The Unfenced Desert Towards a strategy for eco ... - Nwrc.gov.sa

and more succinctly by the Ecotourism Society as:
“responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the wellbeing
of local people”
(Western 1993).
Since the late 1980s, the principles of ecotourism have been endorsed by a number of
major tourism associations, including the WTO, the Travel Industry Association of
America (TIA), the WTTC, and the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) (Honey
1999). But despite the attention given to ecotourism by the industry, by the media, and
by the travelling public, the consensus is that there are currently few examples of
ecotourism projects which fulfil all the criteria (Honey 1999); as Martha Honey (1999)
quotes: “Ecotourism is now used indiscriminately to describe anything related to nature,
or unrelated to conventional tourism” (Kurt Kutay, tour operator). So where does this
leave us with regard to protected areas?
Ecotourism will focus on the best examples of a country’s biological and cultural assets.
It’s no coincidence then that “one of the most urgent points of intersection between
ecotourism and conservation” (Boo 1993) occurs within protected areas - sites chosen
because they are a nation’s biological and cultural jewels.
While protected areas may obviously benefit tourism, ecotourism can benefit protected
areas through: generation of revenue, with the potential for this to be channelled back
into protected area maintenance and management; and the creation of jobs in the region
and the promotion of economic development, particularly for local communities;
exposure of the public to the natural world, with opportunities for improved
environmental education and awareness, and consequently increased public support;
along with enhanced conservation management of the site (Boo 1993). These are
discussed in more detail below.
Economic benefits
Economic benefits are not easily calculated since it is not simply a matter of adding up all
the money that tourists spend. That money needs to accrue to local and national
economies by being spent and re-spent locally. Leakage, or loss of revenue due to use of
imported goods and services, will reduce actual gains (Fish 1991). For developing
countries the World Bank has estimated that around 55% of tourism profits may leak
back to the developed world (Lindberg 1991).
Ecotourism will generate revenue, and this revenue may be important for three sectors,
each of which will improve the management capacity of a protected area.
The protected area itself: funding may accrue to the protected area and can supplement
centralised funding to provide some degree of economic autonomy and a financial buffer
in the event of central cuts. In addition, once a protected area starts to generate funds it
may gain the attention of central government finance staff and attain new status.
Ecotourism funds will enable a protected area manager to marshal economic arguments
to support conservation initiatives and allow strict cost-benefits analyses rather than
appeals to aesthetic or future value of natural areas.
The local economy: will benefit, either directly through provisions of services and
products to visitors and the development of new markets, and indirectly through linkages
to other sectors of the tourism industry as well as burgeoning markets to serve increasing
local spending power. Strength in local economy will translate to strength for the
protected area which must coexist with local communities. Improved local wealth will
reduce reliance on subsistence means, reduce encroachment into the reserve and reduce
poaching. However, one critical aspect of eco-tourism relating to economic benefits is,
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