Socio-Economic Aspects of Sustainable Ecotourism Development: The Case of Kerala

The paper is an attempt to shed light on the socio-economic aspects of the local communities on the development of ecotourism in Kerala. Most of the local communities in the ecotourism destinations are tribes who have been excluded from the mainstream society and are not a part of Kerala’s overall development setting. The paper also tries to situate the community perception on the sustainable livelihood of ecotourism sites of Kerala. Data for the study is obtained from a primary survey by dividing the ecotourism destinations in Kerala into three zones, 230 from south zone, 220 from central zone and 200 from north zone with a total sample size of 650 based on the notion of community based ecotourism initiatives of the state. The result of the study confirms that ecotourism has helped to enhance the livelihood of the marginalized community. With well-knit policies it is possible to tag ecotourism of Kerala as an important tourism destination in the global tourism map

Community Participation in Ecotourism: An Inclusive Development Option for Kerala

The inferences obtained from the study are presented in coherent area-specific levels so as to understand the ecotourism and its sub-sector areas for the researchers and policy makers about the issues, importances and potentialities of the sector. An analysis of the tourism sector in Kerala has shown tremendous growth both in terms of tourist arrivals and in terms of revenue generation from direct and indirect sources. The foreign tourist visitors in Kerala in 2014 was 9,23,336 which shows 7.60 percent increase from the last year and the domestic tourist visitors were 1,16,95,411 which again shows 7.71 percent increase, is a clear evidence of its potential. In 2014 the industry contributed revenue of 24885.44 crores from direct and indirect sources giving rise to an increase of 12.11 percent from the last year. A dichotomy of tourists and ecotourists shows that tourists in the ecotourism destinations come to 42.6 percent of the total, shows the scope, significance and its potential. Correlation of zone-wise tourist arrivals based on the ecotourism destinations highlights the fact that with only 19 of the 64 destinations that come in the central zone are the most preferred centres (around 54 percent) for the domestic as well as foreign tourists. The north zone encompassing 6 districts with rich biodiversity shows that the tourists‟ arrival patterns exhibit less promising results. Though the north zone has 31 ecotourism destinations of the state receives only 6.19 percent of the foreign visitors. The ecotourism activities in the state are primarily managed by the Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) and the Vana Samrakshana Samithies (VSS) under the Forest Development Agency of Kerala. Social class-wise categorization of membership shows that 13142 families have membership in 190 EDCs with SC (28 percent), ST (33 percent) and other marginalised communities (39 percent). But this in the VSS shows that 400 VSS have 59085 members actively engaged in ecotourism activities and social category of the VSS makes clear that majority are from the other marginalized fringe households with 62 percent where as the participation of SC is 12 percent and ST is 26 percent. An evaluation of the socio-economic and demographic matrix of the community members involved in ecotourism activities brings out region specific differences. About 75.70 percent of the respondents are males and the rest are females. Majority of the respondents (about 60 percent) are in the age group of 20 to 40 years, followed by the age group of 40-50 (20 percent). The average age of respondents in the three zones is between 35 and 37 years. The majority of the respondents are married, a few are unmarried. Average family size is 4-5 members and differences are identified among zones. Average number of adults per household is 3 and child per household is 2. Majority have an education of 10th class and below i.e. about 60 percent of the sample have only basic school education like primary, secondary and high school (i.e. up to SSLC but not passed) level. About 18 percent are SSLC passed, 10 percent are undergraduates whereas 6 percent constitute respondents having qualification of graduation and above. Majority of the „graduates and above‟ are from south and central zone. Inter-zone differences in educational profile are also identified with lesser number of „graduates and above‟ are identified in the north zone compared to the other two zones. Investigating into the income and livelihood options of the respondents gives insight about the prominence of ecotourism as an employment and livelihood option for the community members, as more than 90 percent of the respondents have cited tourism sector as their main employment option. Most (49.30 percent) of respondents get 100 percent income from tourism related activities, followed by 37.30 percent of community members have income between 75-99 percent from tourism whereas the rest (13 percent) have less than 74 percent of their income from tourism and there exists difference between zones and percentage of income. Financial habit shows that about 49.7 percent hold active bank accounts, 61 percent have savings behaviour and 73.8 percent have indebtedness. Analysis about the ownership of house brings to light that 37 percent of respondents live in their own house followed by 25.7 percent in government funded/provided house and 21 percent in their parent‟s house and 3.5 percent in rented house. About 12 percent of the respondents have other kinds of accommodation facilities such as staff quarters, etc. But in the case of north zone majority i.e. 52 percent primarily depend on the government funded house indicating the effectiveness of government housing programme. Standard of living measured in SLI frameworks shows that majority of the respondents have medium SLI values (42.3 percent); the remaining 47.7 percent have low SLI and 10 percent have high SLI. The community members have been benefitted immensely from forest and its resources. Since the ecotourism destinations are located amidst the wildlife settings, majority of them depend on forest for their livelihood. The information on the tourist‟s demographic characteristics like age, sex, educational qualification and annual income show that the age category of domestic and foreign tourists falls below the age group of less than 35 years (about 65 percent), whereas only 16 percent of tourists are aged above 46 years. The age group below 25 years consists of more international tourists (31.3 percent) compared to the proportion of domestic tourists (12.5 percent). Male-female ratio shows that the males constitute 56 percent of the sample and females with 44 percent. The factors determining the impact of ecotourism programmes in the community was evaluated with the aid of a factor analysis with 12 selected statements. The worries and concerns of the community members about the impact of ecotourism on the environment are well understood from this analysis. It can be drawn that environment protection and the role of ecotourism in improving the income and livelihood options of the local communities is the most important factor concerning the community members.

Écologie politique de l'écotourisme dans les aires protégées des pays du Sud : le cas de Chi Phat dans les Cardamomes au Cambodge

L'écotourisme est souvent perçu comme une panacée capable de concilier le développement économique, la protection de l'environnement et le bien-être des communautés autour des aires protégées des pays en développement. La réalité sur le terrain est cependant tout autre, car son caractère complexe, politique et transcalaire est trop souvent négligé lors de la mise en œuvre des interventions. Le but de ce projet de recherche est de jeter un nouvel éclairage sur le développement de l'écotourisme dans les aires protégées des pays du Sud à travers une analyse critique des pratiques et des discours qui lui sont associés. Adoptant un cadre conceptuel dérivé de l'écologie politique, nous avons cherché à comprendre comment l'écotourisme affecte l'accès aux ressources naturelles pour différents acteurs sociaux. L'approche méthodologique s'appuie sur une étude de cas essentiellement qualitative qui s'attarde à un projet spécifique amorcé à Chi Phat, dans une forêt protégée des Cardamomes, au sud-ouest du Cambodge. Elle fait appel à l'analyse documentaire et discursive, à l'observation participante ainsi qu'à plus de 80 entretiens semi-directifs auprès d'acteurs clés. Nos résultats montrent d'abord qu'en matière d'écotourisme au Cambodge, il y a absence de lignes directrices claires et on observe très peu de collaboration, et ce, à tous les niveaux. Cela n'est pas étranger au fait que le gouvernement actuel accorde en général la priorité au développement devant la conservation. Ensuite, le projet d'écotourisme permet à Wildlife Alliance de justifier le maintien de la forêt protégée. Cette ONG se démarque par ailleurs des autres organisations au pays par son approche plus musclée. Le pouvoir dont elle jouit et les résultats qu'elle obtient sur le terrain tiennent en sa capacité à mobiliser, en temps opportun, l'ensemble des moyens disponibles pour contrôler l'accès. Globalement, nous pouvons affirmer que les principaux acteurs qui voient leur accès aux ressources naturelles touché négativement sont les paysans. Finalement, nous proposons deux ajouts au cadre conceptuel, soit la considération de l'aspect géographique de l'exclusion et l'introduction de modalités d'exclusion, qui permettent à notre avis une analyse plus juste de la situation.

Turismo e meio ambiente: uma análise do ecoturismo e sua contribuição sócio-ambiental no distrito matutuine: caso da reserva especial de Maputo Moçambique

Mozambique holds a potential for tourism development, especially for nature tourism, due to the existence of conservation areas around the country. The Maputo Special Reserve (MES) is considered as one of the most important conservation area and has benefited from investment in order to incruse the development of tourism in the region. Currently the number of visitors to MES has grown substantially with the intention to develop recreational activities related to ecotourism. Now the challenge lies in the way of optimizing opportunities for tourism development in order to achieve economic benefitis reduction the lead to poverty, without degrading the environment. Ecotourism face the demands and environmental discussions has been assumed as an alternative to the tourist market focused on protected areas, as it is believed that this segment is able to reconcile tourism development and simultaneously improve the conservation of the natural environment and still ensure the recovery of local communities and promoting their welfare. This study aims to analyze, from the perception of the local community, social and environmental contribution of ecotourism in Maputo Special Reserve, Mozambique. The research sought to investigate the relationship between ecotourism development in the region and generate benefits for the socio-environmental communities for residents. To achieve the objective, was chosen a critical analysis about the generation of socio-environmental benefits versus ecotourism in which we opted for a qualitative and quantitative approach seeking to establish the degree of agreement and disagreement about the benefits generated by ecotourism through interviews with community members

Développement de l'écotourisme dans la région de Mananara-Nord et du Triangle Bleu: Rapport sur le concept de travail, l'étude bibliographique, l'étude régionale préliminaire et les enquêtes en Suisse

Rapport sur l'étude préliminaire du projet de développement de l'écotourisme dans la région de Mananara-Nord et du triangle bleu.

Développement de l'écotourisme dans la région de Mananara-Nord et du Triangle Bleu

Final project report: research results and strategy for the promotion of ecotourism in the Blue Triangle Region of Madagascar.

Student Independent Projects 2009: Embedding Sustainability: Hiking Trail Proposal to Steady Brook via Massey Drive

The construction and maintenance of a hiking trail to Steady Brook via Massey Drive would provide an opportunity for introducing proactive strategies toward sustainability. This will form a motive for further ecotourism development as Massey Drive becomes recognized as a tourist destination. For Massey Drive to embrace hiking trail development with the intention of developing further tourism initiatives, educating the community members about sustainability in tourism is essential to provide the community with the knowledge necessary to develop tourism through a long-term vision.

O pedestrianismo como instrumento de valorização ecoturística dos sítios da Rede Natura 2000, nas ilhas de São Miguel e Flores

Tese de Doutoramento, Ciências do Ambiente (Ecologia), 30 de Julho de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Community based ecotourism as a panacea for protected areas: the use of common property theory in its analysis and development

Tourism is the worlds largest employer, accounting for 10% of jobs worldwide (WTO, 1999). There are over 30,000 protected areas around the world, covering about 10% of the land surface(IUCN, 2002). Protected area management is moving towards a more integrated form of management, which recognises the social and economic needs of the worlds finest areas and seeks to provide long term income streams and support social cohesion through active but sustainable use of resources. Ecotourism - 'responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well- being of local people' (The Ecotourism Society, 1991) - is often cited as a panacea for incorporating the principles of sustainable development in protected area management. However, few examples exist worldwide to substantiate this claim. In reality, ecotourism struggles to provide social and economic empowerment locally and fails to secure proper protection of the local and global environment. Current analysis of ecotourism provides a useful checklist of interconnected principles for more successful initiatives, but no overall framework of analysis or theory. This paper argues that applying common property theory to the application of ecotourism can help to establish more rigorous, multi-layered analysis that identifies the institutional demands of community based ecotourism (CBE). The paper draws on existing literature on ecotourism and several new case studies from developed and developing countries around the world. It focuses on the governance of CBE initiatives, particularly the interaction between local stakeholders and government and the role that third party non-governmental organisations can play in brokering appropriate institutional arrangements. The paper concludes by offering future research directions."

Ecotourism in China's Nature Reserves

This chapter provides an overview of ecotourism in China, including relevant policy, issues, and trends. Most concepts and definitions of ecotourism can be reduced to the following: ecotourism is tourism and recreation that is both nature based and sustainable. The focus of this chapter is on visitation at nature reserves in China. Issues relevant to sustainability and ecotourism objectives are noted in the chapter, and the need for ongoing development of policy and management systems is stressed in order to enhance future achievement of these objectives.

Ecotourism/Wildlife-based tourism as contributor to nature conservation with reference to Vanni, Sri Lanka

After discussing definitions of ecotourism, outlines possible economic and conservational benefits from developing ecotourism or wildlife-based tourism. Identifies possible economic benefits for local communities but also outlines possible economic costs to such communities. Observations are made on the potential of developing ecotourism in the Giant’s Tank/Mannar area. A sufficient market does not always exist for wildlife-based tourism to make it economically viable. Therefore, market analysis should be undertaken before promoting the development of wildlife-based tourism in a locality. A checklist is provided to give some guidance in market appraisal. It is observed that even non-consumptive wildlife-based tourism can have adverse environmental consequences and these are listed. Care is needed to avoid these negative consequences and to ensure that local communities do in fact obtain adequate economic benefits from the development of wildlife-based tourism.

Does ecotourism contribute to sea turtle conservation? Is the flagship status of turtles advantageous?

There is little doubt that marine turtles are a flagship species for wildlife tourism. In some cases, this has turned out to be liability for sea turtle conservation, but in other cases, where for example turtle-based ecotourism has been developed, it has made a positive contribution to turtle conservation. Examples of both cases are given. Particular attention is given to the development of turtle-based ecotourism at Mon Repos Beach near Bundaberg, Australia. This development is set in its historical context and its contribution to conservation is discussed. Headstart projects for sea turtles in Sri Lanka are a tourist attraction. While they are promoted as having positive conservation consequences and a survey indicates that visitors are on the whole convinced of this, their effects on turtle conservation is uncertain. The farming of sea turtles provides a basis for tourism and can contribute to turtle conservation in ways outlined. It is argued that insufficient attention has been given to legends, culture and history associated with sea turtles in the promotion of turtle-based tourism. This is supported by Australian evidence. Insufficient use has been made of the connections of indigenous Australians with sea turtles in turtle-based tourism. Beneficial scope exist for developing connections between man and turtles further than at present in promoting turtle-based tourism. This could add further to the role of turtle-based tourism in promoting turtle conservation.

Evaluation of collaborative strategies for ecotourism and recreational activities in natural parks of Rio de Janeiro

In the city of Rio de Janeiro, the management agencies of environmental conservation units of the park type have been attempting to meet five primary objectives set by the National System for Conservation Units (NSCU), using participatory management guidelines for these units. Two of these objectives relate to the development of recreation activities that involve contact with nature and ecological tourism. This article presents the analyses and conclusions regarding the implementation of collaborative strategies with businesses to achieve such objectives; it is part of a series of research studies having a broader scope. Case studies were conducted in eight parks by means of dozens of interviews with managers and other interested social actors, as well as by documentary research and direct observation. The results suggest that the ecotourism objective is still far from being reached, and that the collaborative strategies used are not sufficient to compensate for the organizational, material and human limitations that encumber these agencies. It was also concluded for the sample that there lacks a strategic vision on the part of the three branches of government involved in the management of these parks in the sense of viewing ecotourism in the city's conservation units as a powerful means to foster local sustainable development.