University of Aarhus ECOTOURISM AS A WAY TO PROTECT ...
University of Aarhus ECOTOURISM AS A WAY TO PROTECT ...
University of Aarhus ECOTOURISM AS A WAY TO PROTECT ...
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Ecotourism as a sustainable way to protect nature<br />
Up to now there has been an undefined field where ecotourism businesses<br />
declared themselves as being sustainable, green, environmental friendly and so<br />
on (Font, 2001).<br />
Since introducing certain ecolabeling schemes this field has become more<br />
transparent. Currently, there are over 100 ecolabels for tourism, hospitality and<br />
ecotourism, with many <strong>of</strong> them overlapping in sector and geographical scope<br />
(Font, 2001).<br />
In 1998 UNEP made a big survey among the 28 international, national<br />
and regional, "ecolabeling schemes". They decided on some general rules, which<br />
they expect the "ecolabeling" organisations to live up to:<br />
• Local environmental issues: criteria are realistic only if they relate to<br />
the local environment.<br />
• The sector's environmental impact: all impacts need to be addressed, it<br />
is important to recognise diversities within the sector (hotels, hostels,<br />
alpine refuges must be assessed separately etc.).<br />
• Technical and management know-how: the technical possibilities are<br />
also important; setting criteria which can not be attained (because the<br />
technology is not available) is not effective, even though the criteria<br />
may be relevant (UNEP, 1998).<br />
The UNEP general rules for ecolabeling stress the importance <strong>of</strong><br />
compromises for a successful implementation <strong>of</strong> ecotourism regulation.<br />
In the following sections, we will list some <strong>of</strong> the most important<br />
"ecolabel "schemes which have had major impact recently and look into the<br />
reality <strong>of</strong> ecolabeling etc.<br />
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