local people, who benefit from this form of tourism economically, and often more than mass tourism.Ecosystem protection can occur as ecotourism can help the funding of the operation of protected areas (i.e. national parks) Protected areas such as national parks often need to employ (and pay for) park rangers, and if Safari lodges are foreseen, staff is needed for this as well. For many countries, ecotourism is not simply a marginal activity to finance protection of the environment, but a major industry of the national economy. For example, in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nepal, Kenya, Madagascar and territories such as Antarctica, ecotourism represents a significant portion of the gross domestic product and economic activity. In Tan-awan, Oslob, Philippines, the ecotourism of swimming with whale sharks makes up to US$5 million a year, which is used to help stop overfishing and damage to the natural ecosystem. In Antarctica 2002, a study on ecotourism benefits was conducted by joint tourism research units from the US and Australia to assess ecotourisms immediate influence of Antarctica cruise participation on tourists’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. They were also investigating the longer-term influence of Antarctica cruise participation on tourists’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Immediately after participation, scores on the general environmental behavior and associated intentions index increased 10% with respondents intending to increase significantly. However, three months after their tour, the retrospective respondents showed no significant increases in behaviors compared to the pre-visitation group. Terminology and history
Ecotourism is a late 20th-century neologism compounded from eco- and tourism.
It is sometimes overlooked that ecotourism is a highly consumer-centered activity, and that environmental conservation is a means to further economic growth.Although ecotourism is intended for small groups, even a modest increase in population, however temporary, puts extra pressure on the local environment and necessitates the development of additional infrastructure and amenities. The construction of water treatment plants, sanitation facilities, and lodges come with the exploitation of non-renewable energy sources and the utilization of already limited local resources. The conversion of natural land to such tourist infrastructure is implicated in deforestation and habitat deterioration of butterflies in Mexico and squirrel monkeys in Costa Rica. In other cases, the environment suffers because local communities are unable to meet the infrastructure demands of ecotourism. The lack of adequate sanitation facilities in many East African parks results in the disposal of campsite sewage in rivers, contaminating the wildlife, livestock, and people who draw drinking water from it.Aside from environmental degradation with tourist infrastructure, population pressures from ecotourism also leaves behind garbage and pollution associated with the Western lifestyle. An example of this is seen with ecotourism in Antarctica. Since it is such a remote location, it takes a lot of fuel to get there; resulting in ships producing large pollution through waste disposal and green house gas emissions. Additionally, there is a potential for oil spills from damaged ships traversing through aggressive waters filled with natural obstacles such as icebergs.