Ecotourism is also known as sustainable tourism and it can simply be defined as a variety of travel practices that show respect to nature and do not contribute to its degradation.
It is also part of environmental conservation and understanding of the needs of the local people in the area that you visit. Ecotourism improves the lives of locals and helps to preserve historical landmarks.
Basically, this is about responsible traveling. When you're looking for an ecotourism destination, you should look at places that are concerned with conservation as well as sustaining and improving the well-being of local communities.
Principles of Ecotourism
The 8 main principles of ecotourism are as follows.
- Minimizing social, physical, psychological, and behavioral impacts of tourism.
- Building cultural and environmental awareness and respect.
- Providing positive experiences for both the hosts as well as the visitors.
- Providing direct financial benefits for conservation.
- Generating financial benefits for both the private industry as well as the local people.
- Delivering memorable and interpretative experiences to the visitors that shall help them raise sensitivity to host the country’s environmental, political, and social climates.
- Designing, constructing, and operating low-impact facilities.
- Recognizing the rights and beliefs of the indigenous people in the community and work in partnership with them to create empowerment.
The Importance of Ecotourism
Ecotourism clearly brings plenty of joy and adventure for tourists, but it is also a great way to empower communities and bring positive change in their lives. Here are other benefits of ecotourism
It Is Valuable For People As Well As the Planet
Ecotourism is more about preserving the environment than anything else, and as such, the tourist will benefit by traveling to destinations that care about protecting the environment.
The local communities that are visited also thrive as a result of ecotourism in the area.
It Promotes Economic Stability
We live in extremely diverse cultures that are full of eclectic people, some of who are living off the land and depend on it for survival. Sometimes tourism can have a bad effect on that.
Large corporations tend to change the way of living for some native populations depending on what brings in more profits. When this happens, the locals may have to relocate.
Commercial tourist attractions can be placed in specific areas but this doesn't mean that they will give back to these communities.
Ecotourism takes these people's lives into account and ensures tourism preserves their way of living while also bringing economic stimulus to the region via tourism.
It Changes Our Way Of Thinking
Ecotourism makes us more sensitive to the environment. Most of the other types of tourism do not take into consideration the communities and the planet, but this particular one does.
With so many popular attractions that are insensitive to animals and the environment, ecotourism definitely opens our eyes. We start to actually seek out tourism adventures that have an eco flow.
This gives lesser-known attractions a chance to survive, whereas if people weren't aware of ecotourism, they wouldn't seek out these more environmentally-friendly places to visit.
Conclusion
It is important that we conserve and take care of our world, as plenty of damage has already occurred over the years that has resulted in things like global warming.Â
With ecotourism, you are able to ensure that what is important is protected. All the best as you decide on where to visit next - of course when it is safe to do so.
Choose ecotourism to help the global village and the future of our planet where out children and grandchildren will live.
