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Surabhi Rai/2005/Elective 1
Ecolabels and Ecotourism
Eco-labels and Ecotourism
Certification
Surabhi Rai IFS (P), 2005 batch IGNFA , Dehradun.
Surabhi Rai/2005/Elective 2
Ecolabels and Ecotourism
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Shri. R.K. Goyal,
Director IGNFA for shaping my course of thoughts
and providing valuable suggestions to help me
zero in on this topic for my elective study. I am
also very thankful to Shri. Dhirendra Bhargava for
helping me narrow down my objectives and set
more realistic goals.
I am grateful to Shri. K.S. Jayachandran for the
hours of patient hearing and discussions. Thanks
are due to Smt. R. Pamawathe for appreciating
even the most incongruous of my ideas which
encouraged me to think.
Surabhi Rai
IGNFA
Dehradun
Surabhi Rai/2005/Elective 3
Ecolabels and Ecotourism
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the study
entitled “Ecolabels and ecotourism
certification”, submitted to Indira Gandhi
National Forest Academy, Dehradun has been
done by Ms. Surabhi Rai under my guidance
and supervision. It is further certified
that any help or source of information that
has been availed of in this connection has
been duly acknowledged by her.
Shri Dhirendra Bhargava
Associate Professor
IGNFA
Dehradun
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Ecolabels and Ecotourism
INTRODUCTION
In the words of the World Tourism organization
tourism has become “one of the most important
economic, social, cultural and political phenomena
of the twentieth century.” Today tourism employs
200 million people, generates $3.6 trillion in
economic activity and accounts for 8% of jobs
worldwide. Tourism constitutes 3–10 percent of GDP
in advanced economies and up to 40 percent in
developing economies. It accounts for 36 percent of
trade in commercial services in advanced economies
and 66 percent in developing economies. The figures
are based largely on the arrival statistics which
focus on international tourism and therefore hides
the significance of domestic tourism. Hence
statistics may underestimate the actual figures for
tourism as the WTO has estimated that ratio of
domestic to international tourism is as high as
10:1 which means tourism means bigger business than
is seen.
Culture and nature are two broad resources
on which tourism depends. India with its diverse
geography and multicultural fabric has plenty of
both and attracts the fancy of a large number of
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tourists. The tourism industry thus has the
potential to become the proverbial goose that lays
golden eggs in terms of foreign exchange earnings.
Statistics reveal that in 2004 the foreign tourist
arrival in India crossed the 4 million figure with
arrivals estimated at 44, 29,915 tourists. The
foreign exchange earnings had recorded an
unprecedented growth of about 38% in 2004. This
trend continued and we witnessed a growth of 17.6%
in 2005 with a total foreign exchange earning of Rs
29603.6 crores. (Indian tourism statistics, 2005).
In addition there is a large domestic tourist
market about which not much information is
available in the way of statistics.
A wave of “greening” has affected markets all
over due to an increased environmental awareness
which has been reflected in tourism as ‘eco’-
tourism products. India has the potential to be a
prime player in this newly emerged ecotourism
market. A long coastline, panoramic hinterlands,
the mighty Himalayas in the north to undiscovered
vistas in the north east and a unique variety of
ecosystems with different types of flora and fauna
offer wondrous delights for the ecotourist.
Ecotourism can be a key to conservation and a
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sustained mode of economic development. However
most of the states that have a larger ecotourism
potential are ecologically more sensitive and
industrially less developed. Ecotourism is in its
infancy in India and we need to tread very
carefully to avoid its misuse. Not much has been
done in the way of regulations as far as ecotourism
is concerned and there is the imminent danger of
“green washing tourism” under the name of
ecotourism. One of the potential tools for guiding
and monitoring ecotourism is certification. Thus
this study entitled “Ecotourism and Ecolabels: An
Assessment of Ecotourism certification systems” is
a humble attempt to study and assess ecotourism
certification systems. It has been taken up with
the following objectives
1. To critically review some certification
procedures and systems
2. To suggest a certification strategy for Indian
conditions
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What exactly is ecotourism?
One of the major problems of ecotourism lies in the
definition itself. To make things more clear I
shall begin from the definition of tourism itself
and work down to the various branches of tourism
including ecotourism. The World Tourism
organization has defined tourism as any form of
travel that involves a stay of at least one night
but less than one year away from home. However the
definition is rather narrow as it bypasses day
visits and also does not specify the purpose of
travel. Thus we can take into account another
definition which states tourism as domestic or
international travel for leisure and recreation
(Roe, 1997).
Tourism may be broadly divided into two segments
viz: mass tourism and alternative tourism.
Mass tourism is purely leisure and entertainment
oriented usually offering higher degrees of comfort
and convenience regardless of any environmental
effects. Mass tourism leads to the high
concentrations of people in relatively small
places. Figure 1 gives the model of the life cycle
of a typical tourist destination as proposed by
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Butler in 1980. This model explains the impact of
tourism development on the social and natural
environment of a destination marked by an increase
in the number of tourists visiting a destination.
Time
Discovery
Involvement
Development
Consolidation
Stagnation
Decline
Rejuvenation No of Visitors
Figure 1. Life cycle of a tourism destination.
With increasing popularity of tourism destination
there arises the danger of it being a place of mass
tourism for example the case of hill stations
during summers. And in such cases tourism often
appears to be less of a blessing and more of
blight. Moreover there is the danger of tourism
killing tourism. That is, an excess of insensitive
tourists at a destination would deter the more
sensitive type of tourists to forego the enjoyable
consumption of tourism resources. These resources
are adversely affected by the voracious consumption
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of the “bad” tourist. Some tourism researchers call
this the new avatar of Gresham’s law: Bad tourism
drives out good tourism. Apart from adverse
environmental impact many tourist are now tired of
the mass tourism experience and look forward to
alternative experiences.
Alternative tourism seeks to face mass
tourism from the opposite side. This involves
lesser number of people as well. The different
types of alternative tourism are listed below:-
Nature tourism involves travel to unspoiled areas
to experience and enjoy nature. Nature tourism
embraces within its ambit the other types of
alternative tourism.
Adventure tourism is “nature tourism with a kick”
(Honey, 1999). This requires physical skill and
involves a degree of risk taking. For example rock
climbing, mountaineering, snorkeling, scuba diving
etc.
Wildlife tourism involves “travel to observe
animals like birds, mammals and fish in their
native habitat” (Honey, 1999). This includes both
consumptive and non-consumptive use of wild
animals. For example game hunting in Kenya and
visits to national parks and sanctuaries in India.
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Agricultural/rural tourism is a newly emerging form
of tourism where farmers offer many opportunities
for tourists to find experiences closely connected
with agricultural practices. For example horseback
riding in European farms, bullock cart rides in
villages on the outskirts of Periyar, home stays in
Sikkim. Ecotourism can include all the above
defined groups of tourism. But in addition to
recreation ecotourism should result in strong
benefits to conservation and the local people as
well. Figure 2 illustrates the relationship between
the various branches of tourism defined above. We
can see that all of them can be interlinked at some
point or the other.
Figure 2. Different branches of tourism
Agro tourism
Wildlife Tourism
Adventure tourism
Nature tourism
Mass tourism
Ecotourism
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For example agriculture tourism can involve
bird watching or hiking in nearby areas as in some
home stays in Darjeeling, Wildlife tourism in
Periyar has a component of rural tourism etc.
Ecotourism includes a small portion of all types of
tourism which invariably is the portion that is
conservation oriented and involves benefit sharing
with the locals.
The word Ecotourism has been defined and
interpreted variously and is often much abused in
its usage. It has been interpreted by service
providers to suit their personal gains. The
Ecotourism Society in 1991 produced the earliest
and still commonly used definition of ecotourism:
“responsible travel to natural areas that conserves
the environment and sustains the well being of the
local people”. According to the UNEP definition
ecotourism has 2 main dimensions: Ecotourism is a
sustainable development tool and ecotourism is a
form of alternative tourism (UNEP, 2002). Other
definitions have included elements of environmental
education and supply-side sustainable management.
Boo (1992), for example, states that ‘ecotourism is
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nature travel that advances conservation and
sustainable development efforts’. The Ecotourism
Association of Australia (EAA) defines ecotourism
as ‘ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary
focus on experiencing natural areas that foster
environmental and cultural understanding,
appreciation and conservation’ (EAA, 2001).
Compiling a variety of contemporary definitions of
ecotourism, Blamey (2001) described three broad
dimensions of the ‘main essence’ of ecotourism
which have achieved a degree of consensus among
tourism researchers: ecotourism is nature based,
environmentally educated, and sustainably managed
in terms natural and cultural environments.
The Tripura government’s ecotourism policy very
practically states that the key elements of
ecotourism are:
1. Existence of sanctuary/national environment as
prime attraction
2. It should be ecologically, culturally, socially
and economically sustainable.
3. It should have the participation of local
stakeholders (host community)
4. It should be capable of dovetailing into the
existing tourism of the state
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5. It should accommodate education awareness and
recreation.
However the first point is debatable as ecotourism
is not confined to sanctuary and national parks and
tourism in sanctuary and national parks may not be
ecotourism apart from the fact that they are nature
based.
The world tourism summit in 2002 recognized that
ecotourism embraces the principles of sustainable
tourism, concerning the economic, social and
environmental impacts of tourism. It also embraces
the following specific principles which distinguish
it from the wider concept of sustainable tourism:
Contributes actively to the conservation of
natural and cultural heritage,
Includes local and indigenous communities in
its planning, development and operation, and
contributing to their well-being,
Interprets the natural and cultural heritage of
the destination to visitors,
Lends itself better to independent travelers,
as well as to organized tours for small size
groups.
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I would like to play with the etymology of the
word ecotourism instead of deriving the meaning as
eco-friendly tourism it can be taken as ecosystem
based tourism. Environmental friendly has the
disadvantage of favoring big players who can easily
afford the so called eco-friendly practices on a
larger scale as well. Moreover many service
providers get away with just using recycled paper
or reuse of bathroom towels or installing solar
water heaters and even having golf courses!! in
the name of being environmental friendly.
Ecotourism is an ecosystem based enterprise.
People visit a certain ecosystem for deriving
recreation. An ecotourism manager should understand
that tourism is dependant wholly on the ecosystem
and any damage to it will hamper her/his business.
Thus the objectives of any ecotourism venture
should be profit for the venture and enrichment of
the ecosystem on which it depends. It is obvious
and understood that the ecological value of the
ecosystem cannot be enriched. Thus ecotourism
should strive not to degrade the ecosystem but
enrich it through
1. Increasing the educational and conservation
values of the ecosystem
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2. Through empowerment and employment of local
people, who are part and parcel of the said
ecosystem. One of the main reasons for
ecosystem degradation world over is poverty,
which can be addressed through local people
empowerment.
However there is very little literature or proof
otherwise that suggests that tourists visiting
ecotourism destinations do it with any concern for
conservation or to gain knowledge about the
particular environment nor are they particularly
interested in promoting socio-economic development.
The prime reason and in many instances the only
reason remains leisure or fun. Hence the
conservation, education and local development not
being part of consumer demand are often not things
looked into by the service provider. Thus these
aspects of ecotourism need to be enforced through a
set of guidelines /regulations.
However before closing the discussion on the
definition of ecotourism even at the risk of
sounding clichéd I would like to discuss the
concept of sustainable development since ecotourism
is an important sustainable development tool.
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The concept of sustainable development was
put forth by the World Commission on Environment
and Development in 1987 and is defined by the
Commission as “development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED,
1987). The Commission demands a revival of growth
particularly in developing countries where
environmental detriment is directly linked with
poverty and lack of basic needs. This development,
however, should be environmentally sound, less
material and energy intensive, and more equitable
in its benefits and impacts (Carter, 2001). As per
Agenda 21, sustainable development will only be
achieved through planned, democratic, co-operative
means, including community involvement in decisions
making. Thus these small concepts of sustainable
development needs to be incorporated in the
ecotourism process.
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WHAT IS CERTIFICATION?
To put in very simple words certification refers to
a process which ensures compliance to a certain set
of standards. Ecotourism certification certifies
whether the tourism in question minimizes the
adverse impacts of tourism principally and also
provides social, educational and economic benefits.
This process involves:-
1. A party that seeks certification ( individual
or an organization)
2. A party that has competent authority and
expertise on the subject and grants
certification on the basis of adherence to the
set standards.
3. Accrediting party which crosschecks the
certification process.
The process of setting standards and ensuring
these are met is known as conformity assessment,
and provides the context to outline the development
and use of sustainable tourism standards (Font,
2002). The certification process is described and
illustrated in figure 3.
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WHY WOULD ANYONE GO FOR CERTIFICATION?
Ecotourism certification is a strategic tool for
officially approving and promoting the design,
production, marketing and use of environmentally
benign services and products having a reduced
environmental impact. Moreover certification can
spell advantages for many groups of people as:-
1. The ecotourism service providers get
recognition and brand value in the market.
Certification is a sort of value addition where
the existing product is branded for attributes
Certification seeking party
Owns /operates a product/process/
enterprise
Set of standards for health safety, competence, environmental benignancy, consumer protection, land use planning etc.
Certifying party
Evaluation
Certified
Accreditation party
Cross checks
Certified and accredited
Fig 3. Certification- players and process
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that it already had but wasn’t highlighted.
This can also help them get incentives from the
government in certain cases. The certification
standards/criteria can help new ecotourism
enterprises to understand the standards it
needs to meet.
2. The ecotourism/environment managers can enforce
regulations through a carrot and stick policy
of publicity and incentives as carrots and
penalties and fines for not compliance. The
certification standards can be used a s
yardstick to evaluate the performance of the
service providers and avoid misuse of the word
ecotourism.
3. The environmentally conscious consumers can be
guided to go for the better service/product.
Moreover the uninitiated consumers can also be
guided and educated.
4. The local people are benefited as standards are
expected to include community participation and
benefit sharing as an integral part. Moreover
conservation also includes conservation of the
local culture
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5. Last but not the least the environment as the
criteria should be aimed at minimal damage to
the natural environment.
Lets have a look at some the tangible benefits
actually accrued in the field conditions, The NEAP
has got good success in providing tangible benefits
to certified firms, such as extending tenure in
protected areas, or preferential access. Cathy
Parsons presented data from a survey conducted by
the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism
(CAST) of its members who are participants in the
Green Globe programme (Green Globe Trotter, Volume
2, Number 2, February 2005.) Of the 30 properties
that were surveyed about their participation in the
programme,
• 90% stated they saw a reduction in both water and
electricity bills;
• 67% stated they saw recognizable staff
motivation;
• 40% stated that the hotel received international
exposure as a result of their Green Globe
participation;
• 93% of properties stated that they now have an
effective management system in place and
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• 91% responded that they are extremely or very
satisfied with being certified while 82% stated
that they are extremely or very satisfied with the
benefits of being Green Globe 21 Certified.
WHO CERTIFIES?
The background of some of the certifying agencies
is presented in the table below and it can also be
seen that there are very few agencies that have an
international standing and most of the agencies are
based in the developed countries primarily Europe .
Eco-labeling scheme Awarding agency
International
Green Globe Industry association
ISO-14001 Private
Ecotel Private
Eco-friendly hotels world wide
Private
Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System NGO
Audubon Cooperative Signature Program NGO
Regional
Blue Flag (Europe) NGO
Committed to Green (Europe) Industry Association European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas (Europe)
NGO Location
Kleinwalser Valley Public Authority
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Environmental Award (Germany and Austria)
PATA Green Leaf (Asia Pacific) Industry Association
Tyrolean Environmental Seal of Quality (Austria and Italy)
Public Authority
National Austrian Ecolabel for Tourism (Austria) Public Authority
David Bellamy Award (United Kingdom)
Private Industry Association
Environmental Squirrel (Germany) Industry Association
Green Panda (France) NGO Industry Association
Green Key (Denmark) NGO Industry Association
Green Leaf (Thailand) Industry Association Public Authority
Green Suitcase (Germany) NGO
NASC (Ireland) Public Authority National Ecotourism Accreditation Program (Australia)
Industry Association
Seaside Award (United Kingdom) NGO
We Are an Environmentally-Friendly Operation (Germany)
Industry Association
Sub-national Distintivo Ecoturistico (Spain, Alcudia)
Public Authority
Ecotour (Spain, Balearic Islands) Public Authority
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Green Tourism Business Scheme (United Kingdom, Scotland)
Public Authority
OOKO Grischun (Switzerland, Grabunden) NGO
OOKO Tourism Public Authority
Scottish Golf Course Wildlife Initiative (United Kingdom, Scotland)
NGO Industry Association Public Authority
Table1: List of ecotourism certification systems
(Sasidharan,2002).
WHAT IS THE BASIS FOR CERTIFICATION?
We know that a product is certified for complying
with certain standards. Now how do we determine
whether the standards are met or not. Each standard
is represented by some criteria and each criterion
in turn is measure/determined by a number of
indicators. For example environmental benignity
would have to fulfill a set of criteria with one
criterion being non polluting nature of the
enterprise which in turn would be
measured/determined by a set of indicators like
method of waste disposal, recycling waste, grey
water usage etc.
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WHAT IS CERTIFIED?
The target area of most certification
agencies/programs is accommodation mainly as seen
in figure3.
Figure 4. Target services of ecotourism (WTO, 2002)
Target Services of Ecotourism certification
Sports and leisure facilities, 5%
Tour operators, 7%
Destination, 18%
Transportation, 2%
Accomodation, 68%
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0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Green G
lobeEco
tel
ecofr
iendly
hotel
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Audub
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anctu
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Audub
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blue f
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Europe
an ch
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otecte
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Kleinw
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Tyrolea
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olable
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David
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Enviro
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uitca
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We are
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Sub na
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Ecotou
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Green b
usine
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OOKO Gris
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Scottis
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itiativ
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Focu
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Facilities and services
Facilities Locations
Golf courses
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Figure 4 gives us an idea of what are the focus
areas of the certifying agencies. Most of the
agencies are certifying accommodation with only a
few covering the entire gamut of activities and
even something as far removed from ecotourism as
golf is getting Ecolabels and thus being touted as
ecotourism.
Equally important is the unit of certification i.e.
what is being certified in the respective areas.
Here there is a clear distinction between process
(management system) and performance. Process
certification is a series of steps to be taken, a
process, which is being certified. However this has
been criticized as the ultimate outcome of the
venture may not generate ecotourism. On the other
hand performance certification evaluates the impact
of the product which is more realistic and
practical.
Though not certainly the best example let us
consider the ecotourism site seen in one of the
villages in Buxa Tiger Reserve area during our East
India tour. Considering only broad ecological,
economic and social parameters as the basis for
certification. Process certification would probably
satisfy most of the standards as there was no
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permanent construction, it was nature based, it
involved only local people in its management and it
generated lot of local employment. But the service
provided created quite a lot of environmental
pollution via the garbage left by tourists, there
was no control on the noise produced by the music
systems played loudly and practically no
environmental education was rendered to the
visitors. Thus a performance certification system
would reject it out rightly. A process based
certification does not measure performance meaning
what a business does is not important – what counts
is how it is done.
A LOOK AT SOME CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS
A comparison of some major certification programs
can be seen in the table given below. As discussed
earlier a performance certification is clearly
superior to the process certification. CST, NEAP
and Blue Flag are outcome based. However Blue flag
certifies only beaches hence is rather limited in
its scope. While all the programs have criteria for
measuring its environmental aspect social aspect is
not taken care of by Blue Flag, ISO and Ecotel. All
have a published policy and requirements for staff
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training but transparency is found in CST, NEAP and
Blue Flag which imparts greater confidence by the
public and government agencies.
System ISO -14001
Green Globe-21
Ecotel CST NEAP Blue Flag
Process /Product
Process Process Process Perfor mance
Perfor mance
Perfor mance
Environmental criteria
√ √ √ √ √ √
Social criteria
- √ - √ √ -
Economic criteria
- √ - √ √ -
Published policy
√ √ √ √ √ √
Consult with stakeholders
√ limited - √ √ √
Targeted action plan to reduce impacts
√ √ limited √ √ √
Staff training
√ √ √ √ √ √
Public disclosure of reports
No Evolving No √ √ √
Monitoring of progress
√ √ - √ √ √
Table 2. Comparison of certification systems
Now let us see three certification programs in
greater detail,
GREEN GLOBE-21
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Green globe 21 was initiated in 1998 by the World
Travel and Tourism council (WTTC) and is based on
Agenda 21 principles for sustainable development.
It is an outcome based process and ecotourism
operators can participate at three
levels viz awareness, bench marking and
certification.
Awareness level that helps ecotourism operators to
understand how Green Globe Benchmarking and
Certification works and how to achieve this status.
It also provides information to the operators to
understand the principles of ecotourism and
ecological sustainability.
Benchmarking level independent of full
Certification. Ecotourism operators that have been
successfully benchmarked may use the Green Globe
logo to promote their environmental and social
achievements.
Certification level where ecotourism operators that
satisfy all of the requirements of the Green Globe
International Ecotourism Standard and who are
successfully certified following an on-site visit
by an accredited third-party assessor are entitled
to use the Green Globe logo with distinctive tick.
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11 criteria have to be met with in order to certify
under the green globe 21 program
Criteria 1: Ecotourism policy, performance and
regulatory framework
An ecotourism policy based on the principles of
ecotourism is a prerequisite and it has to comply
with the environmental legislations and
regulations. This should be available for public
viewing. The product has to be first benchmarked
The operators should maintain the current records
of relevant legislations (environmental, public
occupational health and safety, hygiene, employment
legislations etc). They should comply with the
legislations and maintain records of compliance as
well.
Criteria 2: Natural area focus
The product should be primarily nature based and
customer activities in natural areas
Criteria 3: Interpretation and education
The product should have education and
interpretation opportunities and an interpretation
plan for the natural, social and cultural values of
the site/area. The staff should be aware about the
principles of ecotourism and natural, social and
cultural values of the site/area
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Criteria 4: Ecologically compatible infrastructure
The physical infrastructure should be damaging to
the environment and compatible with the physical
and cultural landscape. Sustainably obtained and
recycled building materials should be used which
should have been sourced locally. Area of
construction and evacuation should be kept to a
minimum.
Criteria 5: Ecologically sustainable practices
Environment management plan should be written
addressing the issues of waste minimization, energy
efficiency, water conservation, treatment of
wastewater and effluent, biodiversity conservation,
air quality, lighting (including the requirements
of a dark sky policy) and noise (including the
requirements of a natural quiet policy).
Criteria 6: Contributing to conservation
A contribution to conservation statement is written
which primarily looks at conservation of rare and
threatened species and antiques while promoting
ecolabelled products.
Criteria 7: Ecotourism benefiting local communities
It should encourage local employment, sale of local
goods and handicrafts. Cash or in-kind investments
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should be made by the product to community
infrastructure, events and activities.
Criteria 8: Cultural respect and sensitivity
Local cultures should be respected. Correct
information and interpretation of local cultures
should be done accurately.
Criteria 9: Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction to be adjudged through
customer feed back
Criteria 10: Responsible marketing
While marketing correct and accurate information
about the natural and cultural significance should
be given. Moreover customers should be informed
properly about the legal status of the area; code
of conduct, no of people allowed etc. The marketing
should be realistic and not misleads the consumer.
Criteria 11: Ecotourism product minimal impact code
of conduct
The product should develop a minimal impact code
which should be firmly entrenched in the principles
of sustainability. This should be made available to
the entire staff and also to the customers. An
advanced ecotourism product will in addition to the
above should incorporate peer review of an
ecotourism industry and also receive endorsements
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as appropriate from protected area managers, NGOs,
landowners and government conservation agencies.
The codes developed are walking and trekking codes,
camping code, vehicle use code, boat use code,
snorkeling and scuba diving code, trail riding and
animal tours code, aircraft use code, nocturnal
wildlife viewing code, marine mammal and mega
fauna viewing code, rock climbing and abseiling
code, caving code for show and wild caves and
fishing codes.
CERTIFICATION OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM (CST)
CST categorizes and certifies each tourism company
according to the degree to which its operations
comply to a model of sustainability. To this
effect, four fundamental aspects are evaluated viz
Physical- biological environment, Hotel facilities
(internal environmental management practices),
Customers and Socio-economic environment.
These four general areas are divided in general
descriptors that represent sources of
positive/negative impacts generated by the hotel
activities. For each general descriptor there is
set of categorization questions designed to
evaluate the hotel performance. Each and every one
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of these 153 questions refers to an element of
sustainability with which the firm should comply in
order to qualify in any one of the different stages
or levels of fulfillment or “sustainability
levels". Each question evaluates a specific
standard or condition with which a hotel need
comply (Yes = compliance; No = non-compliance). The
questions are weighted by their relevance on a
scale of 1 to 3 (3 = most important).
The final score for each of the four general areas is obtained as follows:
The smallest final score determines the
sustainability category obtained by a hotel. The
final rating is assigned on a scale of 0 to 5, in
which each number indicates the relative position
of the firm in terms of sustainability. This scheme
provides a way to classify the tourist firms in
terms of "levels” in a system very similar to the
commercial categorization of hotels by means of the
well known stars system.
Level % attained
0 <20
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1 20-39
2 40-59
3 60-79
4 80-9
5 >95
NATIONAL ECOTOURISM ACCREDITATION PROGRAM
(NEAP)
The NEAP is an initiative and a business initiative
of Ecotourism Australia. NEAP certifies
accommodation, tours and attractions for nature
tourism and ecotourism. For certifying nature
tourism the product has to
Focuses on personally and directly
experiencing nature
Represents best practices for environmentally
sustainable tourism
Consistently meets customer expectations and
Is marketed accurately and leads to realistic
expectations
For certification an ecotourism initiative has to
Focuses on personally and directly
experiencing nature
Provides opportunities to experience nature in
ways that lead to greater appreciation,
understanding and enjoyment
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Ecolabels and Ecotourism
Positively contributes to the conservation of
natural areas
Represents best practices for environmentally
sustainable tourism
Provides constructive ongoing contributions to
local communities
Is sensitive to, interprets and involves local
cultures; particularly indigenous culture
Consistently meets customer expectations and
Is marketed accurately and leads to realistic
expectations
There are three categories of certification viz;
Product Nature tourism
Ecotourism Advanced ecotourism
Focuses on personally and directly experiencing nature
√ √ √
Provides opportunities to experience nature in ways that lead to greater appreciation, understanding and enjoyment
optional
Mandatory but not
necessarily core to
experience
Core to experience
Positively contributes to the conservation of natural areas
- √ √
Represents best √ √ √
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practices for environmentally sustainable tourism Provides constructive ongoing contributions to local communities
- √ √
Is sensitive to, interprets and involves local cultures; particularly indigenous culture
- √ √
Consistently meets customer expectations and
√ √ √
Is marketed accurately and leads to realistic expectations
√ √ √
Focuses on personally and directly experiencing nature
√ √ √
Table 3. Categories of certification in NEAP
1. Natural Area focus- Here the product is rated
according to the number of hours spent in
natural areas, the customer: guide ratios in
vehicle and non vehicle tours, accommodation
available, incorporation of nature as a major
feature in advertising etc.
2. Interpretation – Interpretation is optional for
nature tourism. The type of interpretation,
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personal or non personal, the language,
accuracy of information, performance of
interpretation through consumer feed back and
has been covered. Interpretation plan with a
budget should be made. Details on training of
staff and guides are also mentioned.
3. Environmental sustainability –This covers
understanding and awareness of staff about
sustainability. Environmental emergencies and
contingent or response plans should be
prepared. Environmental management plan under
ISO-14001 and environmental audit should be
done. Location, EIA, site disturbances,
rehabilitation of site, drainage, soil, water
management, pollution and environmental
quality, energy efficiency are the other
indicators which are rated. Beside this also
contained a detailed provision to evaluate
wildlife disturbances.
4. Contribution to conservation – what are the
conservation initiatives and the natural area
management plans.
5. Working with local communities – This criterion
includes local benefits, degree of involvement
of the local communities, whether tangible
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support/benefits have been given to local
communities or not and the interaction of the
service provider with the local community.
6. Cultural component - involvement of indigenous
people and groups, accurate relay of
information and minimal behavioral impact are
measured.
7. Customer satisfaction – Customer feed backs
through questionnaires, structured interviews,
visitor book comments and reviews by tourism
professionals
8. Responsible marketing – the type of information
given while marketing the product
Green globe CST NEAP Energy efficiency and conservation management
√ √ √
Fresh water conservation and management
√ √ √
Minimal use of non renewable natural resources
limited √ √
Ecosystem conservation and
√ √ √
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management Land use planning and management
√ √ √
Air quality protection
√ √ √
Noise control
√ √ √
Waste water management
√ √ √
Waste minimisation
√ √ √
Table 4. Comparison of Environmental criteria
Green globe
CST NEAP
Protection of human rights
- √ √
Eliminate forced and compulsory labour
Limited Limited -
Ban child labour
limited - -
Eliminate discrimination
Limited √ √
Guest education
√ √ √
Table 5. Comparison of social criteria
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IS EVERYTHING RIGHT WITH CERTIFICATION?Many
criteria and standards are qualitative, subjective
and imprecise and therefore difficult to measure.
Moreover each program creates its own criteria.
This leads to a lot of confusion. There are already
certification programs and their logos (figure 5)
out in the market which can actually confuse the
consumer and affect his decisions adversely.
Figure 5. Some ecotourism certification logos
Some companies grant use of logo without
certification as soon as the companies register
with them or the different logos granted have
subtle differences which may create misconceptions.
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Ecolabels and Ecotourism
The logos granted by Green Globe at different
levels. There is only a slight difference in the
benchmarked and certified.
Many criteria are without liability and much is
based on self assessment. Moreover it is hard to
see the on ground effect of criteria.
There have been proposals for a uniform
certification system but criteria and indicators
cannot be uniform for all sites. A single
certification system can also lead to a monopoly
like situation.
INDIA
At the beginning of my study one of the objectives
was the evolution of a protocol for certification
of ecotourism in Indian countries. However as I
went forward with my study I realised that
certification was much more serious a business than
I had thought or read. Most of the certification
programs are based in developed countries so it
would mean sheer inanity to simply design criteria
and standards on the basis of those certification
programs. I could not dare to go forward and
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brashly present a certification protocol without
proper field investigations and consultations,
which unfortunately could not be covered in the
time I had. However I have made small suggestions
which I felt are essential while making a
certification system for our country.
STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION
Stakeholder identification is essential and it is
important to note that the service
providers/beneficiaries are not the only
stakeholders, besides the government and tourists
the other people in the area are also the stake
holders since they share their common property
resources with the tourists. Ecotourism should
not lead to something that leads to a negative
impact on the local populace like water scarcity
or drug trade in the area or sharp price hike of
essentials. Besides service providers include at
least two to three different strata of people
including the larger service providers like hotel
owners and tour operators and smaller ones like
guides, porters, dhaba owners etc and all strata
should be properly represented. Local governing
bodies too have a stake.
CRTERIA AND INDICATORS
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The framing of criteria and indicators cannot be
done by few individuals sitting within four walls
of an office. Criteria and indicators framework
would require participation of all the
stakeholders besides the government, experts on
the subject and local NGO members. It is very
essential to involve communities since no one but
the locals can say better about the resources and
the constraints and how each component of
ecotourism can/is affecting their lives in both
negative and positive aspects. A broad framework
is necessary for each region based on agro
climatic cultural and linguistic criteria eg.
Darjeeling hills, North Bengal plains and South
Bengal could have common broad framework under a
state framework. Then local and regional
differences can be worked out by discussing these
criteria and addition/ deletion or modification
of criteria and indicators can give a better
certification system. Moreover the involvement of
the communities would not only address their need
but also increase awareness among people. The
public themselves can also act as watchdogs and
regulatory bodies.
SMALL ENTERPRISES
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Our certification systems need to accommodate the
needs of smaller enterprises which may have
greater social and environmental value but less
capacity to pay.
CARRYING CAPACITY
Carrying capacity studies need to be done and
certification standards should bear in mind
capacity limits.
CONCLUSION
Certification is a very useful tool to make tourism
sustainable. It has to be supported by strong
government policies and guidelines not to mention
the relevant legislations and regulations.
While governments and state agencies should use
ecolabels as a regulatory tool to achieve what
ecolabels are meant to do - to help protect the
natural environment from untrammelled tourism and
to ensure that tourism benefits conservation. The
public sector can use certification to exclude
operators from activities, areas and destinations
if they fail to meet the minimum standard.
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Environmental protection cannot be left to the
market, however noble the intentions of voluntary
ecolabels are. Nor can governments abdicate their
responsibilities and expect NGOs and other civil
society groupings to play watchdog - they don't
have the teeth or the wherewithal to take business
on. State regulated certification is a tool
available to governments to ensure responsible
travel. It's not the only one, and it certainly
isn't a "marketing tool".
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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1. Carter, E. and Lowman, G. (edit) (1994)
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