University of Aarhus ECOTOURISM AS A WAY TO PROTECT ...

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Ecotourism as a sustainable way to protect nature Up to now there has been an undefined field where ecotourism businesses declared themselves as being sustainable, green, environmental friendly and so on (Font, 2001). Since introducing certain ecolabeling schemes this field has become more transparent. Currently, there are over 100 ecolabels for tourism, hospitality and ecotourism, with many of them overlapping in sector and geographical scope (Font, 2001). In 1998 UNEP made a big survey among the 28 international, national and regional, "ecolabeling schemes". They decided on some general rules, which they expect the "ecolabeling" organisations to live up to: • Local environmental issues: criteria are realistic only if they relate to the local environment. • The sector's environmental impact: all impacts need to be addressed, it is important to recognise diversities within the sector (hotels, hostels, alpine refuges must be assessed separately etc.). • Technical and management know-how: the technical possibilities are also important; setting criteria which can not be attained (because the technology is not available) is not effective, even though the criteria may be relevant (UNEP, 1998). The UNEP general rules for ecolabeling stress the importance of compromises for a successful implementation of ecotourism regulation. In the following sections, we will list some of the most important "ecolabel "schemes which have had major impact recently and look into the reality of ecolabeling etc. 22
Ecotourism as a sustainable way to protect nature 2.5.1 Green Globe 21 The "Green globe 21"ecolabel was the first and still is the only attempt at a single ecolabel scheme applicable to all forms of tourism worldwide (Buckley 2001). This ecolabel was initiated by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) (9) in 1998. In the early stages, the Green Globe has taken decisions that have put them in the firing line of environmental NGOs for reasons such as becoming a profit organisation, no improvement in certifying, and allowing companies to use the logo without the certification (Font, 2002). But this scheme was well accepted by the travel industry. Because of the criticism the Green Globe is now attempting to advance to the next evolutionary step and gain the acceptance from the consumers, governments, and environmental groups without loosing its existing acceptance by the industry (Buckley, 2001). Currently three major approaches are followed in the Green Globe 21: 1. Recently they launched new approach towards reduction in green house gas emissions and introducing this into ecotourism labelling. 2. And also they stated its intention to use local legal and cultural framework for implementation (Buckley, 2001). (It is much more difficult for schemes with wide coverage to achieve this than for the national and sub-national schemes /UNEP, 2002/.) 9 WTTC -The World Travel & Tourism Council is the global business leaders' forum for Travel & Tourism, http://www.wttc.org 23
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