abhijithajikumar Eco-tourism often involves visiting remote and fragile ecosystems, which raises concerns about the impact on local cultures and indigenous communities. What problems can this cause? How can these problems be resolved?
The recent years have witnessed a surge in the popularity of eco-tourism. With the relentless visits to fragile eco-systems, various cultural and communal concerns have arisen. To address these, governments could play a pivotal role by imposing some strict regulations.
Eco-tourism has negative implications on both the indigenous community of the place and their culture. When tourism at a place emerges, various amenities including hotels, shopping malls and recreational centres rise to cater to the influx of tourists. This would open new job opportunities for the local people which may lead many people to leave their conventional modes of living and a cultural shift occurs. Moreover, any construction at environmentally weak ecosystems disturbs the ecological balance and make them more prone to frequent natural calamities. In the Indian state of Kerala, for instance, many villages suffer heavy floods every year after the pavement of new roads for easy access to some remote touristy areas.
What can be done to avert these concerns? The government could join hands with the local people to introduce various initiatives. Together they could identify safer areas where tourism could be permitted and promoted. If any eco-tourism activities are at very sensitive ecosystems, then strict laws should be enforced to restrict them to preserve the indigeneity of the local community. Furthermore, the government and the native communities could together ensure the proper enactment of such regulations.
In conclusion, the recent surge of eco-tourism is associated with some serious concerns. The primary impact of this trend is the disintegration of their livelihood and frequent environmental calamities; nonetheless, these threats could be mitigated to a good extent by proper interventions at government and community levels.
