Ecotourism in Ontario

Transcription

1 Ecotourism in Ontario Presentation by Mike Robbins Partner the Tourism Company tourismco.com

2 Ecotourism Experience Ecotourism development planning work in Bolivia and Jamaica Involvement in Cree Village Ecolodge, the first northern climate ecolodge Adventure and/or nature and/or ecotourism planning assignments in every province and territory in Canada Speakers at numerous conferences on topic of Ecotourism Long time members of International ES and Australia EA

3 What is ecotourism Subscribe to IES definition responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well being of local people Conservation of natural heritage Education of visitors Maximum local benefits Preservation of cultural heritage

4 Ecotourism vs. adventure Canada lags in use and understanding of ecotourism lumps together with adventure Ecotourism is a conservation/preservation tool Sustainable is broader and applies to all types of tourism operations Adventure is activity-based tourism in a wilderness or outdoor setting Only adventure operations that adopt ecotourism principles should be termed ecotourism Lots of misuse and abuse of the term

5 The Need to Put Teeth into Ecotourism In numerous jurisdictions ecotourism is being used effectively as a conservation tool, which was the original intent In many areas the term is used for greenwashing and marketing advantage IYE 2002 will broaden the understanding and awareness of ecotourism as conservation tool Education, regulation, comprehensive land use planning and accreditation can be used to further ecotourism

6 What is accreditation/certification? Many existing programs Green Globe, Green Leaf, Ecotel, Ecotur,, Certification for Sustainable Tourism (Costa Rica), The Nature and Ecotourism Accreditation Program (Australia) Numerous evaluations of these programs including the UNEP Survey of Ecolabels,, the WWF UK Tourism Certification Analysis and the International Ecotourism Society assessment on Setting Standards

7 What were the findings UNEP ecolabels can be an important marketing and environmental management tool; improvement needed in measuring effectiveness WWF-UK Some of the current schemes such as Green Globe are misleading; focus should be on performance based programs with third party auditing IES need for a framework for more consistency and possibly an umbrella group to set standards

8 Mohonk Agreement Participants from 20 countries assembled in Mohonk NY in November 2000 Convened by Institute for Policy Studies Prepared a framework for universal components that should frame any ecotourism and sustainable certification program Also defined ecotourism criteria

9 New International Directions NEAP of Australia is working with Green Globe on a collaborative international ecotourism standard The Rainforest Alliance proceeding with a feasiblity study for developing an international accreditation body to set standards and certify the auditing firms

10 The NEAP Case Study Launched by the National Ecotourism Association in 1997 Covers accomodation,, tours, and attractions Integrated nature and ecoguide certification program Accredited product has jumped from 60 in 97 to 260 in 2000 NEAP Edition II was launched in 2000 with strong interest from industry, protected area managers, and government marketing agencies Australian program will be featured in IYE 2002

11 The Canadian Situation The CTC consider ecotourism and adventure tourism as one some provinces are following this lead The reality is ecotourism could equally as well be paired with Aboriginal tourism or nature tourism or cultural tourism Saskatchewan has an ecotourism program An Aboriginal tourism accreditation program has been partially developed Ontario has some leading ecotourism product

12 Cree Village Ecolodge

13 The Benefits of Certification/Accreditation Travellers can make more informed decisions when selecting responsible products and experiences Offer environmentally and culturally responsible operators a marketing advantage Help operators understand how they can improve their businesses set benchmarks Provide credibility of product Change the way producers behave Enhancing the consistency of product quality and value Less negative impacts in sensitive areas Increased community benefits

14 Thank you