Take The Path Less Ordinary

Obviously, ethical holidaymakers are skeptical about the green trend. They don’t know whether it has legs to move inroads or is just a fad of the moment. But without doubt, the insecurity hinges on the lack of good examples. Resorts, hotels or eco consultants that purvey the use of solar panels are known to advertise themselves as eco-friends; never mind if solar energy accounts to only 5% of its total electricity source. Placing garbage bins for recyclable waste and planting trees (never mind if it’s not native) are some of the popular publicity stunts.

The question everyone should ask is: Has the resort as a whole depicts the true meaning of ecotourism? Has the resort brought economical spread to communities living around it?

These are subtle questions but a loud indication whether a particular establishment can truly label itself as eco-resort.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I or you;
But when leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing thro’

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you or I;
But when trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by - Christina Rossetti, 19th century poet

The proof is in the pudding

There must be results. A particular resort or tour operator cannot include itself in the ecotourism fraternity when it has not made positive impact on the environment and its native inhabitants because The International Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as …

“Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves environment and improves the well-being of local people”

For those who hate clichés, in layman’s term, an eco tourism operation must …

- minimize impact to its environment
- enhance cultural awareness and respect
- provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts
- provide direct financial benefits for conservation
- provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people
- raise sensitivity to host countries’ political, environmental, and social climate

Has Malaysian eco tourism live up to the hype?

Not in our books.

Currently, the local travel industry is slewed with businesses that “green-wash” their hotels and tours with glossy brochures, but on the whole, there is hardly news of tourism businesses making positive impacts on conservation and helping rural community. In contrast, tourism into natural heritage sites has brought more bad than good. In the context of Malaysia, uncontrolled visitation by tourists has left a trail of destruction in many coral islands and rain forest national parks.

Take for example the highly coveted Taman Negara claim as the best eco tourism destination. Often featured in prominent TV program, travel magazines, popular guide books such as Lonely Planet and Rough Guide, the outcome is anything but upbeat. While roughly 60,000 barreled through the national park annually for the past 20 years, local Batek natives are still living in poverty. Hotels and budget lodges taint waterways with untreated human sewage and kitchen waste. More worrying is, in Nov 2008, wildlife department rangers found over 500 snares around Taman Negara in one operation. Trails craved by tour operators for recreational trekking has opened up more hunting grounds for poachers.

Tell us, has anyone read articles on conservation projects in Taman Negara mooted by local tourism industry players? None, although many label themselves as purveyors of eco tourism. Islands like Langkawi, Redang, Perhentians and Tioman back in the 80s were absolutely pristine. Today, these islands are a heady mix of tour operators going for the kill as coordinated regulation by enforcement rangers and hotel industry is virtually non-existent. In short, they are just another cut-throat business battleground.

So where is Malaysia heading in eco tourism? We think the word “heading” is premature. “Crawling” would be it.

Firstly, local universities and colleges offering tourism and hospitality courses are still stuck in old school. Lecturers and students have never seen the rainforest and many prefer to start their careers in brick and mortar city hotels in the comfort of air-conditioned lobbies and offices. We know, this is surprising for a country draped in wilderness. Secondly, Malaysian education system is to be blamed. Critical thinking isn’t part of the syllabus, much less environment and conservation. All students are fine tuned for run-off-the-mill careers in the cities. Countryside jobs? Well, that’s for poor people …..

Lastly, on land matters, the state government calls the shots. Very often, decisions are made to clear land and approve holiday making projects under the pretext of bringing jobs to local communities. Yes, environment impact studies are required but most projects clear the hurdles easily because approving officers have poor knowledge on conservation (corruption is another story). On the other end, although the Wildlife and Forestry Dept officers are trying to do their job, they are practically powerless to act on land misuse and abuse.

Profitability vs Conscience

Generally, authentic eco vacation practices require more funding and therefore priced higher. However, to people who truly understand the gist of nature conservation, it is a small price to pay.

Profitability is important. Firstly, a resort’s healthy balance sheet is crucial to fund maintenance of facility, pay fair wages to attract the best eco-conscious employees and conserve its sprawling surrounding to give guest a flawless vacation. To do this, it has to separate itself from the forever-cost-cutting and ruthless market warfare. Simply put, it is a hefty challenge to strike a balance running a business while touching local lives, human and animals alike. But sadly the Malaysian green-travel industry is already brimming with fakes, and finding real deals is getting harder. This is also compounded by tourists going head first for the cheapest offers without thinking about the unscrupulous operators they are supporting.

There are many reasons why low-costing doesn’t rhyme with responsible travels. It is widely known that in 2004, rashes and diarrhea inflicted Orang Asli natives living around Tasik Chini, a lake highly publicized for budget backpacking. A university study found high level of E.coli in the lake and reported that the contamination was caused by improper sewage disposal by a lakeside resort and camp sites. Local authority also dammed the Chini river to ensure high water level for tour boat excursions. This retarded the flow of freshwater. Since then, the lake’s flora and fauna has declined drastically. Tourists can go home to lead normal lives but natives are left to pick up the pieces.

Are tourism businesses going to buck up? Hell no. Why invest more money when what budget travelers want is the cheapest deals?

As soon as one punches the word “tour”, “holiday”, “hotel” or “accommodation” into popular search engines, the internet creates a black hole so strong even gravitational pull of your conscience cannot escape. And so, everyone is funneled into a worm hole that titillates holidaymakers with forested images, blue skies and miles of sandy beaches that’s nothing like the real story behind. Finding a few solid tours or resorts that adhere to ecotourism principles is like hitting jackpot. That’s how rare ecotourism peddlers have become.

Again, to be brutally honest, there aren’t enough eco-friendly travelers to heal Mother Nature either, or match what authentic ecotourism industry has to offer. The average vacationer is still sticking to low prices and complains that eco-tours are too expensive. But we think this scenario will change in near future. In US and Europe, a whole new generation of responsible travelers is emerging in the last 10 years and it won’t be long for the effects to sweep SE Asia along. When these savvy eco-aficionados hit our shores, let’s hope they will weed out fakes and set the local ecotourism industry back on track.

Going local from the start

To be true to ecotourism principles, an eco-centric project has to be personalized from day one. It has to be designed, built, ran and owned by local people who care. We have a local saying that goes like this …

“Lain padang, lain belalang”
(every field has its grasshoppers)

Every place is unique. Only locals should be hired to consult, design, built, manage and run an ecotourism operation because no one else understands endemic flora, fauna, local way of life and the environment better.

Distrust for outsider and being territorial is instinctive, an universal trait practiced by all tribes and ethnicities. Even you have a Phd and a firm believer of conservation, locals may not jump in and give you a good hug. Passion for outdoors, paper qualification and past performance means nothing in the outbacks - locals take every outsider at face value. As far as rural people are concerned, a foreigner has no local kinship, family honour or traceability to prevent them from doing bad and leave. And for these reasons, south east Asians are taught from young to never share inner thoughts, fear and underwear with outsiders. Remember, Malaysian countryside lives in several centuries at the same time and Asian culture is such that locals are never outspoken. What you see is layered with undercurrents. A foreigner can walk into a village, stay there for years and still not skimp its surface. That’s the reason why guidebooks for Asian countries are never accurate. Writers can write but can’t connect.

A local architect with a good grasp with eco-friendly technology sets things on the right path from the start. Similarly, only green-loving local business owners will bring in the best naturalists, guides and people to crank the operation - it’s a chain effect – to epitomize his passion.

Chant this: Less is best

It is incredibly strange when a glitzy and palatial brick and mortar resort calls itself eco-friendly. Thickset amount of timber, building materials used, chemicals and carbon footprints conjured in construction and maintenance process itself is already damaging enough. Compounded by hundreds of rooms that see a beeline of guests, wrecking a natural area is only a matter of time.

The first rule of ecotourism is: Good things come in small packages. Everything must be kept at minimal to avoid disturbance to surrounding natural habitat and way of life.

Accommodations must be built with minimal materials, and most importantly requires nominal energy and maintenance to upkeep. In Malaysia’s sun-drenched weather, a good design also ensures rooms and facilities are well ventilated to reduce electricity consumption for air-conditioning. Structures should be light-weight to reduce the need for heavy piling and foundation works. Rain water should be funneled into storage tanks for non-food & beverage use. Sounds whimsical? It is, but there is no science to it, just common sense.

Keeping it sweet and simple

One of the best ways to ace an ecotourism project is to work “backwards” or “top down”. We call this OBT or outcome-based tourism. The concept of OBT calls for outcomes to be identified first and then processes and strategies are developed to achieve them.

If, for example, a particular fishing village is experiencing a slow depletion of catch around its waters. To rectify the problem, the ideal outcome should be: To restore an eco-system that augurs well with the growth of sealife. An ecotourism project should then be put in place to bring in tourists, make profit so that it can fund restoration of sealife habitat and hire locals for tourism works while they wait for fish stock to top up again. It may take years but when OBT is properly administered, everyone wins.

A rose by any name may not be as sweet smelling

Can a resort located in a touristy beach belt consider itself an ecotourism player? Nope, if the principles of ecotourism are adhered to. Any operation that is running in conveyor-belt tourism places, whether Siem Reap’s temple sites or Perhentian island, is already participating in the intrusion and degradation of local way of life and environment.

As reminder, ecotourism is defined as “Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves environment and improves the well-being of local people”. Frankly, after years of hosting hordes of visitors, Siem Reap or Perhentian island is anything but natural. So, can resorts in rainforest national parks or coral islands call themselves champions of ecotourism? It depends.

The next time you have a holiday in a hotel or place that purportedly offer ecotourism, run through the following checklist. It should help you separate the wheat from the chaffs.

1. How is sewage treated? Is it treated or dunked in the nearest waterway? (this should be the greatest concern)

2. Is there a limit on numbers of visitors on daily basis? Is there enforcement?

3. Is the surrounding populated by untouched natives trees, plants and wildlife? Land clearing, planting foreign ornamental plants for landscaping and showcasing foreign wildlife is not ecotourism.

4. Are employees sourced from nearby villages? Are locals paid fair wages and given opportunity to have a say in management decisions that affect their neighbourhood?

5. Is there an energy saving management system in the building? Is the building designed to catch rain water for general usage or insulated from tropical heat by natural means to cut electricity usage?

6. Is heavy lumber or building materials used to build the resort? Remember, less is best for Malaysian tropical weather and ecology.

7. Are outdoor tours run in small groups, preferably max 8 person, to minimize intrusion to natural habitat and native settlement? Are efforts made to dress-down and blend into the neighbourhood?

8. Do resort stage blowpipe, fire-starting demo or dance shows by local community to coo visitors, but do very little on minimizing “hospitality fatigue”?

9. Does the management instill systematic projects to educate visitors, heal surrounding forest/corals or improve the economical spread to residents living within its vicinity?

10. Lastly, use your gut feel. Has the resort or tour operator opened your eyes about sustainable living? After the holiday, are you more determined to reduce waste, encourage recycling and do little things at home or office that nurse our planet back to health?

Apart from producing great results for the environment and local residents, a good eco tour or resort should also leave a deep impression on holidaymakers. It must be therapeutic. One should go home a changed person.

YOU make ecotourism float or sink

The thing about holidaymaking in unpolished areas, everything is very vivid.

All good bits are really good, and bad ones are downright a meltdown. Nothing is tempered by experience of sensible overview. Reality is hard hitting. Ecotourism cannot arrange nature to make things pleasant for holidaymakers. It arranges things so that everyone ends up being balanced and enlightened. Like Confucius say: You dim sum, you loose some (or something like that). All fabulous eco-jaunts in the tropics are riddled with bumpy patches, uneasiness and leeches.

Take them with a pinch of salt, or curry powder as they say in Malaysia.

As an average eco-travel newbie trying to make sense of this crazy world, don’t be too cooked up with the “is this the right one” conundrum. If your intuition says you have found a proper eco-jaunt, go for it. You’d make a few bad choices in the beginning. Blunders are funny, especially if it happens to other people, but don’t let them prevent you from scouring through the maze. This at least, is a realistic hope. Rummaging through the tourism industry to find a great eco-friendly operator is an imperfect art that takes years to cultivate. Don’t forget, the best places are always hidden.

So, keep it up. Mother Earth needs more eco-savvy travelers like you.

Good reads after this ….

1. Langkawi eco resort of not
2. Kuala Selangor’s fireflies are dying
2. Ecotourism pays back
3. Building an oceanarium in Mabul dive site?
4. Look ma’ bare hands