The Environmental Benefits Of Ecotourism

Ecotourism is the responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well being of the local people and involves interpretation and education. Ecotourism is a new form of tourism that is recently being adopted in underdeveloped countries. Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in México. There are no industries and there are very few ways to earn revenue. Most of the communities live in poverty and there is a lot of immigration to USA. 25 years ago some NGO`s started helping to develop a couple of ecotourism projects in regions of this state. They educated people towards sustainable development, environment protection and sustainable tourism.

Nowadays there are over 60 ecotourism centers where communities seek to gather money by using natural heritage. The money they get from ecotourism is reinvested in the communities, environment, culture and local needs. These projects have been successful in their environmental purposes. Before this projects started forests were being depleted and wildlife was being a threat and now there lots of efforts to protect the environment. It is prohibited to hunt animals and cut trees; this has lead to the

The major attraction is turtles museum. There are ecological trails. There are animals like birds, turtles, dolphins and crocodiles. There is also the biggest natural Jacuzzi in the world. Most of the tourists stay for a few days. There isn’t anything artificial is just nature and people from the communities seeking to make a living while they protect their natural resources. Tourists come mainly from bahias de huatulco and from other beaches. It is also frequent the visit of back packers from the United States and Europe. Ecotourism as an economic activity caused a change in the attitude of people. Many farmers and fishers became micro entrepreneurs. They were involved in a work that allows them to make money and it was accepted by the