The pressures of ecotourism go beyond the natural world. Ecotourism can also disrupt local people and their social structures. Indeed, it is difficult to bring the benefits of tourism to traditional people without disrupting their way of life.

Ecotourists bring their modern material comforts, such as preserved foods, cameras, razors and so on, with them. These can often be unimagined luxuries for local people who cannot pay for them without major changes in their lifestyles.

The local use of the forest for firewood, meat and agriculture can sometimes conflict with tourists' wishes to keep the land pristine. To protect the tourist industry, regulations are sometimes made that prevent locals from using these forest resources. With their livelihood eroded and often without the skills to work in the tourism industry, local people can be left with no alternative income. There have been many cases where the original inhabitants of an area are pushed out so outsiders can move in to try to profit from tourism.

Careful planning is needed to attract enough tourists to make money and still maintain the unspoiled forest and indigenous communities within them. Opening an area to tourists without such planning can quickly destroy the forests upon which the tourism is based. Alta Floresta is one example of a tourist project that has been planned with care.

Case Study: Alta Floresta, Brazil

Alta Floresta, a town in the Brazilian highlands, is the home of an innovative research centre and ecotourism centre. The research centre was set up to study sustainable ways of using the forest and to help people in the area benefit from the changes that come from ecotourism.

The project emphasises community involvement through schools, hospitals and training programs. Local people are trained in sustainable farming practices and the harvesting of non-timber forest products. Instead of being forced out of the economy, they are trained to work in the tourist centre and lodge, thus becoming an integral part of the whole project. The tourist centre also educates travellers on the biology of the rainforest and causes of its destruction.

For more information, see an analysis of ecotourism at Alta Floresta by Brazil Nature.

Source: Adapted from Rainforest Action Network.

Q11: Identify aspects of ecotourism at Alta Floresta that are:

	Benefits
	Problems
	Both a benefit and a problem
	Neutral in effect.