Ecotourism As An Instrument To Conserve Biodiversity

In a world that is experiencing its sixth mass extinction of species, ecotourism has been hailed as a potential saviour of nature. In order to fulfil such high expectations and create a symbiosis of business, community development and conservation, ecotourism:• has to be established in regions that are ecologically especially valuable — a central data bank on species and their distribution may give recommendations for ecotourism development,• can only thrive in relatively secure countries having a minimum provision of public goods — restrictions on national sovereignty in the case of failed states or military interventions against poachers and illegal loggers may be necessary,• has to be attractive for paying customers — where the classical ecotourism product fails, supporting markets such as hunting or gambling tourism may have to be developed,• has to be careful to preserve its resource base-ecological accounting, international monitoring and the setting of industry standards could be valuable instruments,• has to be politically feasible and socially acceptable realpolitik and reformed aid may help to balance the interests of different stakeholders.Despite all the difficulties in establishing the appropriate concepts and monitoring their implementation, ecotourism can play a central role in helping part of biodiversity through the survival bottleneck.