Comments on id21 viewpoints

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

id21 readers respond to Jim Butcher's viewpoint on ecotourism

From Andee Davidson, WWF as a Tourism & Business Advisor

I find Jim Butchers comments to be pretty generalised and lacking in understanding of the realities of many rural development activities that involve ecotourism.

His suggestion is that all ecotourism support is donor driven and imposed on helpless and passive rural communities. Our experience in Namibia shows that communities have highly sophisticated survival mechanisms that take into account many different development options, and select the most appropriate for a particular community at any given time.

Ecotourism is one land use option that rural people can consider, providing there is adequate market demand and sufficient business acumen to eventually enter the mainstream as a viable business. Although in some cases ecotourism does require a certain amount of exclusivity from other land uses, it can often take place in the same environment – for example wildlife viewing, culture and livestock farming are not entirely incompatible if appropriately presented to the tourist. In Namibia, many communities are benefiting from ecotourism whilst maintaining traditional activities, including farming.

For each ecotourism opportunity, it is important to help the community to look at the advantages and disadvantages, and to make their own decisions – yes, there is sufficient economic and social benefit in the proposed development or activity, or no, it does not add sufficient value to warrant the effort. Progressive policy and legislation that gives rural communities rights over their natural resources (and hence the tourism base) is essential if they are to take control of decision-making processes.

Support agencies are often important in providing the information required by a community to make an informed decision and then to provide initial capacity building and/or to facilitate negotiations and partnerships with potential private sector business partners. However, ultimately this support should fall away as the community develops the required skills to either manage the business or to manage the relationship with their business partner.

Ecotourism can therefore be an additional livelihoods opportunity, often take place in parallel with traditional rural activities, and should only dominate the land use and development options if the returns are significant and justify such exclusivity.

I would invite Jim to look into the work of the Community Based Natural Resource Management programme in Namibia, where ecotourism is the mainstay of the development options available to rural communities. Far from “restricting” or “hampering” development options, ecotourism is being used as part of a wider strategy for rural livelihoods development.

Andee Davidson