The indigenous ecotourism and social development in Taroko National Park area and San-Chan tribe, Taiwan

This paper explores the socio-cultural influence of the newly established ecotourism, which integrates cultural revitalization, ecological conservation and social development, in both Taroko National Park area and San-Chan aboriginal community. Many cases in different parts of the world indicate that the Indigenous peoples have developed patterns of resource use and management practices that reflect detailed knowledge of local geography and ecosystem, and contribute to the natural conservation through their living practices. The guidelines of Indigenous knowledge and culture lay the base for the development of ecotourism. A critical evaluation of the conceptualization of Indigenous knowledge is therefore, essential to the success of an alternative strategy to development for aboriginal communities. Participatory observation in the field of ecotourism activities and brief interviews are the major study methods, with several workshops conducted to supplement data collection for the two case studies. The Taroko area came into contact with tourists in a relative early era due to its famous natural features and national park. Its growing ecotourism is the result of cooperation among local residents, environmentalists, and academics, each with very different concepts of ecotourism operation. The national park and public sectors have also played significant role in shaping the content of ecotourism. In San-Chan community, due to the negative impacts generated by the unregulated mass tourism expansion, the local Indigenous people decide to close the public access to the attractive creek for 3?years, while at the same time promote ecotourism for poverty alleviation. These two cases embrace the ??Nature?? as an important element in their construction of new place identity and community development. However, their spatial location in- or outside the national park produces significant differences and sociopolitical implications on the operations of ecotourism.     

Developing ecotourism in First World, resource-dependent areas

Ecotourism, an economic diversification tool most commonly applied in the Third World as a means to protect ecosystems, preserve local cultures, and spur economic development, has recently been applied in First World resource-dependent areas. While ecotourism has traditionally focused on Third World ‘undisturbed’ protected lands, it has also been developed in their First World equivalents (i.e., old-growth forests) as well as in First World sites of past resource extraction and in places where current agricultural practices maintain cherished cultural landscapes. Forest County, Pennsylvania, a timber-dependent area, sought to diversify its economy by developing ecotourism based on its unique Allegheny hardwood forests, which are produced by timber harvesting. This ecotourism would encourage amenity-based, locally-driven economic development and maintain timber harvesting. While government and foundation supported ecotourism development efforts in areas dependent on resource extraction have incorporated some of ecotourism’s ideals, these operations have had mixed success. Such isolated areas, which have traditionally drawn visitors independently engaging in traditional outdoor recreation activities, have not been able to draw enough customers willing to pay for natural and cultural history tours. If ecotourism is to be successful, such areas may need further government support and destination branding to increase name recognition in order to counter the global orientation of the nature tour industry. For true community development, local collaborative efforts including resource and environmental interests are also required in which primary production is connected to processing and consumers through value-added and service sector activities such as tourism.     

Conservation by racialized dispossession: The making of an eco-destination on Honduras’s North Coast

Within the context of neoliberal conservation and ecotourism development, the Honduran state has prioritized the desires of foreign tourists and private investors over the needs of indigenous and black coastal inhabitants, and increasingly this is leading to state-sanctioned violence against marginalized groups. I use Peluso’s analytic of coercive conservation (1993) to show how conservation practice furthers the expansionist policies of the state and elite investors while simultaneously dehumanizing the indigenous peoples that depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. While Garífuna culture is central to Honduras’s ecotourism ambitions, their livelihoods, in the eyes of many developers and conservation NGOs, are a potential threat to the viability of the emerging tourism imaginary. Black and indigenous coastal inhabitants are valued for the cultural cache they add to regional tourism plans, yet denigrated for their inherent “backwardness” and presumed inability to respect the delicate ecosystems they inhabit. This imaginary authorizes material practices of racialized dispossession, which were set in motion by neoliberal conservation regimes designed to exploit the natural and cultural resources upon which tourism development is premised.     

The competitive (dis)advantages of ecotourism in Northern Thailand

Ecotourism within protected areas is paradigmatically considered a neoliberal conservation strategy along with other market-based interventions that devolve authority to non-state actors, rely on market corrections to socio-environmental problems, and effectively try to “do more with less” (Dressler and Roth, 2011) or “sell nature to save it” (McAfee, 1999). However, the neoliberalisation of conservation is a path-based process that is shaped by local histories and on-the-ground engagements with different market forms, and a growing body of scholarship has demonstrated that there are significant gaps between “vision” and “execution” in neoliberal conservation. Through a case study of ecotourism in Ban Mae Klang Luang in Northern Thailand, this research approaches the question of why such programs often fail to reconcile environmental and economic concerns through an exploration of the internal contradictions in the governmentalizing processes embedded within market-led conservation projects. Specifically, I argue that the contradiction in encouraging both disciplinary environmentality and neoliberal environmentality ironically forces conservation and development interests into opposition. Furthermore, ecotourism’s deployment of neoliberal environmentality contributes to the exaggeration of inequality and individualism in the village, creating tensions among community members. Despite the win–win expectations of neoliberal philosophy in conservation policies, the contradictory logics involved call the long-term viability of such strategies into question.     

Geosites inventory of the northwestern Tabular Middle Atlas of Morocco

Across the northwestern Tabular Middle Atlas of Morocco there are many examples of landscapes, rocks and fossils that provide key evidence of a particular moment or period in Earth history. Such Earth heritage sites are important for educating the general public in environmental matters. They also serve as tools for demonstrating sustainable development and for illustrating methods of site conservation as well as remembering that rocks, minerals, fossils, soils, landforms form an integral part of the natural world. The significance of certain sites for aesthetic or tourism reasons is obvious. There are numerous geosites, which could contribute to effective exploitation of geotourism, often in conjunction with ecotourism. The strategy employed to such sites involves close consultation with all communities in the vicinity of the respective geosite and is not only aimed at tourism and education, but also at sustainable improvement of the infrastructure of the people of this area. Geological heritage sites, properly managed, can generate employment and new economic activities, especially in regions in need of new or additional sources of income.     

Cryospheric hazards and risk perceptions in the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park and Buffer Zone,Nepal

Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are among the most serious cryospheric hazards for mountain communities. Multiple studies have predicted the potential risks posed by rapidly expanding glacial lakes in the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park and Buffer Zone of Nepal. People’s perceptions of such cryospheric hazards can influence their actions, beliefs, and responses to those hazards and associated risks. This study provides a systematic approach that combines household survey data with ethnography to analyze people’s perceptions of GLOF risks and the socioeconomic and cultural factors influencing their perceptions. A statistical logit model of household data showed a significant positive correlation between the perceptions of GLOF risks and livelihood sources, mainly tourism. Risk perceptions are also influenced by spatial proximity to glacial lakes and whether a village is in potential flood zones. The 2016 emergency remediation work implemented in the Imja Tsho (glacial lake) has served as a cognitive fix, especially in the low-lying settlements. Much of uncertainty and confusions related GLOF risks among locals can be attributed to a disconnect between how scientific information is communicated to the local communities and how government climate change policies have been limited to awareness campaigns and emergency remediation efforts. A sustainable partnership of scientists, policymakers, and local communities is urgently needed to build a science-driven, community-based initiative that focuses not just in addressing a single GLOF threat but develops on a comprehensive cryospheric risk management plan and considers opportunities and challenges of tourism in the local climate adaptation policies.

     

Socio-economic impacts of ecotourism attractions in Enugu state,Nigeria

The study examined the socio-economic impacts of ecotourism attractions in Enugu State with special interest to investigate the trending benefits, effects and challenges of ecotourism development in the State. Questionnaire survey and interview guided by participatory rural appraisal techniques were employed to elicit needed information. The findings of the study revealed that the ecotourism industry in the area attracted benefits such as; provision of jobs, business opportunities, improved family income, patronage of local products and improved transport system. Irrespective of these benefits, the study also revealed that there were accruing challenges such as; lack of trained labor power, lack of government interest, lack of private sector participation, poor administration of the ecotourism sites, inadequate security, lack of standard supermarkets and poor accommodation facilities. Based on these findings, the study recommended that all stakeholders of the tourism industry should participate actively in all stages of ecotourism development in the area and that tourism should be enrolled as one of the core subjects or course in the secondary schools, colleges and universities to improve the awareness of the local people and improve the labor power.     

近十几年来国内外生态旅游研究进展

作为可持续旅游的实现形式，生态旅游一经提出就迅速引起了旅游学界，生态学界和相关学科的极大关注，首先对十几年来国外生态旅游研究进行了总结，并着重评述生态旅游类型划分和规划管理，接着分析了国内生态旅游研究的主要特点和发展方向，并侧重生态旅游的分类和分区，生态旅游开展的利弊，生态旅游的目的地的选择及其规划管理等四个方面，最后，就国内与国外理论与实践研究的差距进行了概括总结。     

Initiation and establishment of ecotourism development: Pandin Lake of San Pablo City and Tayak Hill of Rizal,Laguna, Philippines

GeoJournal - The Philippines is blessed with an abundance of natural-cultural attractions with an excellent prospect for ecotourism development. Ecotourism has become a key national strategy in...     

Creating ecotourism territories: Environmentalities in Tanzania’s community-based conservation

This paper explores territorial struggles around ecotourism in community-based conservation in wildlife rich Northern Tanzania. At the centre of analysis are two emblematic and distinctly different ecotourism business models that rely on a particular territorialization of property relations and resource control: one model is based on land sharing with local communities and villages, while the other relies on the appropriation of large parts of village land for exclusive access and control. Conceptually engaging critical geography debates on internal territorialization with a poststructuralist political ecology inspired by the framework of multiple environmentalities, the paper shows how ecotourism companies employ different techniques of government to secure business-friendly environments and territories in neoliberal conservation. Different business models underpin different processes of territorialization that in turn produce different modes of engagements and regimes of rule and authority. While the case of ecotourism through land sharing reinforces village land rights through a neoliberal environmentality, ecotourism through land appropriation illustrates how neoliberal, sovereign and truth environmentalities are put to work to facilitate the re-territorialization of property relations and resource control to undermine land rights of an entire village or an ethnic minority.     

Defining the forest,defending the forest: Political ecology,territoriality, and resistance to a protected area in the Dominican Republic

Political ecologists have considered the social and economic impacts that nature reserves, national parks and other forms of protected area can have on neighbouring communities, and how this can generate conflicts between them. This paper analyses such conflicts through the lens of territoriality, considering how the way protected area territories are created, delineated, and defined is linked to the social impacts experienced by local people. Conflicts between locals and conservation authorities over protected areas are about rival attempts to define the boundaries of protected areas, who the land should belong to, what it should be used for, and what its purpose is. Yet the ability of local people or conservation authorities to impose their meaning is unequal. It illustrates these processes with the example of a scientific reserve in the Dominican Republic, and a decades-long conflict to define what the reserve should mean, what it should look like, and who it should belong to.     

Land alienation,land tenure,and tourism in Vanuatu,a Melanesian Island nation

Land is a primary resource for international tourism development. The relation of indigenous systems of land tenure and the history of land alienation to tourism in Pacific Island nations, however, is problematic. Governments of some Pacific Island nations are now emphasizing the traditional land rights of indigenous people in determining land use for economic development. Land is a key resource for the local participation of Islanders in development, and indigenous land claims are a volatile political issue. There has been little substantive research on tourism and land tenure in Melanesia. This paper examines the history of the problem of land alienation, the nature of traditional land tenure, and the relation of current land claims to tourist development in Vanuatu. Land alienations are tied to modern tourist developments, and issues of land tenure are a central aspects of political debate in local cultures. Suggestions are offered for regional planning for tourism, and local control of tourist development and land use.     

Interactions between human communities and estuaries in the Pacific Northwest: Trends and implications for management

This paper explores social, and economic aspects of coastal communities crucial to the management of estuaries in the Pacific Northwest. These aspects include the changing demographics and economies of coastal communities, and the public perceptions, attitudes, and values pertaining to estuarine ecosystems. Information from Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor in Washington and Tillamook, Yaquina, and Coos Bays in Oregon shows that the coastal communities are growing more slowly than the states overall., that the populations are relatively old, and that, although the local economies continue to rely on them, the extractive natural resource industries (fishing, aquaculture, agriculture, forest products) are declining in importance relative to tourism, recreation, and retirement industries. These trends suggest that human uses of the estuaries are changing in character, and altering the management problems. Coastal residents choose to live in these communities to enjoy the views and scenery, to experience rural living, to be near the ocean, and to recreate outdoors. People express coherent perceptions of risks to the estuaries, especially the threats of declining fish habitats, oil spills, shoreline development, invasive species, and logging in upland areas> Residential land values are enhanced by the presence of wetlands and forests and are diminished by the presence of hazardous waste sites. We conclude that, if recent trends in population age structure, income sources, and employment status continue, public attitudes and values will move towards stronger environmental protection. Because ecosystem management involves local public participation and collaboration, estuarine managers will be faced with both increased demands and opportunities.     

青藏高原地质公园生态旅游产品开发研究——以坎布拉国家地质公园为例

青藏高原是世界旅游的热点区域之一,地质公园已成为区域旅游业发展的新亮点.至2009年8月,青藏高原已建有17家国家地质公园.青海和西藏是青藏高原的主体,本文以青海坎布拉国家地质公园为例,分析了公园旅游产品开发的基础条件,提出了生态旅游产品开发的6项原则:环境保护与可持续发展原则:民生原则:以市场为导向,立足公园实际系统...     

Approaches to sustainable forestry in the Piatra Craiului National Park

Declared in 1990, the Piatra Craiului is one of Romania's 15 national parks and biosphere reserves. It has exceptional scenic and biodiversity value but is under threat from unsustainable agricultural, forestry and tourism management. The paper examines these threats in a historical context, regarding both the growth of the town of Braşov and areas of dispersed rural settlement on the mountain edge, and argues that a sustainable future will require negotiation between the park authorities and all stakeholders, including the local communities and private woodland owners who have benefited or will benefit from restitution. The way forward is explored with forest management in a central role. First, the certification of woodlands, along with the establishment of forest user groups and community woodlands, should help to reconcile the conflicting interests in the woodlands and in wood processing in support of sustainability. Second, the overgrazing of the meadows which is degrading the pastures, restricting forest regeneration and conflicting with large carnivore conservation, could be moderated by the growth of ecotourism linked with bears and wolves which would generate a new source of income to compensate farmers for reducing their flocks – given the importance of the biodiversity resources and the socio-economic pressures – and the paper therefore considers how new approaches to forest management might provide a basis for conservation and sustainable development. It will be for the recently-established national park management system – developed with World Bank Global Environment Facility funding – to take these ideas forward in due course. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Tourism dynamos: Selective commodification and developmental conservation in China’s protected areas

At scenic sites across China, rural officials compelled to maximize revenue use local state authority over protected areas to foster “tourism dynamos”. Local states set up infrastructure and institutions around rural attractions that channel the circulation of tourists, churning out revenues that meet quotas and fund further expansion of attractions and towns. To make these dynamos turn, local authorities have displaced resident-led tourism operations they had previously helped set up. Residents are reincorporated in varying ways and often retain land use rights. Meanwhile, as revenues stream out of attractions, what little is invested in environmental protection goes to maintaining scenery. Local governments also accomplish spatial transformations, within each park intensifying surplus generation in areas zoned for tourism while reserving other areas from use, and beyond park boundaries linking attractions together on tourism circuits radiating from central towns. This state-driven transformations depend on how the reservation of land from commodity exchange within protected areas comes together with specific state capacities to enable tourism intensification. These processes, which I label “developmental conservation,” call attention to selective commodifications and the mediating role of the state in protected area governance in China and beyond.     

西南岩溶区生态旅游评价模型研究

西南岩溶区高品位旅游资源丰富且种类齐全,但其独特的岩溶地质环境对旅游开发建设、旅游接待经营响应十分敏感。本文立足于“人地共生”的生态旅游理念,以污染、风险、干扰、垄断四大指标为依据,选取了12项评价因子和5项修正指数,构建出PRIM标靶评价模型。通过该模型可计算出生态旅游指数进而定量化评价岩溶区旅游开发项目的生态旅游开发态势;还可根据四大指标在标靶模型中的收敛程度和极轴分布,判定评价目标所存在的主要问题及应采取的相应措施。笔者结合路南石林、桂林漓江和福建天鹅洞三个案例,对PRIM标靶评价模型进行验证,评价结果显示,路南石林、桂林漓江生态旅游指数稳定,属于标准的生态旅游景区,但垄断指标较高,后期需要调整旅游收入再分配比例;福建天鹅洞属于准生态旅游景区,在旅游安全措施、开发垄断等方面还存在不足,需要进一步完善。      

Willingness to pay for improved residential waste management in a developing country

In most developing countries policies and frameworks that govern solid waste management strategies have often been directed at the waste management service providers and less attention is often given to the demand side of the problem. This paper reports a study regarding householders’ willingness to pay for improved residential solid waste management. The data for the study originated from a contingent valuation survey that was conducted in 236 households in Ilorin city in Kwara State, Nigeria. A binary logit model was used to account for some factors influencing the respondents’ willingness to pay. The results show that more than 80 % of the respondents were in support of the residential waste management. The respondents were willing to pay an average of 3,660 Nigerian Naira (US $24) each year. Income, education, dwelling type and whether the respondent is satisfied with private sector participation in provision of waste management service positively influenced the respondents’ willingness to pay. The price, gender, household size and activities of sanitary inspectors had negative influence. The findings from this study could contribute to the knowledge regarding the design of a more sustainable residential waste management strategy in Nigeria and other countries that have similar conditions.     

Environmental economics of the Khangchendzonga National Park in the Sikkim Himalaya, India

A contingent valuation survey was conducted involving local community members, domestic and foreign visitors to estimate the environmental economics of the Khangchendzonga National Park and to elicit their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for its maintenance and conservation. Using a random survey, the average WTP was US$ 8.84 for foreign visitors per visit, followed by US$ 6.20 per household per year by local community members and US$ 1.91 per domestic visitor per visit for improvement in environmental conservation. The WTP was strongly influenced by age, education and income. The present study demonstrated that the contingent valuation method (CVM) is a promising approach, however it lacks inclusion of non-monetary contributions. The WTP for environmental management by the local communities was mostly in kind or time for services. The CVM can be a useful tool for decision-makers regarding investment and policy purposes for management of biodiversity hot spots and protected areas in developing countries. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Rural diversification in Albania

This paper examines the prospects for Albanian rural diversification with particular reference to rural tourism. In the early 1990s, tourism was identified by the Albanian government and Western development consultants as a likely vehicle for an appropriate and sustainable development strategy, given the relative wealth generated by international tourism in neighbouring Greece, Italy and Croatia. Pressure has been exerted by commercial developers for mass coastal tourism and permission for around 40 new tourist development has been granted. But Albania embraces a considerable wealth of natural and cultural heritage, which provides opportunities for the development of small scale rural tourism carefully integrated into the local economy with respect to organic farming, quality wine production and sustainable fishing. But sensitive social integration is vital where it is difficult to identify rural communities where there is a conspicuous absence of local consensus. The resurgence of traditional social systems and the empowerment of local actors in cases where organised crime has taken root pose major problems for rural diversification. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.