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id21 viewpoint - Ecotourism: an innovative conservation and development strategy or a celebration of poverty?

Many organisations support ecotourism as an effective way to integrate conservation and development. Non-governmental organisations with a conservation focus (such as WWF) and those with a rural development focus (such as SNV) have pioneered ecotourism to this end. However, the assumptions underlying ecotourism as a tool for sustainable development are rarely questioned.

Ecotourism retains its status as an important form of sustainable development. This was formalised through the 2002 United Nations International Year of Ecotourism.

Supporters identify communities that have benefited from ecotourism revenue, which creates incentives for local people to engage in cultural and economic activities that protect the environment.

This ‘win-win’ scenario is strongly associated with sustainable development in policy documents from USAID, WWF and many others. This association is also made in popular culture by connecting ecotourism with ‘ethical tourism’. This is important, given that ‘ethical’ consumption and fair trade are seen as solutions to poverty.

Yet whilst many studies show the limited gains for communities, they overlook what is ruled out of the debate. The fundamental idea behind ecotourism is establishing a symbiotic relationship or ‘harmony’ between the lives of rural communities and the biodiversity around them. Whilst this can, in theory, contribute to poverty relief and the provision of basic needs, it implicitly rules out any development beyond this harmony, as this would be considered unsustainable.

Ecotourism projects tell communities they can generate revenue by protecting biodiversity, but also that they should never hope to achieve much beyond this role. This ties the development prospects of rural communities to local, natural limits in a way that is completely alien to economic development in richer societies.

There is no intrinsic value in harmony between local communities and local environments, yet advocating this harmony is the defining feature of many aid-funded ecotourism projects. Local communities need a more realistic, pro-development approach to ecotourism:

There must be a distinction between providing basic needs and sustainable development; many small-scale ecotourism projects confuse the two.
Ecotourism projects link communities to local biodiversity, but seldom to other communities, their nation or international trade. Without this, there is little prospect of development that can overcome a dependence on aid and become truly sustainable over time.
Traditional knowledge of the environment can be a starting point for ecotourism development, but it should not be the basis for development. To do so implies that cultures exist in a steady state with nature.

Can ecotourism help poor people escape from poverty? Perhaps, in some cases and to a limited degree. At present, however, the terms of the debate have a romantic and static view of local cultures and traditions. Local communities are being bound ever more tightly to local environmental considerations - casually labelled as ‘sustainable development’. Until this situation changes, ecotourism does not deserve the critical support offered by institutions as diverse as the United Nations, the UK Department for International Development, WWF and USAID.

Source(s):
‘Ecotourism, NGOs and Development: a Critical Analysis’, Routledge: London, by Jim Butcher, 2007

id21 Research Highlight: 22 May 2007

Further Information:
Jim Butcher
Department of Business and Sciences
Canterbury Christ Church University
North Holmes Road
Canterbury, Kent, CT1 1QU
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1227 767700 ext 2323
Contact the contributor: jim.butcher@canterbury.ac.uk

Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

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