The Amazon is a region of attraction for national and international people. This place protects a heritage for which it is considered a biosphere. Among its main characteristics are: biodiversity, natural sites, and ancestral history. This makes the Amazon region considered a sustainable place. Here, social and environmental factors play an important role in safeguarding the ecosystem of this area.
Sustainable Tourism
Starting in 2002, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of the Environment designed and created laws and regulations for natural areas, which allow establishing guidelines for economic development and protection of nature. Therefore, the viability of ecotourism in the Amazon should not hinder sustainable criteria (affect to the environment and distribution to the local economy). Under this context, within the Ecuadorian Amazon, the pillars to take into account are:
- Environmental: Protecting nature is, without a doubt, a challenge within the Amazon. Despite deforestation and oil extraction, indigenous communities have generated protection projects to conserve them.
- Social: Each community shapes its identity, transmitting this ideology through ancestral knowledge to ensure its continuity over time.
- Economy: In order to distribute equity to the communities, the projects established in the Amazon promote diversification of their products, resulting in direct and indirect jobs, which generates economic rotation.
Projects
As mentioned above, indigenous communities, through the three pillars, promote a sustainable and sustainable economy within the Amazon through projects. Thus, in this way, local and foreign people are involved in the continuous development and management of activities.
- Waorani Community
- CZapara community
- Napo Wild Live Center
- Napo Cultural Center
- Sacha Lodge
- Sani Lodge
- Wao Eco Glamp
Benefits of sustainable tourism in the Amazon
As analyzed previously, based on the 3 pillars, the benefits of sustainable tourism for communities are grouped into:
- Identity: Communities strengthen their culture through interaction with people; through the dissemination of their heritage, they manage to preserve and safeguard it for the future.
- Economy: The group promotes equity and equality, enabling the creation of more projects and fostering a fair economy.
- Nature: By financially supporting local communities, tourists can indirectly contribute to the safeguarding of the rainforest.
- Environmental education: Visitors develop a deeper respect for nature and native cultures, which promotes the spread of conscious practices.
- Empowerment: Sustainable tourism promotes the generation of jobs and the expansion of new specialized companies.
Sustainable Travel
We must carefully use sustainability within a habitat like the Amazon without altering its ecosystem. This, without a doubt, marks a beginning for indigenous groups to establish guidelines to care for the area. One of them is the involvement of tourism to promote good practices and protection of nature.
