:: Environmental Program: The Last Noah's Ark ::

ECOTOURISM

Ecotourism: development's instrument
As some data of the World’s Tourism Organization, tourism moves more than U$ 3,5 trillion annually, and it is considered by many research’s organs as a division of the commercial activity which most grows up in the world. It’s calculated that more than 180 million people live directly or indirectly of this activity.
    Considering its growing producing different interests, tourism started to be segmented in different acting’s areas. So, this way emerged the cultural tourism, religious tourism, sportive tourism, infant tourism, third age tourism, gastronomic tourism, rural tourism and the ecological tourism or ecotourism.
    The last modality of tourism, the ecotourism, has been developing a lot in the last years, especially in countries that are called emergent countries as Brazil, because there are natural resources almost always. Your country, especially, still possess big natural areas and an important characteristic, it is the country of bigger biodiversity in the globe, what makes it one of the bigger potentials for this new way of tourism.
    The name “ecotourism” is really new, having been created officially in 1985, but just in 1987 was created the National Technical Commission, formed by “Ibama” and “Embratur”, ordering the activities in this work. Being it a new activity, there isn’t yet a consensus about the definition of ecotourism. For Brazil’s Ecotourism’s Center, ecotourism “ is the practice of sporting, educational or leisure’s tourism, in natural area, that uses of the natural and cultural patrimony as a support way, incentives its conservation, promotes the formation of an environmental conscious and guarantees the comfort of involved populations”. As said by “Embratur” in the Rules for an Ecotourism’s National Politics, ecotourism “is a continuation of touristic activity, that uses of the natural and cultural patrimony as a support way, incentives its conservation and looks for the formation of an environmental conscious through the environment’s interpretation, promoting the populations’ comfort”.
    We can also define ecotourism as “the tourism’s ramification that uses natural resources as a support way, permitting the reutilization by the user”.
     As there still are important regions of natural areas in Brazil and it is the country of bigger diversity in the world, its ecotouristic potential is too big, that has brought the development of this activity, with the movement of millions “reais”.
    The ecotourism, in spite of being a line that attracts a specific segment of tourists, is also connected to the traditional touristic potential, because a lot of “conventional tourists” sometimes become ecotourists in their trips, using offered programs in this section. Knowing that the conventional tourism can get millions people in the world annually, ecotourism can get some millions too, not saying the proper ecotourists.
    Aware about our potential and about the interests of million people in the activities about ecotourism, private and public sectors devoted efforts in the institution of an ecotourism’s development politic, starting the “Rules for an Ecotourism’s National Politics”, with the following objectives: make compatible with the ecotourism’s activities with the conservation of natural areas; strengthen the interinstitutional cooperation; promote the effective participation of all the segments in the sector; promote and stimulate human resources’ capacitating for ecotourism; promote, incentive, and stimulate the creation and improvement of the infra-structure for the ecotourism activity and promote the ecotourism’s use as a way of environmental education.
    The implantation of these objectives obviously demands appropriated actions and strategies, as ruling this activity by laws, capacitate people, change experiences among the involved sectors, develop methods of evaluation and attendance with statistic researches and a survey of the problems, improve the services’ quality, implant structures keeping with it, do the spreading and also proceed plans about environmental education to the involved people, ecotourists and the population.
    We cannot forget that the proper ecotourism is diversifying that is already being said about leisure, sportive, adventure’s ecotourism etc. Just for having an idea about this diversification, the sportive ecotourism has already the rafting, buoy-cross, climbing, free dive, caverns, canoeing, bike-cross, ballooning etc.
    Obviously, all this gamma of activities that form the ecotourism bring the opportunity of developing jobs and undertakings, as hotels, lodges, restaurants, crafts’ commerce, commerce in general and some other things, what is really important in the development of a region. Therefore, ecotourism is an important instrument of supported development, extolled in the 21 Agenda, what we, conscious people desire.

ANTÔNIO SILVEIRA RIBEIRO DOS SANTOS
Judge/SP. Creator of the Environmental Program: The Last Noah’s Ark.

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