LET'S PROTECT ECOTOURISM FROM "GREEN WASHING"

Ecotourism has been dismissed as a fad, a marketing tool, even travel industry green-washing. Yet despite the pundits, ecotourism has begun to affect the entire tourist industry for the better. The unexpected success of ecotourism can be explained by its conservation roots and community involvement. Far from being a new force for conservation, tourism was the main reason for the creation of national parks in the late 1800s. In Africa, tourists and conservationists were thrown together by a common interest in wildlife. The upshot was the preservation of vast tracts of natural land ranging from Kruger to Serengeti. Over the last century a booming tourist industry around the world has done more to conserve natural areas than any other industry. Put simply, the ‘tourist’ stem of the word ‘ecotourism’ is the main cause of its success. Its durability, on the other hand, comes down to the ‘eco’ prefix and the shortcomings of conventional tourism. Burgeoning wildlife tourism and a ‘laissez faire ’ commercialization pose a threat to wildlife and, indirectly, to tourists’ enjoyment. The ‘eco’ in ecotourism took on a deeper meaning when conservationists saw sense in these discerning tourists’ visiting threatened areas outside parks and in promoting their environmental sensibilities as an exemplar of responsible tourism. No park is ecologically self-sufficient. Various conservationists began promoting policies that made local communities the beneficiaries of conservation on their lands, and therefore partners in conservation, rather than adversaries. Walking the Eco-Path’ fills a critical gap by bringing local communities together with the tourist industry, wildlife agencies and conservationists to discuss how to make ecotourism an enduring part of the rural landscape. As outlined in these proceedings, the task will not be easy. Conducive national policies must be combined with savvy business skills, social responsibility and sound conservation practices, all in a way that encourages rather than smothers responsible tourism.