In about a week my wife and I are flying to Thailand for a vacation to celebrate the defense of her PhD dissertation.
Let's get the dirty part out of the way. Between the two of us, we are laying down an elephant-sized carbon footprint with our flights half-way around the world. This is slightly tempered by the fact that we have not flown much at all in the last few years. Certainly not a greenius move though.
We are going to be doing some so-called ecotourism by visiting and staying at the Thailand Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Thailand. We will be doing one of the Mahout Training Courses.
A Mahout is essentially an elephant master. Southeast Asia has a long history of domesticating elephants and Mahouts have been an essential part of this process. For thousands of years Mahouts and their elephants were employed in agriculture, most recently in the logging industry in Thailand. Recently though the Thai government outlawed the use of elephants for such purposes. This has led to hundreds of Mahouts and their elephants being out of work and it is not cheap to keep a multi-ton animal well fed. A lot of these pairs now roam cities begging for money in exchange for quick rides on the elephant or worse the elephants are killed because the Mahout can not take care of it anymore. (For a more in-depth account and interesting commentary from someone who has gone to the TECC go here.)
As you may know, Marija and I are both vegetarians and vocal advocates for animal rights. We did a lot of research in trying to decide whether or not to visit this center. Marija is pretty much completely against zoos and the like that keep animals in captivity. I am a good bit more torn on the issue. I would love to see man stop encroaching on the natural world and even revert a lot of "civilization" back to a more pristine state, but I know this ain't happening. I think the best we can work for is a sustainable hybrid existence between civilization and nature, which I think if stable over time the natural world can adapt to eventually. In my opinion, well-run nature-like zoos and ecotourism sites fit within this thinking, especially if they are able to keep a threatened species going through captive breeding programs.
So off we go to Thailand to experience for ourselves whether this ecotourism business is sustainable and an acceptable home for these threatened giants. I'll post a follow up in this regard when we return.
Have any of you done any ecotourism and if so what is your opinion of it as a green or not so green enterprise?
2 comments:
Yeah, the inevitable spread of development will not halt until something drastic happens, but I agree that we should pursue a hybrid model, utilizing eco-tourism as a compromise between economic and environmental interests.
As far as my experience with eco-tourism, I recently spent a few days in the Yum Balam biosphere off the north coast of the Yucatan in Mexico. The flora and fauna was beautiful, and the locals I met were so passionate about preserving the ecology of the region. I think eco-tourism is my favorite type of tourism, or maybe just behind culinary tourism (chianti and chinghiale in Tuscany is hard to beat).
Last thought...yeah, there's just no way to be a "green" if you're flying halfway around the world. After my wife and I went to Italy last year, we decided to limit our trips to the Western hemisphere, preferably on this side of the equator. This leaves North America, Central America, and the Caribbean as our vacation destinations. Lots of good eco-tourism in those parts of the world, though.
Well said Mike. Your post also highlights another benefit of ecotourism; giving impoverished locals a relatively sustainable form of revenue.
As an update, we are not going to TECC anymore. We found a place that is more of a true elephant sanctuary: http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/. Here you get to see, watch, and even bathe rescued elephants but they aren't ridden or made to do silly tricks like painting, etc.
I still think groups like TECC have a place, especially in the context of a hybrid world.
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