Home > Ecotourism

Many global environmental organizations, and aid agencies favor ecotourism as a vehicle to sustainable development.

Ideally, Ecotourism must satisfy several criteria, such as

• conservation (and justification for conservation) of biological diversity and cultural diversity, through ecosystems protection
• promotion of sustainable use of biodiversity, by providing jobs to local populations
• sharing of socio-economical benefits with local communities and indigenous people by having their informed consent and participation in management of ecotourism business.
• increase of environmental & cultural knowledge
• minimisation of tourism's own environmental impact
• affordability and lack of waste in the form of luxury

For many countries, ecotourism is not so much seen as a marginal activity intended to finance protection of the environment than as a major sector of national economyEconomics is the social science studying how society uses its limited resources to meet desires and wants. Put otherwise, economics studies what, how and for whom society produces. This involves analyzing the production, distribution and consumption of go and as a means of getting currencies. For example, in countries such as Kenya, EcuadorThe Republic of Ecuador is a country of South America. Republica del Ecuador ( In Detail) National motto: Libertad y Orden ( Spanish; "The peace and wellbeing, the glory and triumph" Official language Spanish Capital Quito Largest City Guayaquil President, NepalNepal situated in the Himalayas, is the world's only Hindu kingdom. It is in South Asia, sharing borders with China ( Tibet Autonomous Region) and India. Nepal Adhirajya ( In Detail) (Full size) National motto: "Ja'nani Jan'mabhumis'hchaa Svar'gadapi Gari, Costa RicaThe Republic of Costa Rica is a republic of Central America. Remarkably for the region, Costa Rica has stood as a bastion of stability and democracy since the minor civil war of the late 1940s that brought President Jose Figueres Ferrer to power. In fact, and MadagascarSee also Madagascar (movie) Madagascar is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast of Africa. Madagascar is the 4th largest island in the world. It is the home of five percent of the world's plant and animal species, 80 per cent of them, ecotourism represents a significant chunk of foreign revenue.

Critics claim that ecotourism as practiced and abused often consists in placing a hotel in a splendid landscape, to the detriment of the ecosystem. According to them, ecotourism must above all sensitize people with the beauty and the fragility of nature. They condemn some operators as " green-washingGreen-washing is a deceptive public relations practice by individuals and organizations, especially businesses where the perpetrator professes to be and/or acts like in some token manner like they are environmentally responsible, when in reality, the prim" their operations--that is, using the label of "ecotourism" and "green-friendly", while behaving in environmentally irresponsible ways.

Although academics argue about who can be classified as an ecotourist, and there is precious little statistical data, some estimate that more than five million ecotourists--the majority of the worldwide population--come from the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, with other ecotourists coming from Europe, Canada and Australia.

Countries where Ecotourism has been championed by the government include Costa Rica and Australia. Currently there are various moves to create national and international Ecotourism certification programs, although the process is causing controversy.