| Visiting new areas is fun, can be eye opening, and | | | | In addition, ecotourism usually visits beautiful, |
| exiting. But jumping on a jet airplane, staying at a | | | | unpolluted, natural areas, and often attractions include |
| resort in the wilds or a beautiful beach third world | | | | the biodiversity of the area including its plants and |
| county with air conditioning and more comforts than | | | | animals. Many ecotourism trips also include a strong |
| at home, is not usually environmentally sound. Sure, | | | | learning component, and may also encourage or |
| some locals may have unemployment otherwise | | | | schedule green transport options like walking, biking, |
| unavailable, but the carbon costs of getting there, | | | | and non motor watercraft locomotion. |
| building the place and keeping it up and running are | | | | Ecotourism can be simple or complex and cheap or |
| enormous, not to mention your out of pocket | | | | inexpensive. A local camping trip might qualify as |
| expenses. There are more environmentally conscious | | | | ecotourism depending on how it's done, as well as be |
| options. | | | | a lot of fun. For example my kids and I are planning |
| Ecotourism could be defined many different ways | | | | on hiking into the woods behind our house and |
| and in fact people do have different definitions, but | | | | spending the night in a tent next summer. We'll bring |
| one reasonable one is from the International | | | | a birding guide, look for wildlife and edible plants, and |
| Ecotourism Society which describes ecotourism as | | | | do our best to leave no trace of our trip. A more |
| "Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves | | | | expensive and complex example might be one of the |
| the environment and sustains the well-being of the | | | | many ecotourism trips to the rainforest in Central |
| local people." | | | | America. |