| Everyone likes a debate, but a discussion
is more fruitful. The world is not black and white, it is grey
and if an article takes the stance that ecotourism
exists for those on a higher plane, the vast majority of people
will turn the page or switch off because while concerned about
the environment the elusive vast majority see environmentalism
as equating to camomile tea and early nights.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Personally I believe the very word 'ecotourism'
is partially responsible for creating this separation. Presumably
the goal of promoting the environment in our journalism is to
encourage more people to be more environmentally considerate.
It's not about preaching to the converted, but getting some
of the masses who currently don't care to come and listen to
something new.
To point out that the experience of walking in nature, as Ron
Mader put it, is not changed by being environmentally considerate
- it is the preparation,
planning and follow-through that goes in to the event that makes
it environmentally sensitive.
ALONG THE CONTINUUM
It is not just to get everyone to stay at a lodge which has
achieved certification.
Surely it is 'about nudging people along the continuum' to stop
the pig-ignorant and filthy to be a little more considerate,
to get the concerned to take another step further, and so on.
Not the big leap, but the small step that makes the journey.
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