Ecotourism as an Islamic Representative on Conservation

The tourism industry not only has an economic impact but also on the environment. The current trend is that increased tourism activity correlates with the deterioration of environmental quality. Ecotourism is one of the efforts to compromise economic needs and ecological interests. One of the main pillars of ecotourism is conservation. Environmental conservation reflects Islamic rules on the horizontal relationship between fellow beings. At least 20 verses in the Qur’an relate to the environment and ecological sustainability. Some of the words of the Prophet Muhammad also affirmed the importance of conserving the environment. This research seeks to correlate conservation principles and elements in the ecotourism concept and Islamic views on environmental conservation. This research is a type of literature review. The universal nature of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Word makes the principles of Islamic rules relevant to apply in responsible tourism development. Ecotourism has become a representation of Islamic policy, especially in environmental conservation in the tourism industry. Contextualizing the concept of ecotourism through an Islamic approach is an opportunity to approach the idea of ecotourism to increase the effectiveness of its acceptance in religious Muslim majority communities such as Indonesian society.