Unit 10: Ecotourism - Communication And Culture

As most potential ecotourist sites are inhabited by ethnic minorities, the principle of “encouraging community participation in ecotourism activities” should both create income and help maintain cultural identity. These communities have a deep understanding of traditional festivals, cultivation and land use customs, traditional lifestyle and handicrafts, and historical places. A trip to the limestone mountain of Cao Bang - Bac Kan, for example, is valuable not only for the Ba Be Lake, but for the opportunity to learn about cultivation customs, dying practices using endemic plants to produce brocading, and traditional handmade boats of precious timber collected in the forest.       Because ecotourism is important for environmental education, maintenance of indigenous culture, and local economic development, both investment and government encouragement are required.       One research shows that 90 percent of ecotourist guides lack environmental knowledge about the flora, fauna, and natural resources in the area, and 88 percent would benefit from ecotourism guidebooks written especially for them. An illustration of wasted potential caused by this lack of training is Ha Long Bay, a world heritage site with immense environmental value - coral reefs, limestone mountains, thousands of flora and fauna species of high biodiversity, and rich cultural identity. But tourists in Ha Long Bay are presently visiting only the Bay and some caves, not accessing environmental information or local cultural activities. In general, the full potential of ecotourism has not yet been reached.       International visitors to Viet Nam often like to visit ethnic minority villages to observe the culture, meet local people, and participate in traditional activities. The ethnic minorities who live in or near nature reserves maintain distinctive lifestyles, cultural identities, and traditional customs. These features are part of the real value of ecotourism. However, local people are not much involved in ecotourism.       In addition, local people still live in poverty, their life closely associates with natural resources. The economic benefits of ecotourism need to be shared with them, but this will not happen without community participation.