Sustainable Development and Eco-Tourism

 Ecotourism is a form of tourism that focuses on the exploration and appreciation of nature, with an emphasis on conservation, preservation and environmental sustainability.

 Just because tourism is nature-based, it doesn't mean to say it's necessarily responsible or sustainable. So, there's a lot of animal activities in tourism that we know which are highly irresponsible and unsustainable, like swimming with dolphins, elephant-riding, tiger selfies where the tigers are drugged.

 Genuine ecotourism is sustainable – designed to continue at a steady level which does not damage the environment.

 There are two requirements travel companies should meet to qualify as genuine ecotourism. First, tourists’ main motivation should be to appreciate and observe the natural world without interfering, and second, the money they spend should support traditional communities. Clearly, having your photograph taken with a chained and drugged tiger does not meet these requirements.

 Tourism is essential to boost the economic development of local communities. Tourism stimulates local entrepreneurship, as residents can create specialized services to meet the needs of visitors, create jobs, encourage the redevelopment of abandoned properties, lead to the improvement of infrastructure, facilitate cultural exchange between visitors and the local community and encourage environmental conservation.

 When companies are dependent on a natural resource, it is obvious that they intend to preserve it. Without the environment, there is no income.

 It is also important to note that the revenue generated by ecotourism can be directed to conservation projects, such as reforestation, protection of natural habitats and environmental monitoring programs.

 Ecotourism is also crucial in raising visitors' awareness of local ecological issues.

 We can exemplify with Tajikistan, which gets less than two dozen wildlife tourists a year, and the money these visitors bring is essential to the conservation work that  NGOs are doing. So those few tourists… their money goes a very long way and the animals people are looking at are being observed from a distance, their behaviour is not being affected in any way, and the local communities are genuinely benefiting.