ecosystems;
• For example: damage of boots is higher on alpine meadow
than in subtropical rainforests or semi-desert
• (Smaller) lakes can be polluted more easily compared to seas
or large rivers
• Human voices can be a major disturbance to fauna in forests,
but not on the top of mountain
• Nature of behavior is different (e.g. what speed of vehicle is
used)
• Species of animals feel the same impact at different level
(actually more stress can be made on bigger animals like wolf
of deer than smaller rat or raccoon)
• You use 4WD. In which case it can not be
regarded as ecotourism?
• If driving itself is excitement (this is adventure tourism)

• It can be considered as ecotourism if travelling

slowly to view and learn about wildlife
• Is motorized vehicle is in itself recreational
activity?
• No (using jetskis, jetboats, snowmobiles)

• In which case using motorized travel can be

justified as being compatible with ecotourism?
• If tourists have no other way than using vehicle in a
lake to see creatures that live there
• If tourist is disabled somehow and therefore needs
motorized vehicle to see the nature around
• If using motorized vehicle is almost silent
Show examples, how motorized vehicle
cause disturbance for animals?
Show examples, how motorized vehicle cause
disturbance for animals?

• Motorized boats and aircraft can cause

widespread noise and visual disturbance to wildlife.
• Balloons may have a negative impact on
feeding of wildlife herds
• Boat engine causes air and water pollution
• Soil and water contamination by helicopter
How accommodations affect the nature?

• crushing or clearance of vegetation;

• soil modifications;
• introduction of weeds;
• water pollution from human waste;
• air pollution from generator;
• noise from machinery and vehicles;
• litter, etc.
Impact on soil cover (vegetation) by boots of
ecotourist depends on…

• soil type,
• slope,
• weather,
• vegetation cover
• type and scale of activity.
• number of passes
• the time of year
• plant species
• horses’ hooves typically exert ground
surface much stronger, etc.
How to reduce the impact of ecotourists?

• Impacts can be reduced by the management practices of

ecotour operators,

• environmental education of clients by guides,

• management practices by landholders and land

management agencies