Travel

A flexible term, some people might say. Indeed, many companies and individuals have jumped on the 'green-bandwagon' as they realized the little prefix 'eco' attracts new customers. At its best eco-tourism is sustainable development - tourism based on high ecological and ethical standards, maximizing benefits for local communities while minimizing the ecological impact of travel on the environment - an ethical stance that is laudable, though often not as easy to follow as it may seem.

True eco-tourism operations insist on the highest standards for everything - the best guides, the most eco-friendly transportation, the most efficient waste disposal, the lowest impact electricity generation and the best integration with local communities and conservation efforts. But above and beyond all that they are stiving for excellence in all the creature comforts - superb foods, (locally and organically grown), unique lodges, often built using traditional materials and construction methods, combined with modern conveniences.

Of course an eco-lodge in Canada or the United States cannot be compared with one in the jungle, where flush toilets and running hot water are considered an amazing luxury. But the real key of ecotourism is superior quality and individual attention to detail - no mass processing of anything here! Operations are deliberately kept small so as to minimize any negative impacts on the environment and local communities, while standards in every aspect of the operation are kept to the highest levels. Of course there is a wide range of eco-tourism operations - while some of the lodges fall decidedly in the luxury bracket of the market, other operators strive to create authentic experiences with less emphasis on luxury and more emphasis on adventure.

Tent camps or expeditions that explore some of the most pristine habitats may not compare to a 5 star eco-lodge, but within their category they will equally make things as comfortable as possible while preserving small group sizes and highest standards of ecological conduct - taking care not to disturb the environments that are visited and taking any rubbish back to civilization.One of the most exciting forms of eco-tourism is 'cultural eco-tourism', which facilitates encounters with indigenous people - these are no folkloric shows, but real life people who want to share their culture and traditions with the traveller and by the same token wish to learn about the culture and traditions of the visitors too.

These cultural encounters offer unique insights and opportunities for real sharing across the cultural divides - this is where peace through tourism can become a reality. There is no room for anonymous voyeurism - this is real interaction in which every individual counts, a truly special experience where real human bonds are formed across the cultural gap that normally sets us so far apart.Such innovative community tourism projects provide a sustainable income base for entire villages as they provide both primary and secondary services - e.g. villagers may learn english and other languages in order to become guides or train as hotel staff to collectively run a community owned eco-lodge.

Others may supply food and vegetables etc. to the lodge kitchen or sell handicrafts to tourists or teach them how to make things, like pottery or bows and arrows.Community eco-tourism projects preserve the culture and the homelands of the indigenous people who are involved in running them. A sustainable economic base that provides them with money and thus eliminates the need to sell their land or natural resources is invaluable - not just for them, but for us all. We simply do not know what would happen if all the rainforests of the world were to be cut down for timber, the land polluted by oil spills, the rivers polluted from mining wastes...but I'd venture the assertion that it would not only affect the local people and a few thousand species of plants and animals that depend on a healthy rainforest environment.

I would venture to say it would affect us all - through climate change and greenhouse gas build up and who knows in what myriad ways the web of life is held together.Eco-tourism, and especially community based eco-tourism are among the most positive developments for a sustainable future. While the benefits for the environment and the people who live within it are quite obvious - what are the benefits for the traveller? Well - I suppose that depends very much on one's outlook on life. Those who regard travel as little more than a change of wallpaper and an opportunity to hang on the beach to forget about all their worries in the world probably do not want to be reminded of the fact that problems exist elsewhere as well - even in their dream holiday destinations, and that they might be contributing to these problems unless they make a conscious effort not to.

You can run - but you can't hide. The crux of the matter is that eco-consciousness is a way of life that is neither restricted to one's travel experience nor to one's actions at home. We are a part of the web of life, no matter where on the planet we happen to be and ecological problems exist everywhere - even in our holiday paradise. Eco-tourism can act as an eye-opener - to the beauty of the planet, the intricate relationship between different forms of life, the fragile balance on which life depends and the amazing native cultures that have long lived in harmony with their environments. Busy city lives leave little room for encounters of the natural kind and for many people an eco-trip to a remote and pristine wilderness is the first, and perhaps the only close up encounter with nature they have ever had. In that moment of revelation mother nature touches the soul, awakens the senses, calls to the heart and maybe, a deep sense of reconnection takes place, a communion with the spirit of nature that few other experiences can convey