Ethical Tourism
What to do when we impact on the very people and places we go to see? I stayed at a marine-park-listed tropical island last week. White sand, palm trees, coral reef and no sewage treatment at all for any of the island's big resorts or little bungalows. Do you think the earnest backpackers with sunburn I passed knew they were swimming in their own shit? Do you think they knew that all of their solid waste would be stored in uncovered heaps river-side, incinerated at a poorly designed plant and that the airborne particles would waft out to sea and settle over the coral reef they were there to see? Did they notice the mangroves trying to regenerate where they had been cleared in the area adjacent the ferry terminal on the mainland? The passengers alighting from their long haul Taiwanese 737's on the new runway planned for just offshore the island probably don't care much. Welcome to our duty-free golf-coursed air-conditioned ecotourism mecca. We used to have coral here. Anyone want to buy a key ring?


Overview

Ecotourism options?

And what about the people?