Ecotourism

1
Ecotourism

• Belize

2
What Is It?

• Ecotourism or Green Tourism is aimed at allowing
  people to visit naturally beautiful environments
  whilst protecting them for the future at the same
  time.
• Many developing world governments have realised
  that unless they protect their fragile
  environments they are not going to have anything
  left for the tourists to come and see.
• Ecotourism also aims to benefit the local people
  directly.
• One country to try this new form of tourism is
  Belize, on the Caribbean coast of Central
  America.

3
Sustainability

• Belize is a very good example of where ecotourism
  is being tried.
• The main aim is to achieve sustainability, which
  means that the environment is not in any way
  damaged by the tourists.
• Belize has an abundance of natural and cultural
  phenomena that attract tourists, including
  forests, wetlands, coral reefs, savannahs and
  ancient Mayan ruins.
• An increasing number of tourists are coming to
  the country as they learn about all the things to
  see, and as the government realises the financial
  benefits of tourism.

4
Initiatives

• However the government has also realised the
  importance of protecting the environments and has
  tried a number of initiatives.
• They created many National Parks and reserves,
  banning farming in many of them.
• In 1993 the Belize Ecotourism Association was
  established, it is concerned with protecting the
  natural environment and works closely with the
  Ministry of Tourism and the Environment.

5
Aims To Ensure Sustainability

• There is strict planning and control of tourist
  developments, including where they will be
  located, what they will look like, what transport
  routes are needed and any other regional planning
  that might be required.
• There is an increasing involvement in all stages
  of the tourism development by the local people.
• The aim is that they will assume almost complete
  control of the developments.

6
Aims To Ensure Sustainability

• The tourism that is introduced is aimed at being
  appropriate and not exploitative.
• In other words it is something that suits the
  local area and helps to enhance that area.
• The government aims to strike a balance between
  development and tourism that would be mutually
  beneficial to all involved, and the environment.

7
A Success?

• People are generally attracted to ecotourism by
  its remoteness, the small numbers of people and
  less sophisticated facilities.
• If these features disappear then the appeal of
  ecotourism is lost to many people, as the area
  just becomes another mass resort.
• If this happens then the fundamental objectives
  behind ecotourism also will have been forgotten.

8
A Success?

• All that is being attempted in Belize is building
  towards the goal of continuing to benefit from
  tourism, whilst protecting and nurturing the
  natural environment.