Monash Publication No.54
Monash Publications in Geography & Environmental Science: Number 54
Australian Ecotourism:Contributing to Ecological and Community Sustainability
by Peter H.Cock and Sharron L.Pfueller
The idea for this book arose during the development and teaching of a subject in ecotourism for graduate students studying environmental science or tourism. We discovered there was no single book that provided a comprehensive analysis of the principles and practices of ecotourism. The reading list became a smorgasbord of journal articles, chapters from general texts on tourism or environmental science, guides for nature-based tourism planners and codes of behaviour for operators or tourists. These were written from diverse perspectives. There was a need for a book which provided an integrated understanding of the nature of ecotourism, its associated controversies and what was involved in being an ecotourism planner or practitioner. Such a book would serve as a resource for readers in both the public and private sectors with interests in tourism planning and management, nature interpretation, conservation, environmental science or community development.
In facing this task, we recognised the need to augment our backgrounds in commerce and environmental, social and biological sciences with extensive consultation with communities, government and ecotourism operators. We have taken a different approach from existing texts to assist the reader in understanding the complex issues surrounding ecotourism. In particular we have researched ecotourism from the perspective of the participants and the interests of the environment. We present foundations for ecotourism practice derived from our research and critical review.
We researched these ventures by the method of participant observation between 1995 and 1997. Ventures were chosen on the basis of information from the Ecotourism Association of Australia and specialist ecotourism consultants to exemplify a wide range of locations and visitor experience and were studied with the operatorsÂ’ permission. We have consulted subsequently with the operators to confirm the currency of our reviews. Each venture represents a different synthesis of the elements of ecotourism and illustrates both the underlying principles for practice and the possibilities for difference and originality in their implementation. Although the ventures are all Australian, they have permitted the development of principles for ecotourism practice which have worldwide application.
As well as discussing venture management, environmental protection and planning with communities, we have given special attention to the particular characteristics of ventures which create experiences of nature which are enjoyable, restorative and inspiring, and which contribute to environmental and cultural understanding. Although these features are at the core of ecotourism they have usually been neglected in other works, with emphasis being given to sustainable management. This comprehensive approach necessarily means that, to avoid creating a book of unmanageable size or which was repetitive of other specialised texts, we could not undertake detailed discussion of many elements. We have, therefore, indicated key references for readers wishing to pursue these areas in more depth.