| The following are working notes
taken during and after the July 2002 ecotourism conference in
Ibarra, Ecuador
The International Ecotourism, Rural and Community Tourism
Conference was organized by the municipality of Ibarra and
in particular their tourism director Oscar Aguirre. Special
kudos go out to the students from the Universidad Catolica de
Ibarra who assisted throughout the event. The conference was
held at the Hotel Ajavi from July 11-13 in recognition of the
International
Year of Ecotourism.
This was an exceptional event. About 300 people participated,
mostly students from various parts of Ecuador. There was also
a large contingent of Colombians -- entrepreneurs, academics
and park staff. Ibarra is an hour from Colombia.
PRESENTATIONS
The quality of presentations was excellent. I was honored to be
in such esteemed company. This was a terrific show of national
ecotourism projects as well as lessons from abroad. Among the
expositores:
ECUADOR:
Luis Palma and Rodrigo Ontaneda, Fundacion Maquipucuna
German Collaguazo, Proyecto Yunguilla
Daniel Koupermann - Kapawi Ecolodge
Maria Eliza Manteca, Fundacion Golondrina
Jorge Perez/Volcanoland
INTERNATIONAL:
CUBA - Norman Medina/Turismo de la Naturaleza
VENEZUELA - Maria Ida Cardenas
PERU - Hector Quispe Valdiva/Granja Yanacocha
PERU - Jorge Martel Alvarado/Llama Trek
COSTA RICA - Sefora Cerrato
USA/PERU - Roberto Portugal
MEXICO/USA - Ron Mader
CHILE/SPAIN - Ana Garcia Pando/Duoc -- http://www.duoc.cl
PANAMA - Jorge Luis Abrego
COLOMBIA - Andres Castrillon Muñoz/Universidad de Cauca
VIRTUAL/NATURAL WORLD LINKAGES
A special plus for me was being able to meet several of the participants
from the Sustainable Development of Ecotourism Web Conference,
including Norman Medina and Maria Ida Cardenas.
REFLECTIONS
There were so many presentations there was little time for discussion
or reflection. I wish I had known that there would be so many
students in attendance so that I could have prepared materials
that would be better suited for those just entering the field.
Yet with so many presentations, we were able to see some parallels
-- particularly the work communities need to complete before
they can develop tourism. For example, Peru's Granja Porcon
has spent decades working on agroforestry and related projects
and recently begun developing tourism. Successful operations
require at least 5-10 years of commitment in the start-up phase.
The role of NGOs and foundations came up a few times, and
I did mention our upcoming October online conference. Several
people were a bit frustrated at the lack of accountability from
NGOs. My point is that we should look at the successes and failures
of NGOs as they develop ecotourism operations. I quoted the
recent dialogue on the IYE
2002 Forum in which a student asked "how do we know what
works?" We need to encourage all sectors to be more accountable.
As a researcher and journalist, I'd like to know how well
programs work and by what measures. Surprisingly, I've had the
most difficulties in getting honest replies from the NGO community.
Perhaps the problem is that NGOS are loathe to admit failure
at the risk of not having programs renewed. How do we change
this so we can accept "lessons learned" and move us all ahead?
CHISME
Carlos Ricaurte from Chimborazo Polytechnical University is developing
an ecotourism conference and academic program later this fall:
Web: http://www.espoch.edu.ec
Elsa Maria Castro gave me copies of the formal presentation
of how Ecuador is decentralizing tourism development. Decentralization
has been the buzzword in Ecuador for the past few years.
Web: http://www.vivecuador.com
I finally had the chance to meet Francisco Molina from the
community of Santa Lucia (which neighbors Yunguilla). Francisco
and Mary Finn have been participating in the Planeta
Ecuador Forum for some time and it was good to learn about
the project first-hand. Now I just need to visit!
POST CONFERENCE
After the conference Norman Medina and I stayed an extra day to
tour the organic farm run by Fundacion Golondrinas and a beautiful
new hotel, the Hacienda Primavera in Carchi. Our guide was none
other than the vice-mayor who turned out to be a font of information
and passion for the province. I'm not sure if it was escaping
the world of Powerpoint presentations and large salas, but it
was a gorgeous day spent outdoors. |
