Ecotourism And Sustainable Development
A new emerging human sensitivity to nature is manifest in various forms, which we have to make an effort to interpret. There is a growing appreciation of the natural resources of the planet and a desire to know and live them personally.
A form of tourism that is neither frivolous nor forgetful, based on an offer that includes a cultural and spiritual element, can respond to the current expectations of those who are rediscovering in creation their deep bond with nature. This is a mass phenomenon, now so widespread that it directly involves governments and institutions.
With this perspective of nature, tourism can be seen to have grown enormously in the past 20 years. Examination of only a few of the statistics provided by the World Tourism Organization for the year 2000, show that 699 million people spent at least one night outside the country they live in, a 7.4% increase over 1999.
In economic terms, this figure can be expressed as an income of 476 billion U.S. dollars, with an increase of 4.5% in comparison to the previous year. Travel and tourist attractions account for more than 12% of the gross national product of the world and absorb 7% of the purchase of non-consumer goods. More than 6% of the world population works in the tourist sector.
One of the forms of tourism that has contributed significantly to the increasing development of this industry is, precisely, ecotourism.
Environmental Education And Preservation Of The Ecosystem
Ecotourism has come to be seen by all as an essential means of promoting environmental education and one of the most effective ways of protecting the ecosystem. It can be defined as travel to unpolluted natural areas for the purpose of admiring, appreciating and getting to know the areas visited, from the viewpoints of biology and nature as well as culture. It is taken for granted that it encourages an increasingly widespread sense of respect for the environment and the development of sustainable tourism.
This form of tourism is a practical way to safeguard the ecosystem, since it is geared to preserving the biodiversity of destination sites. It is a matter of lasting determination to keep the sites intact so tourists will always find, on their return, a location whose natural flora and fauna have been preserved, and consequently will continue to return to the same spot (creation of fidelity syndrome).
Ecotourism therefore has a vast educational potential. The tourist who returns to visit the protected natural site has a direct experience of nature, which often becomes far more educational and stimulating than even the excellent documentaries televised in the mass media. The sight and observation of rare animals or those doomed to extinction, for example, is one of the most widespread and effective ways of teaching respect for the environment, and involving millions of people directly in the problem of the preservation of species at risk.
Ecotourism activities thus acquire the features of environmental protection, for their development steers clear of the structures associated with mass tourism, such as hotel complexes and commercial centres.
In this way they intend to sensitize visitors to the enjoyment of nature, but they also improve the standard of living of the local residents and create broad economic growth, consequently developing the sensitivity to environmental matters of the resident local community.
In fact, it is now known that protection of the environment is a luxury that only countries whose fundamental needs have been satisfied can enjoy.
Promotion And Development In The Southern Countries
In this regard, it is necessary to stress the important role played by ecotourism as an indispensable means of cooperation to increase sustainable development polices for the benefit of the southern countries of the world.
The "tourism" sector is now universally recognized as one of the most important budget items for many industrialized and non-industrialized countries.
Yet in most cases, the tourist industry produces wealth for a select few, that is not a widespread development of productive or cultural social forces. It is the great international investors who reap the financial benefits that derive from activities directly or indirectly linked to the tourist sector.
Especially in the developing countries where economic weakness is more easily expressed in the impossibility of political reaction, the local communities almost never share in the financial benefits that derive from tourism.
Indeed, they often suffer the possible harmful consequences to the environment that are sometimes created by tourist-type settlements, heedless of the norms for protection.
It is easy to foresee how, with the greatest of ease, announcements about safeguarding and protecting the ecosystem clash with the easy money-making of a few social and political sectors in these countries.
The operational strategy, often dependent upon international groups, should reassess the social needs of the sites concerned, directing the financial resources generated by tourism to good use in the so-called "Third World" countries.
At the international summit held in Quebec, Canada, last May, the United Nations and the World Tourism Organization proposed an operational model which can integrate sustainable tourism with responsible solidarity. In this way it will be possible to channel the rates of income generated by tourist hospitality structures directly to the weakest categories of the population resident in the developing countries.
The local communities, moreover, should be encouraged to actively take part in this economic process directly and not have to submit to it passively.
Nature and creation belong to everyone; everyone must be able to enjoy the resources they offer. However, in order to utilize to full advantage the riches of nature, a renewed and authentic understanding of nature must first be achieved.
Restore Nature's Value By Protecting Its Resources
Discovering the meaning of nature and the beings who populate it means understanding the relational phenomena that are the relationship of nature and human being himself. In short, it means understanding ourselves better. It implies stimulating reflection on the relationship we have with the environment; inducing people to consider the complexity of the ecosystem that surrounds us and determining a great sense of respect for and appreciation of the environment. Lastly, it means putting into practice the principal and most important activity: protecting nature.
As the Holy Father emphasized in his Message for the 23rd World Day of Tourism (2002), " 'Interior' ecology encourages 'exterior' ecology, with immediate positive consequences, not only in the struggle against the poverty and hunger of others but also, for their personal health and well-being" (ORE, 3 July 2002, n. 3, p. 9)
Facing the problems of environmental protection has thus become an urgent need that people cannot overlook.
The educational programmes that are offered in protected parks, for example, are moving precisely in this direction. This type of activity urges tourists to use their various faculties: cognitive — encouraging the acquisition of new information — and emotional, through the adoption of new behavioural values and models.
Personal experience and learning about the basic mechanisms of the ecosystem are the most reliable way to induce tourists to act responsibly.
The ecotourist, no longer a mere consumer, but with a part to play in the interaction between the human being and the environment, takes on an active role that aims to increase his cultural and spiritual resources. He comes into contact and builds a relationship with a natural and socio-cultural patrimony, which can only be respected and preserved.
In their daily lives, men and women must assume responsibility for preserving this "patrimony". Their objective must be, precisely, to protect what the present generations can still admire in terms of biodiversity and environmental riches, so that the future generation may imitate them.
Along with the values of faith this is one of the most important legacies that we will leave to those who come after us
© L'Osservatore Romano, Editorial and Management Offices, Via del Pellegrino, 00120, Vatican City, Europe, Telephone 39/6/698.99.390.
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