The Meaning of 'ECO'

Eco tourism is the latest growing trend in vacation traveling. It is a form of travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strive to be low impact and small scale. It serves to educate the traveler and foster respect for different cultures. One of the goals of ecotourism is to offer tourists insight into the impact of human beings on the environment, and to foster a greater appreciation of our natural habitats.

Eco tourism concentrates on the ecology of an area, and includes the study of plant and animal populations, communities, and ecosystems. Ecosystems are important because they describe the web or network of relations among different organisms at different scales of organization. Within an ecosystem, there are inseparable ties that link organisms to the physical and biological components of their environment to which they are adapted.

For many countries, ecotourism is not simply a marginal activity to finance protection of the environment, but is a major industry of the national economy. For example, in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nepal, Kenya, Madagascar and Antarctica, ecotourism represents a significant portion of the gross domestic product and economic activity

The 7 characteristics of Ecotourism, as defined by The International Ecotourism Society:

1) Involves travel to natural destinations
2) Minimizes impact
3) Builds environmental awareness
4) Provides direct financial benefits for conservation
5) Provides financial benefits and empowerment for local people
6) Respects local culture
7) Supports human rights and democratic movements

Ecotourism should satisfy the following criteria:

• Conservation of biological diversity and cultural diversity through ecosystem protection
• Promotion of sustainable use of biodiversity, by providing jobs to local populations
• Sharing of socio-economic benefits with local communities and indigenous peoples by having their informed consent and participation in the management of ecotourism enterprises
• Tourism to unspoiled natural resources, with minimal impact on the environment being a primary concern.
• Minimization of tourism's own environmental impact
• Affordability and lack of waste in the form of luxury
• Local culture, flora and fauna being the main attractions

Ecotourism is held as important by those who participate in it so that future generations may experience aspects of the environment relatively untouched by human intervention. One of the goals of ecotourism is to offer tourists insight into the impact of human beings on the environment, and to foster a greater appreciation of our natural habitats.