 Ecotourism fuses two wonderful things: conservation of the natural world and traveling. While traveling you able to take advantage of the opportunity to take in and benefit from local cultures. Ecotourism promotes supporting local cultures by eating at local-owned restaurants, buying your food at local-owned stores, eating locally grown foods, taking part in traditional activities and traveling by foot, animal or bike.
The conservation of the world is taken into strict consideration when it comes to ecotourism. The goal is to make the lowest negative impact possible on the earth while you are traveling. There is much to consider when keeping this in mind. Your mode of transportation in reaching your vacation spot is at the top of the list. Try to travel nearby, but you choose to travel far, try to make carbon-neutral plans whenever possible. This may mean purchasing coach plane tickets or purchasing carbon offsets. In some cases, it’s possible to do both! Conservation goes further than your means of travel. It also takes into account your methods of transportation while on your vacation, recycling during travel, the location you’re staying at, energy conservation and water conservation. There are many green ways to conserve while on vacation.
EnviroCitizen.org would like to share some important facts and statistics surrounding ecotourism:
- As the largest business sector in the world’s economy, the Travel & Tourism industry is responsible for over 230 million jobs and over 10% of the gross domestic product worldwide.
- Tourism is a principle "export" (foreign exchange earner) for 83% of developing countries and the leading export for 1/3 of the poorest countries.
- For the world’s 40 poorest countries, tourism is the second most important source of foreign exchange after oil.
EnvirCitizen.org has found five great places that you can visit which will promote conservation and ecotourism during your entire vacation.
Palau- The coast is crystal-clear and features more than 500 species of coral teeming with some 1,400 kinds of fish. When not in the water, it is possible to wander along unspoiled beaches or go trekking through dense jungles. Palau is an extremely remote location in the westernmost corner of Micronesia, which has helped to shield its natural resources and its cultural traditions from the detrimental effects of mass tourism.
Costa Rica- Due to the cloud forests, black sand beaches and the river rapids, which all offer pleasant, adventurous outdoor activities, Costa Rica is synonymous with ecotourism. Cost Rica has a wide variety of animals and offers many eco-friendly accommodations.
Norwegian Fjords- The Norwegian Fjords is extremely remote. Very strict environmental regulations have long been enforced, which has helped to preserve its very pristine conditions—snowcapped mountains, waterfalls and crystal waters.
Kerala, India- This is considered to be an unspoiled section of the earth and is home to nearly 10,000 plant species as well as hundreds of animal species. Kerala has recovered from excessive forest clearing in the past and is now rising promisingly on the ecotourism list.
If you are currently making travel plans and researching possible destinations for your next trip, EnviroCitizen.org has a list of wonderful ecotourism destinations for conservation focused traveling.
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