Principles of Ecotourism - Case Study Example

___________ ____________ ____October 2006 Principles of Ecotourism Introduction Tourism is an industry which is gaining momentum with the advances in information technology particularly through the internet. Through internet website information about various tourist spots can be disseminated to a global customer base. In the increasingly complex and commercial and complex urban world of modern day cities the global city tourists have turned to tourist spots that offer peace and quiet in natural surroundings. This has been termed as nature tourism. A finer subset of nature tourism is eco-tourism where special interest tourists and routine tourists ,whose interest have been aroused, visit nature spots where large ecological balance is as yet undisturbed and thereby such a location presents itself as a unique location of unspoilt nature with its natural resources intact. However the influx of such tourists in large numbers itself presents a threat to the ecological balance preserved in such locations. Instances of these locations include national parks, sanctuaries, forest preserves, coastal areas, mountains etc. This paper chooses a particular eco-tourism spot and examines its ecological appeal, efforts made by interested groups -both private and governmental-in preserving such ecological appeal and problems and corrective policies followed to tackle threats to such appeal. The Chosen Ecotourism Location Noel Kempff Mercado National Park is spread over an impressive some 1.5 million hectares in northeastern Bolivia. This park is one of the most remote and biologically diverse areas on earth. The park is located so strategically and fortuitously that it harbors multiple eco-systems-a variety of eco-systems which is almost not available anywhere else on the earth. This park has following eco-systems: Amazonian rainforest, gallery forest, semi-deciduous tropical forest, flooded savannah, thorn scrub, cerrado and wetlands. In addition to such a wide variety of eco-preserves, the Noel Kempff Park also covers the Capar plateau, an imposing 85,000-acre Precambrian escarpment emerging quite dramatically from out of the rainforests surrounding it. The plateau is pleasantly greened by lush grasslands and cerrado forests and drained by several perennial rivers on its uneven landscape, which makes for the 10 spell binding and spectacular waterfalls.(The Nature-a,2006) Perhaps due to this strategic and unique biogeographic location, the Noel Kempff Park is reckoned to house the richest store of biological diversity on earth, much of which has largely become lost to the world from other, more accessible, parts of the Amazon, for instance. Noel Kempff park is home to an impressive 630 species of birds (nearly a quarter of all known bird species in the Neotropics), 70 species of reptiles and 130 species of mammals including the freshwater river dolphins, the giant otter and the rare species maned wolf. (The Nature-a, 2006) The Park management in Conservation Milieu Due to the rich biodiversity offered in this large landscape the national park has become hot eco-tourism spots not only for the specialized and naturalist visitors but also for general interest tourist. The arrival of global tourists has stirred the local population into tourism related activities and an uncontrolled spread of these may work ultimately to threaten the bio-diversity of the region. Careful planning and organization of the ecotourism was required so that the park is not able to preserve its biodiversity but also encourage tourism and gather funds which can then be deployed in furthering more preservation initiatives. Bolivian government has entrusted the management of the Noel Kempff Park to a private non-profit organization called Fundacin Amigos de la Naturaleza (FAN) .FAN has taken quite a number of initiatives for visitors management. In this initiative it has been recognized by FAN and Bolivian government that the future of national parks and other protected areas depends on their ability to be financially self-sustaining. Funds are necessary for the management of conservation lands and waters structures as well as for ensuring the health and well-being of local populations who are living in harmony with such biodiversity. This critical thought process helped the design and implementation of a menu of financial arrangements that not only assisted the support of the on-site management of protected areas but also provided incentives for landscape and national level conservation. Through consultations with park service staff and other conservation involved private and public organizations, a fee based system comprised in entrance fees, dive fees, tourism concessions and tourist donation funds was set up which helped generate revenue which is proving out to be a good source of income for the park. Subsequently the funds so obtained were directed in well managed manner towards objectives. (The Nature-b, 2006) Another example of the conservation of biodiversity regions within the milieu of tourist management through careful planning and advance thought is presented in Bolivia's Yellowstone, i.e. the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve. This reserve is a landscape of hot springs, geysers and fumaroles surrounded by volcanoes and 16,000-foot mountains. Many fresh water and saltwater lakes are homes all round the year to pink flamingos and other birds. Its desert like environment makes it a habitat of about 23 types of mammals and nearly 200 species of arid area plants. With over 40,000 visitors per year, the reserve is Bolivia's most frequented by eco-tourists. A conservation planning initiative determined that tourism was a major threat to the reserve, then tourism was taken on with ecological and management thought and converted into eco-tourism with visitors' fee system design at its core. The eco-tourism has already generated over half a million dollars in new funds and it has allowed the Reserve to address new tourism-related threats to biodiversity. (The Nature-b, 2006) From the point of view of the organizational structure, FAN has developed at Nol Kempff two guest centers: Los Fierros Camp and Flor de Oro Lodge. Los Fierros is the base for ecotourism activities at the southern end of Noel Kempff.It is the gateway site to the magnificent Capar escarpment and the imposing El Encanto waterfall. Eco-tourists, who enjoy spell binding natural scenery beset with an unparalleled diversity of flora and fauna find this location as an ideal tourist spot and its sharply increasing tourist arrival in recent years is a tell tale proof of the same. found few other places in the world, this location has few peers. Flor de Oro, situated in the north-central section of the park, is essentially a renovated ranch in the vicinity of the Itnez River. Being in the same eco region Flor de Oro, just like Los Fierros, offers a passage to the Capar escarpment and provides an entrance path to the park's two largest waterfalls- Arco Iris and Ahlfeld. These two venues offer comfortable accommodations and use highly trained local guides to escort visitors through its interior and pristine natural landscape making each visit a rich learning experience for the ecotourists.These two guests' centers ,accordingly feature as highlighted centers for visitors management.(The Nature-a,2006) In many protected areas around the globe, tourism is a major activity that occurs without much strategic planning or thought. For instance developers are allowed to build structures in coastal areas where visitors' movements often disrupt fine nature phenomena such as sea turtle nesting and breeding apart from such visitors even disrupting local people, their economies and lifestyles. Thus it is essential to involve local communities in the eco-tourism initiatives in a manner that such locals are integrated as agents of conservations but also they gainfully participate in visitors' arrival. Thus ecotourism strategies have usually adopted the basic tenets of engaging local communities so they benefit from conservation, economic development and education. "While nearby inhabitants are those most directly affected by the establishment of parks and protected areas, they also stand to profit the most by their conservation. By bringing residents into the business of ecotourism, not only can local people meet their economic needs, but they also can maintain and enhance the "sense of place" that is critical for guaranteeing long-term conservation". (The Nature-c, 2006) This implies that conservation policy makers should work in close interaction with indigenous and other local groups to establish community businesses, provide tourism training and marketing assistance, and develop compatible economic activities such as handicraft production and tour guiding. ". (The Nature-c, 2006) The emerging structure of eco-tourism This paper explored the manner in which strategic planning can help devise, adopt and implement the ecotourism management approach by examining a specific case study i.e. the case of ecotourism in Nol Kempff national park in Bolivia which has been under the management of a private non profit organization since the year 1993. The strategy focused on three issues in order to promote the integrated development approach to eco system conservation while encouraging tourism as an industry focused around such nature locations. Firstly, it was essential to set up institutional frameworks in the form of a fee structure. This involved the outlining of various activities such as fishing, diving, visitation, rafting, climbing, film shooting etc.Care must be taken to ensure that such activities are not intrusive to natural flora and fauna (in particular fauna whose habitats can be easily disturbed).Then a system of monitoring actual usage of such activities must be in place so that violations can be easily checked and controlled even before they occur. Another approach to this control, as taken up in Nol Kempff Park, was to segregate only certain areas for visitations. These areas would naturally be centered on natural milestones and control access to other areas by visitors. Then a fee based system may be designed making all such visitors' activities attracting fees. A rational system of duration spent at the nature site can be a good canon for deciding the amount of fee. Secondly, it sought to carefully plan the presence of buildings, structures involving local business providing accommodation and other tourists' services in a manner that such structures and facilities were located on the outskirts and rims of the natural habitat and at a safe distance to avoid possible intrusion by such service providers. This limited the visitation to natural surroundings only by the temporary visitor who was there for a short stay and had no permanent stake. Thirdly, the ecotourism initiative should encourage local decision-makers and actors to gain essential skills and knowledge of integrated development approach by sharing and developing experience between partners. This would essentially take the form of weaving such local community members in the form of minor service providers having small businesses and most importantly as guides who have genuine knowledge about the region. In order to make the guides community come up to the visitors' expectations they must be trained adequately in the ecological facts of the region. They must also be trained in monitoring the movements of other visitors apart from guiding their own teams to increase control on intrusive activities. Finally such initiative should promote participation of community members and various stakeholders in the planning process and implementation of projects by involving, motivating and educating the local community to achieve local-oriented management of ecology conservation. Works Cited The Nature Conservancy-a. (2006). Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Bolivia.Retreived from www.nature.org on October 2, 2006. The Nature Conservancy-b.(2006). Ecotourism and Conservation Finance Making tourism pay its way .Retrieved from www.nature.org on October 2, 2006. The Nature Conservancy-c.(2006). Community-based Ecotourism Benefiting Local Residents .Retrieved from www.nature.org on October 2, 2006. 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