Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study presents the results of research that consisted of the verification of potentialities and perspectives on the practice of ecotourism activities at Itabaiana Hill, and considers the institutional, legal, economical, ecological, and cultural dimensions of its sustainability. Itabaiana Hill is a Conservation Unit in the phase of implementation as an ecological station since 1978. As such, its use is restricted to preservation, scientific research and environmental education. In the face of the occurrence of conflicts and the dissatisfaction of the nearby communities, due to the prohibition of the Hill s use, we understand ecotourism as a conciliatory activity between the local communities development and nature preservation. Environmental preservation and tourism activity are compatible and they can allow the maintenance of culture and income generation of the populations near the Conservation Units. In ecotourism, nature is the attracting consumable and its practice is based on the ethics of sustainability that understands nature as a natural and cultural asset. The variables adopted were based on the studies of Beni (2002) and Bóullon (2002), supported by the dimensions of sustainability. As research instruments, bibliographical and documental sources, interviews, visits to Itabaiana Hill with geographical reference to tourist points, and photographic records were used. The natural complex that forms Itabaiana Hill, 669m high, is easily noticed against the low landscape around it and was taken as a macro-scenery, subdivided into four potential units for ecotourism: the summit, the West vertex, the East vertex, and the valleys. Its morphology presents an almost vertical and rocky vertex to the West and another one with a softer declination to the East. This vertex is covered by rupestrian fields, cerrados (woodland/savanna regions in South America), restinga (coastal vegetation), and mata atlântica (Atlantic forest), through which four springs with riverbeds with waterfalls, and small basins of accumulation that form natural swimming pools flow, covered by gallery forest, making up a number of ecosystems of great value, that justify restrictions to the use of the area. Another relevant aspect that was identified consists of the incorporation of various elements of the Hill into the culture of Sergipe through stories and legends, which turns it into a special and potential place for ecotourism. As for the perspectives related to the opening of Itabaiana Hill to the use of ecotourism, the interviews conducted with landowners in the area, tourism agencies, tour guides, municipal and state organs, and IBAMA Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources supported our understanding that the use of ecotourism presents itself as a possible alternative, once there is a change made in the typology of the Conservation Unit, from an Ecological Station to another compatible type. Although there is already a study being developed by IBAMA, supported by Law 9.985/2000 that instituted the National System of Conversation Units (SNUC), and that encourages ecotourism in Conservation Units and their surrounding areas as an alternative for development, a retrospective analysis of the process demonstrates a lack of involvement and commitment, at various levels, by the ones socially and institutionally involved with the preservation of the natural and cultural assets that constitute Itabaiana Hill. / Este estudo apresenta os resultados da pesquisa que consistiu na verificação das potencialidades e perspectivas da prática da atividade ecoturística na Serra de Itabaiana, considerando as dimensões institucional, legal, econômica, ecológica e cultural de sua sustentabilidade. A Serra de Itabaiana é uma Unidade de Conservação em fase de implantação como estação ecológica desde 1978. Como tal, seu uso é restrito à preservação, à pesquisa científica e à educação ambiental. Em face da ocorrência de conflitos e insatisfação das comunidades do entorno devido às proibições de uso, entendemos o ecoturismo como atividade conciliadora entre desenvolvimento e preservação da natureza. Preservação ambiental e atividade turística são compatíveis e podem permitir a manutenção da cultura e a geração de renda das populações do entorno de Unidades de Conservação. No ecoturismo a natureza é o atrativo de consumo e sua prática é norteada pela ética da sustentabilidade que internaliza a natureza como patrimônio natural e cultural. As variáveis adotadas foram norteadas pelos estudos de Beni (2002) e Bóullon (2002), fundamentadas nas dimensões de sustentabilidade. Como instrumental, utilizou-se de fontes bibliográficas e documentais, entrevistas, visitas à Serra de Itabaiana com georreferenciamento de pontos ecoturísticos e registros fotográficos. O conjunto natural que se constitui a Serra de Itabaiana, cuja elevação de 669 m destaca-se na paisagem rebaixada de seu entorno, foi tomado como uma macropaisagem, subdividida em quatro unidades potenciais para o ecoturismo: o topo, a vertente Oeste, a vertente Este e os vales. Sua morfologia apresenta uma vertente abrupta e rochosa à Oeste e outra com decalagem mais suave à Este. Esta vertente é coberta por campos rupestres, cerrados, restinga e mata atlântica, por onde correm, envoltos pela mata de galeria, quatro nascentes com leitos encachoeirados e pequenas bacias de acumulação que formam piscinas naturais e conformam uma diversidade de ecossistemas de grande valor, justificando restrições ao uso. Outro aspecto relevante identificado consiste na incorporação de vários elementos da Serra na cultura sergipana através de histórias e lendas, o que a torna um lugar especial e potencial para o ecoturismo. Quanto às perspectivas de abertura da Serra de Itabaiana ao uso do ecoturismo, as entrevistas realizadas junto a proprietários de terra, moradores do entorno, agências de turismo, guias e órgãos municipais, estaduais e ao IBAMA - Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e de Recursos Naturais Renováveis, balizaram nosso entendimento de que o uso ecoturístico apresenta-se como alternativa possível, desde que se proceda uma mudança na tipologia da Unidade de Conservação, de Estação Ecológica para outro tipo compatível. Embora já tenha um estudo em andamento no IBAMA, amparado pela Lei nº 9.985/2000 que instituiu o Sistema Nacional de Unidades de Conservação (SNUC), e incentiva o ecoturismo em Unidades de Conservação e no seu entorno, como alternativa de desenvolvimento, a análise retrospectiva do processo demonstra carência de envolvimento e compromisso, em vários níveis, dos atores sociais e institucionais envolvidos com a preservação do patrimônio natural e cultural que se constitui a Serra de Itabaiana.

Kenya has one of the oldest and most developed national park and reserve systems among developing nations in Africa. Kenya's ecosystems have felt the impact of tourists, from big game hunters to photographic safaris, for over a century. This project contains the research on which the author intends to base a future book about Kenyan ecoturism for the general public.

abstract: Ecotourism is defined as a traveling distance where tourist interact with environment and enjoy nature. It is a market segment in the tourism sector that can provide several benefits if managed properly. Although ecotourism can provide economic benefits for Saudi Arabia, there is not enough attention granted to ecotourism facilities and services in desert sites. The current study attempts to fill this gap by aiming to explore families’ perceptions of environmental desert settings that support their ecotourism needs and to identify opportunities to develop services, expand activities areas, and infrastructures. Ultimately, this study addresses families’ ecotourism needs for the promotion of sustainable desert ecotourism development that is inclusive to most Saudi tourists. This study uses qualitative research methods, including observations, surveys and interviews of families who have visited Saudi Arabian deserts between December 2019 and March 2020. The findings are analyzed and translated into a set of design guidelines for existing and for new sustainable ecotourist sites within Saudi Arabian desert environments. The implications of this study are two-fold: to (1) educate the design industry to take into account ecotourism visitors’ perceptions of environmental settings and infrastructures needs without compromising its natural resources; and (2) highlight the value of sustainable ecotourism so that decision makers take an action to ensure stability of the growing market demand of desert tourism. This study concludes with a discussion of findings reached that can promote more sustainable ecotourism experiences at Saudi Arabian desert sites. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Design 2020

No description available.

Understanding how African elephants (Loxodonta africana) respond to human interactions in ecotourism operations is critical to safeguarding animal and human welfare and sustaining wildlife ecotourism activities. We investigated the stress response of elephants to a variety of tourist activities over a 15-month period at Abu Camp in northern Botswana. We compared fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations across three elephant groups, including: eight elephants in an elephant-tourism operation (Abu herd), three elephants previously reintroduced back into the wild from the Abu herd, and wild elephants. There were no differences in FGM concentrations between the three groups of elephants. The highest observed FGM concentrations were associated with episodic events (e.g. intraherd conflict, loud noise, physical injury) unrelated to tourist activities. FGM concentrations differed between the elephant-tourist activities with ride only and mixed ride/walk activities eliciting higher FGM concentrations compared to days when there were no elephant-tourist interactions. The elephant experience tourism industry faces challenges in managing elephants who’s aggressive or unpredictable behavior makes them ill-suited to captivity, training, and interaction with handlers and tourists. Reintroduction of these elephants back into the wild may be a favorable solution if the welfare of released individuals, recipient wild animal populations, and human populations can be ensured. We describe the post-release movements of two African elephants, one female and one bull, from an elephant-back-safari enterprise in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. We compared the movements of the female with that of two wild females collared in the same wildlife management concession. We assess their home range size, proximity to human dwellings, and fidelity to their former home range as former members of their semi-captive, working herd from which they were released. We found significant differences between the home range size of our released elephant and that of the two wild elephants. Additionally, the released female and released bull occurred more frequently in close proximity (within 250 m) to tourist lodges throughout the Delta. The released elephants also frequented sites used by the working Abu herd with greater frequency than the wild elephants, and this visitation rate did not significantly decline during respective four- and two-year post-release monitoring periods, despite the positive growth in home range size.

Tourism has been utilising global biodiversity for a relatively long time. In many countries, such as Finland and South Africa, biodiversity forms an increasingly important resource for tourism. The mutual and sometimes conflicting relation between biodiversity and tourism is clearly evident in conservation areas. The importance of National Parks, for example, is highlighted by the protection and conservation of biodiversity through ecotourism to retain visitors while increasing experiences: it is apparent that a more diverse and unique destination would have greater appeal to all visitors. However, the increasing interest also creates impacts to environment, visitor‟s experiences and management needs. This research examines and determines the tangible level of importance of biodiversity in Oulanka National Park in Finland compared to Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa with the added effects on visitor experiences. Apart from the tangible level, this research also examines the affects of biodiversity richness on visitor experiences and perceptions regarding nature management regulations at Oulanka and Golden Gate. This is determined through various biodiversity attributes with visitors specifying the importance regarding the richness of plants, habitats, wildlife, birdlife and unspoilt nature and biodiversity hotspots. More than three quarters of respondents specified that their relationships regarding biodiversity and experiences are strongly connected thereby indicating the role and importance of biodiversity in Oulanka National Park and Golden Gate Highlands National Park. Findings also illustrate respondents‟ views on nature management regulations of the national parks and together with the known role of biodiversity, suggest the way forward for Oulanka and Golden Gate through ecotourism and a Biodiversity Tourism Management Guidelines (BTMG) framework. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Tourism Management / unrestricted

Biodiversity loss caused by human activities is considered to be one of the greatest challenges to the stability of our planet. Protected areas emerged as a solution to this challenge, but they are not always successful due to the exclusion and displacement of local communities that live in proximity to the protected area, especially in low income countries. The Maasai Mara conservancy model presents an opportunity to mitigate these problems by increasing wildlife habitat and simultaneously improving the livelihoods of surrounding Maasai communities. However, the model is threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic which has suspended the international tourism on which the conservancies rely. In order to understand how the model can potentially increase its resilience to future global shocks, I interviewed stakeholders about their experiences within the model, during the pandemic and relating to past global shocks. Using the concept of environmentality, I sought to evaluate the structure of the model, its historical roots and the governance tools which enable its function. Some already existing issues were emphasised by the impact of the pandemic, while new opportunities for evolution were also unearthed. The most prominent theme arising from these conversations was that of equity - between tourism partners and landowners, relating to the rights of women and to the place of Maasai youth in the future of the model. The colonial history of wildlife conservation also created discussions around the exclusion of local tourists and the underlying biases that may exist. Finally, I attempt to understand how the governance enacted within the conservancy model creates different kinds of environmental subjects. Although previous discussions on environmental governance have assumed that regulation is successful, I illustrate here that power is not unidirectional because resistance and negotiation by the governed population is common. By interrogating the different layers of environmentality and how they interplay, I trace the creation new environmental subjectivities in those who are involved in the conservation of wildlife in the Maasai Mara.

As concern regarding the environmental impact of the regular tourism industry grows, tourists are increasingly seen carrying out activism actions and rallying others to create changes in the industry. A segment of the tourism industry that meets the demand is ecotourism, a more sustainable form of travelling that is seen as environmentalism in and of itself. Despite growing demand and communication efforts, ecotourism bookings remain low. Activism from ecotourists should be able to turn this around, but very little research has been done on this. Interviews show that ecotourists see ecotourism as activism, perform activism actions, but have difficulty with self-identifying as activists. The reasons for this are a negative connotation with activism or an unachievable high set bar. Despite self-identifying as an ecotourist, ecotourists’ ecotourism knowledge is low. According to them, communication regarding ecotourism is too limited and not disseminated sufficiently enough. This makes it difficult for ecotourists to be informed about ecotourism while other topics such as sustainability and activism do not even require an active attitude to be informed. Ecotourists get their information on sustainability, ecotourism and environmentalism mainly from online, news and audio-visual sources.

Compliance is a key feature for the management of non-consumptive wildlife viewing, as it can link management measures to performance and aid in developing recommendations that promote sustainable practices. Whale watching is a prominent wildlife viewing industry that is steadily rising in demand around the world. Managing vessel-cetacean encounters and operator behaviour (both commercial and recreational) is key to limiting impacts on cetaceans, yet the scale of regulatory compliance is often poor or unknown. Although efforts exist to regulate whale watching, challenges arise for the assessment of compliance in marine environments, as they are inherently spatially vast, lack physical boundaries, and can involve mobile stressors (i.e. vessels) and species. Chapter 1 reviews the shift in paradigms from consumptive to non-consumptive activities and highlights challenges for those tasked with managing the growing wildlife tourism industry, and in particular, whale watching. After reviewing a suite of measures prevalent around the world, this chapter then focuses on the Salish Sea’s approach to managing whale watching. This area epitomizes a major whale watching hub and displays complex, multi-jurisdictional and constantly evolving measures. Due to a lack of knowledge in this region, Chapter 2 shifts from theory to practice and assesses regulatory compliance with marine mammal distance regulations from 2018 to 2019 in the Salish Sea. Although compliance was nearly 80%, key drivers including vessel and species type were found to significantly influence non-compliance. Recreational vessels were non-compliant 41.9% of the time and 74.2% of non-compliant encounters occurred around killer whales across both years. The findings of the study demonstrate that case-specific investigation of compliance is necessary as each region is unique in its approach to management. Lastly, recommendations are proposed that can benefit marine managers and policymakers to enhance the performance of measures and subsequently minimize risk to cetaceans. / Graduate

Ecotourism is a popular tool for biodiversity conservation and local community development. It has long been argued that the depth of community involvement and support is imperative in creating effective and sustainable ecotourism programs, although widespread community involvement is rarely achieved in practice. Local perceptions of the benefits and impacts of ecotourism development and held values for the resources utilized in ecotourism activities may influence community support and decisions to be involved; however, little is understood as to why such perceptions exist. This research highlights community perceptions of ecotourism and held values for sea turtles and explains the emergence of these perceptions within two villages on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. Data were collected through face-to-face community surveys, key-informant interviews, and participant observation during the summer of 2012. The field data revealed that community members did not perceive ecotourism to be widely beneficial, but instead viewed the government, people who work in the tourism industry, and tourists themselves to benefit from ecotourism practices. Further, community members perceived ecotourism as negatively affecting poor people, people who do not work in the tourism industry, and the environment. These perceptions of who or what is affected by ecotourism development were traced back through centuries of political-ecological processes on St. Kitts that have mediated local people’s relationship with their land and resources, as well as their relationships with each other. The results of this research suggest a focus on the role of ecotourism in amending the persistent marginalization of local people from their resources by applying a participatory development approach to ecotourism development through collaboration with existing community groups and social networks.