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id21
viewpoints
Ecotourism:
an innovative conservation and development strategy or a celebration
of poverty?
Jim
Butcher, a lecturer
at Canterbury Christ Church University, questions how much ecotourism
really benefits poor communities.
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.
Jim
Butcher
What do you think?
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id21viewpoints@ids.ac.uk
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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
Email jim.butcher@canterbury.ac.uk
Canterbury Christ Church University, UK
See also
‘Ecotourism, NGOs and Development: a Critical Analysis’, Routledge:
London, by Jim Butcher, 2007
Useful
links
id21 insights 62 How
pro-poor is tourism? New practices can reduce poverty
id21 insights
57 People
and protected areas: new agendas for conservation
'Does community-based
ecotourism really benefit rural people in Tanzania?'
'Involving local people
in the conservation of Mount Elgon National Park, Uganda'
May 2007
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