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Ecotourism Test Guide FY23

ECT Library Guide Subjects

According to The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), ecotourism can be defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education”.

What are the Principles of Ecotourism: 

Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel. This means that those who implement, participate in and market ecotourism activities should adopt the following ecotourism principles:

  • Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts.
  • Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect.
  • Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.
  • Provide direct financial benefits for conservation.
  • Generate financial benefits for both local people and private industry.
  • Deliver memorable interpretative experiences to visitors that help raise sensitivity to host countries’ political, environmental, and social climates.
  • Design, construct and operate low-impact facilities.
  • Recognize the rights and spiritual beliefs of the Indigenous People in your community and work in partnership with them to create empowerment.
What are the 3P's of Sustainability? 

Ecotourism is sustainable when it has benefits local communities and economies while controlling for negative environmental impacts. This is known as "The 3 P's or Sustainability - Good for People, Planet and Profit".

Wallace's Six Principles of Ecotourism
  1. Entails a type of use that minimizes negative impacts to the environment and to local people.
  2. Increases the awareness and understanding of an area’s natural and cultural systems and the subsequent involvement of visitors in issues affecting those systems.
  3. Contributes to the conservation and management of legally protected and other natural areas.
  4. Maximizes the early and long-term participation of local people in the decision-making process that determines the kind and amount of tourism that should occur.
  5. Directs economic and other benefits to local people that complement rather than over-whelm or replace traditional practices.
  6. Provides special opportunities for local people and nature tourism employees to visit natural areas and learn more about the wonders that other visitors.