Sustainable tourism as a means to alleviate poverty

Reduction of poverty is included in the Millenium objectives of the United Nations. From my point of view, it is now aknowledged that poverty is not only about low incomes. The economic Nobel Prize Amartya Sen draws a very comprehensive definition of poverty, as for him poverty is opposed to wealth in terms of ranges of opportunities. Economic growth will not do it, what we need is a real economic, social, and political development in the third-world countries. Poor people simply do not have choices in their daily lives because their toughts all lead to the same goal: finding food or a shelter in order to survive until tomorrow. I am very angry at Brazilians burning down the Amazonian forest because it is the lungs of the planet, but I am more angry at my fellow inhabitants of developed countries and myself for not doing more to prevent them from doing so. I love the United States (dearly) but to my mind, it is the most hypocritical nation, representing 7% of the population and consuming 25% of the Earth's ressources.

That said, it is important to study how tourism, which can be a very profitable activity, can help countries to attain a higher level of development, and especially how principles of sustainability can enhance this performance. In my opinion, tourism only is not enough when trying to alleviate poverty. Sustainable tourism will make sure that the environment is not spoiled and that the local populations benefit from the activity, which is much more profitable in the long run. There is no use in developing a country by ruining its ressources as some day it will have nothing left to live on.

Tourism can be considered as a development strategy since it generates job creation and brings in foreign currencies. However, countries have to be careful with the risk of monoactivity and thus high dependency. In fact, tourism does not grow linearily, they are risks of slowdowns or complete stops if the political or economic worldwide contexts bring insecurity or a drop in the power of purchase. It was for instance the case after the attacks of 9/11.

Following are two case studies on Costa Rica and Tanzania taken from the book Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: who owns pardise ? by Martha Honey (Island Press, 1999).

1. Costa Rica: On the beaten path (pp 129-181)
2. Tanzania: Whose Eden is it? (pp 220-262)

Costa Rica is one of the developing country with the most truthful commitment to ecotourism so people in need of nature go there as it offers luxurious or rustic options of ecotourism experiences. Its national park system is a strong one, as its network of NGOs. Moreover, the country benefits from a positive political situation of stability, a well organized democracy inforcing human rights and a high health care system. The country has in its possession 5% of the world's biodiversity concentrated in 0.035% of the surface of the globe. Tourism became its first foreign exchange earner in 1993. At the same time; the government was alarmed by reports that the land and the beachfront might be purchased by foreign investors and turned into western-style resorts. In September 1995, an environmental law regulating the development of tourism was passed : all projects would have to be accompanied by a study of its environmental impact. However, environmental activists lost a battle against a resort called Papagayo in 1995. This event only reinforced their convictions and helped to sensibilize the population.

When the worldwide average of protected land is about 3%, more than 25% of Costa Rica is under some king of protection. Still, some troubles can arise from this. For instance, too many visitors can be attracted by the classification as a protected land, and it has been necesary to close parks on certain days and to limit the number of visitors. Moreover, a protected park can protect he environment but also prevent from any economic benefits of tourism as some parks lack of attractivity. To my mind, this is not bad when we adopt a long term vision, but unfortunately it may not be positive for the rural poor population. Professor Ferraro has stressed in class that poor people simply do not have the choice, and even if they knew their action could be harmful environmentally, they need to engage into some kind of profitable activity.

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, but certainly one of the richest when it comes to wildlife. In fact, among its 12 national parks, the Serengeti National Park of about 14,760 squarred km, concentrates an extensive amount of wildlife. Could this characteristic help Tanzania to leave its state of poverty?

In 1900, the first declaration in favor of the environment was intitled Convention for the Preservation of Animals, Birds and Fish in Africa and was signed by Britain, Prussia, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Belgium. It was far from perfect but still a step forward (only a few animals were fully protected).

In the last two decades, the government and entrepreuners have been trying to redistribute the economic benefits of tourism to local populations who have claimed for a long time that they had not perceive an increase in the standards of living from tourism. The policies for sustainable tourism are still limited but the basic principles are not forgotten. Despite the derogatory thoughts some people have, we can hope that one day Tanzania will realize that protecting its amazingly rich wildlife will do much good to its future, much more than if it would continue the trend of trying to make the most of it by not regulating the tourism activity.

Personally, I have heard from people who have been to Kenya, Tanzania and the island of Zanzibar some very interesting things. For instance, nature seems to be better protected in Tanzania than in Kenya where SUVs and trucks do not always follow the path in the parks. Nonehteless, the intense activity of tourism has had severe consequences on the animals : some have changed their habit of hunting and started to be the most active when tourists are not around, that is around noon when it is too hot outside ; others do not really hunt anymore, but instead are hunting for tourists' picnics.

© Fabien Vellement

In Zanzibar, the beaches near the resorts are aminzingly beautiful and clean, but the inside where the population lives is polluted by a tremendous amount of plastic bags. The government has reacted to this tragedy and created a national park. It was a success as for instance it saved the red colobus monkey (henceforth this species can only be found in Zanzibar) and allowed the growth of the mangrove that was threatened by pollution.

© Fabien Vellement

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