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Journal for Nature Conservation 14 (2006) 233—236

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Ecotourism and ecological restoration

Sylvie Blangya,b,�, Hitesh Mehtac

aCarleton University, Ottawa, CanadabMontpellier III University, France, 152 Impasse des deux Ruisseaux, 34090 Montpellier, FrancecEDSA, 1512 E. Broward Boulevard, Suite 110, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 USA

Received 4 April 2006; accepted 8 May 2006

KEYWORDSCommunity basedtourism;Ecolodge;Ecological restora-tion;Ecotourism

ee front matter & 2006jnc.2006.05.009

ing author. Montpellierdeux Ruisseaux, 3401 17 93.ess: Sylvie.blangy@club

SummaryThe fast pace of tourism development around the world is causing untold damage tosome of the most endangered ecological systems. From Dubai to Honolulu and fromCancun to Beijing, the environmental impacts of tourism are alarming. Ecologicalrestoration (ER) of disturbed lands should be an important approach to sensitivetourism planning. This paper addresses the need for restoring biodiversity and howecotourism has shown to be a strong force in the field of ER. Two examples (one eachof private and community based ecotourism) incorporating ER will be highlighted inthis paper: Phinda Game Reserve, South Africa and the Baboon Sanctuary in Belize.We call for greater dialogue across disciplines, notably ER, conservation science andecotourism.& 2006 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Over the past 15 years, ecotourism has becomeone of the fastest growing sectors of the tourismindustry, growing three times faster than theindustry as a whole. At the same time, ecotourismis being increasingly viewed by local and indigenouscommunities as an important tool for promotingsustainable livelihoods, cultural preservation, andbiodiversity conservation (Honey, 2006). The Inter-

Elsevier GmbH. All rights rese

III University, France, 15290 Montpellier, France.

-internet.fr (S. Blangy).

national Ecotourism Society (TIES, 2006) definesecotourism as ‘‘responsible travel to natural areasthat conserves the environment and improves thewell-being of local people’’. Ecotourism has, inessence, three core tenants. It holds that, donewell, it can (1) protect and enhance the environ-ment, (2) respect local cultures and providetangible benefits to host communities, and (3) beeducational as well as enjoyable for the traveller(Honey, 2006).

Conventional tourism impacts the environmentboth physically and culturally. Tourism has in-creased by more than 100% between 1990 and2000 in the world’s biodiversity hotspots, regionsrichest in species and facing extreme threats

rved.

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(Christ, Hillel, Matus, & Sweeting, 2003). Theadverse effects of tourism stem from touriststhemselves, as well as from infrastructure andaccommodation facilities. Although, these impactscannot be eliminated, by establishing a frameworkthat emphasises proper planning and monitoring,they can be managed properly and kept to a bareminimum. To mitigate or avoid negative impacts,part of the ecotourism planning strategy oftenconsists in restoring impacted land and affectedresources, while actively publicising such efforts.Many lodge owners, indigenous communities andgovernments, are increasingly practicing ecologicalrestoration (ER) on their private properties, com-munal land, and national parks. In some cases, likethe Il Ngwesi tribe in Kenya, it has even been one ofthe main motivations for indigenous communitiesto start a tourism business (Mehta, 2006). Tourismrevenues and cooperative, volunteer labour canserve to finance and carry out restoration pro-grammes. Part of lodge owners’ marketing cam-paign may mention reforestation, eradication ofexotic species, reintroduction of native species, aswell as organic gardening, etc. (Mehta, Baez, &O’Loughlin, 2002). This paper focuses on privatesector and community efforts towards ER.

Ecolodge guidelines and ecologicalrestoration techniques

With the rapid growth of nature-based tourismhas come the development of numerous lodges inbiologically rich, diverse areas. Such developmentsoften have had detrimental ecological and socialimpacts. The increase in numbers of lodgingfacilities being inevitable, a set of guidelines havebeen written by a team of TIES members andprovide a framework for the design, developmentand operations of ecolodges. An ecolodge is a‘‘5–75 room low-impact nature based financiallysustainable accommodation facility that helpsprotect sensitive neighbouring areas; involves andbenefits local communities; offers tourists aninterpretative and interactive participatory experi-ence; provides a spiritual communion with natureand culture and is planned, designed, constructed,and operated in an environmentally and sociallysensitive manner’’ (Mehta, 2006).

In the International Ecolodge Guidelines book, ERis mentioned as a possibility and highly encouraged.‘‘The success of an ecolodge pivots on the initialprocess of site evaluation, selection, planning, anddesign. A fundamental goal for an ‘‘eco’’-orientedproject is that the development of the site must

leave the site better off after development thanbefore. Reforestation, water resource enhance-ments, soil enrichment, and wildlife protectionand restoration programmes should be plannedfrom the very beginning. However, funds are oftenlimited and restoration is still based on theavailability of voluntary help’’.

Recommendations in the guidelines revolvearound several principles: ‘‘select a site justoutside a nature reserve’’, or ‘‘select a sitewhereby the ecolodge itself would not directlyaffect the focal (or flagship) ecotourism attractionsof the area or visually compete with these attrac-tions’’. ‘‘Concentrate development in less sensitiveareas’’. ‘‘Whenever possible, develop in previouslydisturbed sites. Redevelopment requires minimaldisturbance of natural systems since the disturbedarea may already be impacting the site. Conversionof old existing facilities is one of the lowest impacttechniques. Ecolodges can be a driver of ER ondamaged sites. Habitat restoration helps to providehomes and safety zones for wildlife displaced bydevelopment’’.

Other recommendations lead to more specificmeasures. ‘‘When reforesting, combine differentnative species and avoid straight-line or square gridpatterns. Whenever possible, plant native fruitbearing trees to attract wildlife and provide foodfor your guest. Restore the native plantings byreintroducing the same species. Resist the tempta-tion to introduce exotic species. In restoring adisturbed landscape, speed up the process ofnatural succession by planting many complimentarynative species at once, and letting them play outtheir natural evolution’’.

The ecolodge guidelines were inspired by theexperience of various stakeholders in the ecotour-ism industry including ecolodge owners. They havegained international recognition and are widelyused by developers, planners, landscape archi-tects, architects, and engineers all around theworld for developing ecotourism facilities. Theyhave influenced several of the most recent projectsin countries such as China, Bali, Sri Lanka, Rwanda,Uganda, Kenya, and Mexico.

Not all ecolodges can afford to implement ERprogrammes. However, many of them do supportconservation strategies that may permit or con-tribute to passive restoration. In a study conductedby TIES, it was found that 80% of the lodge ownerssaid that they support conservation efforts, do notpurchase rare or threatened species, and activelyencourage guests to participate in conservationinitiatives (Bricker, Honey, Inamdar, & Placht,2004). While very few lodges address feral animaland weed control, many focus on consolidating an

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existing protected area or creating a completelynew private reserve adjacent to a national parkwhich can serve as an extension of habitat or evenas a wildlife corridor.

Conservation Corporation Africa (www.ccafrica.-com/vision/cca_vision.asp) is an exemplaryprivate tourism company based in South Africawhich actively promotes restoration of land,protecting wilderness areas, and protectingbiodiversity. At Phinda Private Game Reserve,situated in northern KwaZulu–Natal, and borderingthe Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park – a WorldHeritage Site – they consolidated over 17,000 ha ofdegraded land, ravaged by decades of inappropri-ate cattle management, combined with pineapple,sisal, and cotton farming, and restored it to itspre-disturbance state. More than 2000 head ofwildlife were reintroduced, including lion, leopard,elephant, black and white rhino, and buffalo. It isone of the biggest game restocking exercisesundertaken on private land in South Africa. Carewas also taken for the landscape – for example,during the building of Phinda Forest ecolodge in arare sand forest, not a single tree was uprooted.And, in a very short space of time, the neighbourswere benefiting directly from Phinda. This wasachieved through employment and communitydevelopment projects implemented – in consulta-tion with the communities – by CC Africa’s RuralInvestment Fund, now an independent, non-gov-ernmental not-for-profit organisation called theAfrica Foundation.

Community based ecotourism andecological restoration

Several communities have the goal of restoringtheir degraded land when starting a tourismproject. Ecotourism is developed primarily toprovide the financial resources for rehabilitatingovergrazed areas by long-term cattle breeding orfor relocating endangered and poached wildlife.It follows a successful land reclamation procedureor a resolved conflict with a logging or miningcompany.

Over the 180 case studies of community basedtourism featured in the recently published Le guidedes destinations indigenes (Blangy, 2006), no lessthan 50 have developed an ER programme. Theseare generally a mix of reforestation, plant eradica-tion, and restocking programmes. The guide bookdescribes how tourism funds ambitious projects inER and how the economic benefits of tourism help alocal community to develop a better appreciation

of the multiple values of conservation and restora-tion, since tourists are eager to support suchefforts, e.g. direct financial contributions or eco-volunteering.

For example, in Belize, the Community BaboonSanctuary (CBS) was created along the BelizeRiver to conserve one of the last healthy popula-tions of the endangered Black Howler monkey(Alouatta pigra) (Bruner Lash, 2003). Founded in1985, this sanctuary is completely made up ofprivate lands, protected on a voluntary basis. Eachowner pledged (1) to keep the forests intactalongside the Belize River, (2) to preserve fruittrees and other trees important to the howlermonkeys on his or her rural lands, and (3) to keepthe trees and vegetation along property lines,creating an aerial corridor for the monkeys totravel from one property to another. Large farmssprawl alongside the river’s edge, making thispicturesque waterway a primary attraction forcanoe trips, horse riding, monkey viewing, birdwatching, and relaxing in thatch-roofed cabanas.Local vegetable farms, as well as cattle and pigranching, are still the main use of the land;however, more residents are becoming involved inecotourism. The number of pledged lands hasgrown over the years, and the CBS has become anintegral part of the fabric of this rural society. CBShas been awarded several grants that have helpedto build new facilities, train staff, and run thetraining workshops for community residents intourism, business, leadership, crafts, computers,and reforestation. Ecotourism has brought a newway of life – a blending of the old and the new. Ithas offered livelihood opportunities in a rural areaand thus provides an alternative to people whootherwise would emigrate to overcrowded BelizeCity (Bruner Lash, 2003).

Discussion and conclusions

ER is increasingly occupying an important role inecotourism which has been a rapidly growing sectorof the tourism industry. However, apart from theecolodge guidelines described above, ER is rarelymentioned in other existing ecotourism guidelinesdeveloped by communities, national park bodies,conservation NGOs or developing agencies. Unfor-tunately best practice manuals do not focus on ERprocesses and certification programmes rarely addER criteria in their scheme.

As demonstrated in this paper, ER is recognised asa useful tool by ecolodge planners and indigenouscommunities. Even though ER is mentioned in the

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International Ecolodge Guidelines (Mehta et al.,2002) and is illustrated by several case studiesdescribed in the recently published guide onindigenous destinations (Blangy, 2006), the impactof ecotourism on ER programmes has not been wellresearched and is not adequately addressed in theecotourism literature. We feel that the twoapproaches need to be merged as ER deservesspecific attention within the ecotourism commu-nity. A great source for ER is the IndigenousPeoples’ Restoration Network (IPRN) of SER Inter-national which is compiling and featuring successfulER stories (http://www.ser.org/iprn/default.asp).Additionally, the IPRN Resource Centre featuresannotated links to organisations and communitiesadvocating traditional ecological knowledge prin-ciples and applying them in their restorationprojects and ongoing environmental practices.

ER needs to be emphasised and further investi-gated and ER research programmes shouldincorporate ecotourism projects in their fieldsites. Additionally, developing agencies shoulddevelop manuals on ER with best practice andspecific guidelines directed to practitioners in thefield.

We recommend that SER International’s Scienceand Policy Working Group consider ecotourism as apromising new field for exploring ER practices andcandidate for synergistic linkages. We offer thefollowing ideas as starting place for discussions –

that should also include conservation ecologists andprotected area managers: ecolodges, private re-serves and public parks should become laboratoriesto explore and experiment new ER, and conserva-tion techniques; not only conservation but also ERcriteria should be introduced in certificationschemes as obligatory standards; ER should beenhanced in responsible marketing and ecotourismcampaigns. Finally, architects, landscape archi-

tects, and planners should be trained or at leastfamiliarised with the concepts and practices in bothER and conservation science.

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledge James Aron-son and Christelle Fontaine for their support anduseful comments during the writing of this article.

References

Blangy, S. (2006). Le guide des destinations indigenes.Indigene editions. France: Montpellier 384pp.

Bricker, K., Honey, M., Inamdar, N., Placht, M. (2004).Ecolodge footprint and justification for biodiversityconservation. IFC, International Finance Corporation(IFC)/GEFSME Program. The Environmental BusinessFinance Program (EBFP). http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/Content/EBFP_Ecolodge.

Bruner Lash, G. (2003). Sustaining our spirit: Ecotourismon privately owned rural lands and protected areas.Dissertation, Doctor of Philosophy, University ofGeorgia, Athens, GA, USA.

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Mehta, H., Baez, A., & O’Loughlin, P. (2002). Interna-tional ecolodge guidelines. Washington, DC: TIES.

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