Asean Biodiversity: Developing Communities thru Ecotourism ppt

A S E A N B I O D I V E R S I T Y 1 ASEAN CENTRE BIODIVERSITY FOR www.aseanbiodiversity.org Conserve Biodiversity, Save Humanity! ASEAN’s Rich Biodiversity Despite occupying only three percent of the earth’s surface, the ASEAN region hosts 20 percent of all known species that live deep in the region’s mountains, jungles, rivers, lakes and seas. The region includes three mega-diverse states (Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines); several bio-geographical units (e.g., Malesia, Wallacea, Sundaland, Indo-Burma and the Central Indo-Pacific); and numerous centers of concentration of restricted-range bird, plant and insect species. ASEAN has one-third, translating to 284,000 square kilometers, of all coral reefs, which are among the most diverse in the world. Common land and water borders have allowed the ASEAN states to share many species that are biologically diverse from the rest of the world. All these make the ASEAN region significant to global diversity. The Threat The region’s rich biodiversity is heavily under threat. Out of 64,800 known species, two percent or 1,312 are endangered. Seven of the world’s 25 recognized biodiversity hotspots are in the ASEAN region. If the rate of deforestation continues, the region will lose up to three-fourths of its forests, and up to 42 percent of its biodiversity by 2100. Eighty percent of coral reefs are at risk due to destructive fishing practices and coral bleaching. Forest conversion, forest fires, shifting cultivation, large-scale mining, wildlife hunting and trading, population growth and poverty, climate change, and lack of conservation resources greatly contribute to biodiversity loss. Biodiversity loss could trigger enormous effects on food security, health, shelter, medicine, and aesthetic and other life-sustaining resources. Without a concerted effort to protect and conserve biodiver- sity, the ASEAN region’s 567 million people and the entire human race would be in danger. ASEAN’s Response: ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity As an intergovernmental regional organization, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) facilitates cooperation and co- ordination among the members states of ASEAN, and with relevant national governments, regional and international organizations, on the conservation and sustainable use of bio- logical diversity guided by fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of such biodiversity in the ASEAN region. ACB aims to contribute to the reduction of the current rate of loss of biological diversity by enhancing regional cooperation, capacitating stakeholders, promoting awareness for biodiver- sity conservation, and maintaining the regional biodiversity database. To contribute to the achievement of socially respon- sible access, equitable sharing, use and conservation of natural ecosystems and the biodiversity these contain, ACB builds stra- tegic networks and partnerships geared to mobilize resources towards optimally augmenting effective programmes on biodi- versity conservation. Contact Us ACB Headquarters 3F ERDB Bldg., Forestry Campus College, Laguna 4031,Philippines Tel/Phone: +6349 536-2865, +6349 536-1044 Website: www.aseanbiodiversity.org General Inquiry: contact.us@aseanbiodiversity.org A S E A N B I O D I V E R S I T Y 3 Inside Vol. 7, No. 3 n July - September 2008 Message ‘We have to protect our natural heritage’ 5 Global Conservation News 6 Special Reports Overview of Recreation, Tourism and Ecotourism 11 By Donna Paz T. Reyes, Ph. D. Key Considerations in Recreation, Development and Management 16 By Filiberto A. Pollisco, Ph. D. The Southern Gateway of Malaysia: Johor National Parks Corporation 21 Capacitating ASEAN Protected Area Managers on Ecotourism Management ASEAN workshop cum study tour on recreation, tourism and ecotourism 28 Profiles Myanmar Inlay Lake Wildlife Sanctuary 32 Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary 36 Viet Nam Ba Be National Park 39 Cover photo: Bali Mangrove Photo by Rolly A. Inciong 4 J U L Y - S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8 n w w w . a s e a n b i o d i v e r s i t y . o r g Letters, articles, suggestions and photos are welcome and should be addressed to: The Editor-in-Chief ASEAN Biodiversity ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity College, Laguna E-mail: publications@aseanbiodiversity.org Editor- in-Chief Monina T. Uriarte Managing Editor Bridget P. Botengan Creative Artist Nanie S. Gonzales Writer-Researcher Sahlee Bugna-Barrer EDITORIAL BOARD Rodrigo U. Fuentes Executive Director Clarissa C. Arida Director, Programme Development and Implementation Ma. Consuelo D. Garcia Director, Biodiversity Information Management Gregorius Wisnu Rosariastoko Director, Networking, Partnership and Resource Mobilization Rolando A. Inciong Head, Public Affairs ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) Headquarters: 3F ERDB Bldg. Forestry Campus University of the Philippines-Los Baños College, Laguna, Philippines Telefax: +63-49.536-2865 E-mail: contact.us@aseanbiodiversity.org Website: www.aseanbiodiversity.org ACB Annex: Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City 1156 Philippines Printed by: Dolmar Press, Inc. No. of Copies: 2,000 Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent any ofcial view of the European Union nor the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat. The authors are responsible for any data or information presented in their articles. asean BIODIVERSITY Conserve Biodiversity, Save Humanity Bookmarks Conservation Beyond Borders 43 Accounting for Biodiversity Loss in Southeast Asia 44 Biodiversity and Food Security: Understanding the Threat 45 ACB Celebrates Growing Cooperation Between the EU and the ASEAN 46 The Philippines is ‘Ecotourism Destination of the Year’ 46 Singapore Hosts 7th Meeting of ACB Governing Board 47 ACB Holds 2nd NCP Meeting 47 ASEAN Working Group on Nature Conservation and Biodiversity Holds 3rd Special Meeting 48 Surfing the Web of Life 48 A S E A N B I O D I V E R S I T Y 5 A s the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) enters its fourth decade, the 10 ASEAN Member States (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam) continue to strengthen their commitment and resolve to protect the region’s wealth of natural resources. While Southeast Asia boasts of high biological diversity, it also faces a host of issues including deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, climate change, and increasing population, that result in the loss of our biodiversity. Over 1,300 of the region’s 64,800 species of plants and animals are already at the brink of extinction. Alarmed by the threat of massive species loss, the ASEAN Member States (AMS) are working together to curb the un- precedented degradation of their region’s natural heritage. All the AMS are signatories to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity — the first global agreement to cover the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The ASEAN, with support from the European Union, continues to reinforce its conservation efforts through the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), which it established in 2005 to help save the region’s thinning biodiversity. Since its birth three years ago, the ACB has become a regional centre of excellence working to enhance regional coopera- tion, capacitate various stakeholders, promote awareness for biodiversity conservation, and maintain a regional biodiver- sity database. The ACB and the ASEAN however, need support. While a significant amount of work and resources have been invested to save the region’s rich biodiversity, Southeast Asia continues to face more challenges and threats. The increasing demand for biofuels, for one, is inevita- bly putting mounting pressure on the region’s biological di- versity. The rapid expansion of agriculture for biofuel crops into Southeast Asia’s natural forests raises serious concerns about its potential impact on the region’s already thinning biodiversity. We call on producers to sustainably manage their production, and ensure that the benefits reaped from biofuels will not be made at the expense of the habitats within the agricultural landscape. We urge governments to set clear environmental standards in the production of biofuels. The increasing food needs of the world’s rapidly grow- ing population forces us to think about the inextricable link between agriculture and biodiversity. We are now challenged with how to increase agricultural yield while conserving the biodiversity of various ecosystems. We urge farmers to take advantage of the available options for sustainable agriculture — mixed farming systems, integrated pest management, crop rotation, organic agriculture, recycling of crop and animal wastes, cover cropping, and other mechanisms. We also call on governments to establish an enabling environment to encourage farmers and other food producers to adopt sustain- able agricultural practices. We need all hands on deck to face these daunting challenges. We call on policymakers, government organiza- tions, the private sector, non-government organizations, the academe, women, youth, and all the other sectors of society to take an active role in protecting and conserving South- east Asia’s biodiversity for our children, and their children’s children. On this 41st anniversary of the ASEAN, let us renew our commitment to work together in protecting what is left of the region’s natural heritage. Let us act now before it is too late. ‘We have to protect our natural heritage’ Message of ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity Executive Director Rodrigo U. Fuentes, on the occasion of the 41st Anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 06 August 2008 6 J U L Y - S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8 n w w w . a s e a n b i o d i v e r s i t y . o r g GLOBAL CONSERVATION NEWS UN Millennium Development Goals expand to include biodiversity September 29 – For the first time, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) is monitoring the world’s plants and animals, using the Red List Index developed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Until now, the seventh Millennium Development Goal, to ensure environmental sustainability, does not mention biodiversity or the need to save species as a critical contribution to human development. But with the launch of the latest Annual Re - port on progress towards the MDG, the goal now includes the aim to “significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010” as one of its targets. The eight Millennium Develop - ment Goals, agreed upon by the world’s governments and development institutions, range from reducing extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS. They provide measurable targets that can be achieved by the year 2015. – Environment News Service Over half of Europe’s amphibians face extinction by 2050 September 29 – Scientists warned that more than half of all frogs, toads and newts liv - ing in Europe could be driven to extinction within 40 years as climate change, diseases and habitat destruction take their toll. The majority of the most threatened species live in Mediterranean regions that are expected to become warmer and drier. Island species are especially at risk because they are unable to move to cooler climates. One in three of the world’s amphibians are already on the Red List of endangered species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, with some estimates suggesting that 150 species have already become extinct since the 1980s. Scientists emphasized the need to reduce the effects of climate change by reining in greenhouse gas emissions, but for many spe - cies, that will come too late. In the short term, conservation - ists are urging zoos to set up captive breeding programmes for the most threatened am - phibians. – guardian.co.uk Dam construction will destroy Cambodian wildlife September 29 – Flora and Fauna International warns that the construction of the Chay Areng dam in the Cardamom mountains in Cambodia will wipe out a fifth or more of the remaining population of the critically endangered Siamese crocodiles that stand at fewer than 200 individuals in the wild. It will displace hundreds of indigenous peoples, and greatly damage the wildlife in a valley that holds more than 30 globally threatened species of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians, ranging from tigers, Asian elephants and pileated gibbons to the white-winged duck, the yellow-headed temple turtle and one of the world’s rarest and most prized freshwater fish, the Asian arowana. – The Independent U.N. launches programme to cut deforestation emissions September 24 – The United Nations launched the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Program (UN- REDD) in nine developing countries, including Bolivia, Indonesia and Zambia, to establish systems to monitor, assess and report forest cover. Under such a plan, the tropi - cal countries would generate tradable carbon credits by saving and planting trees. Presumably, rich countries would buy the credits to meet their own emission limits, like the way European Union countries have invested in credits representing emissions cuts generated by clean energy projects in poor countries. – Reuters Decline in common birds signal biodiversity crisis September 23 – Birdlife Inter- national warned that common birds provide an accurate and easy-to-read environmental barometer, and their decline in recent decades is a sign of a de - teriorating global environment. Threats to bird populations include intensified industrial- scale agriculture and fishing, the spread of invasive species, logging and the replacement of natural forest with monoculture plantations. More information is available at birdlife.org/sowb. – Reuters News Service White-rumped vulture (Photo by Marek Jobda/Rare Birds Yearbook) The Sumatran orangutan, Pongo abelii, is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. (Photo by Anup Shah courtesy ARKive) Crested newt. (Photo by John Cancalosi/ Nature Picture Library/Rex Features) New study shows decline in migratory waterbirds September 15 – A report by Wetlands International for the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) called Conservation Status of Migratory Waterbirds in the African-Eurasian Flyways re - veals a decline in 40% of 522 studied migratory waterbird populations on routes across Africa and Eurasia. Migratory waterbirds, particularly long- distance migrants, are highly vulnerable to environmental changes. To complete their annual life cycles, they depend upon separate geographic regions in breeding and non- breeding seasons that may be thousands of kilometers apart, as well as a network of stop-over sites along the route. International cooperation agreements such as the AEWA are essential in protecting the network of sites required by migratory waterbirds. – UNEP Palawan animals’ extinction looms September 14 – Scientists raised warnings about the A S E A N B I O D I V E R S I T Y 7 GLOBAL CONSERVATION NEWS (US$21,500) coupled with a six-year jail term. – WWF Paying for ecosystems services in Viet Nam September 4 – Viet Nam is currently piloting two Pay - ment for Ecosystems Services (PES) projects in the south - ern Dong Nai River Basin and Son La province. PES is an environmental manage - ment tool that has been used since the 1990s and involves placing a monetary value upon an ecosystem and then finding both “buyers” and “sellers” for that ecosystem service, essentially finding the benefits an ecosystem provides and then striving to maintain those advantages through financial means. Under the Dong Nai River Basin Project, hydro-electric - ity plants, government water companies and ecotourism companies will now pay for the privilege of clean water downstream, by sending money upriver and giving locals incentives to keep the watershed pure. The German voluntary agency, GTZ, is trialing its own project in Son La province. – IPS Populations of rare primates discovered in Cambodia September 4 – A 2008 survey estimates that 42,000 black-shanked doucs and 2,500 yellow-cheeked crested gibbons live in Cambodia’s Seima Biodiversity Conser - vation Area. The Wildlife Conservation Society stated that these animals represent the largest known remaining global populations of either species. Before this survey, the largest known populations of either species were 600 black- shanked doucs and 200 yel - low-cheeked crested gibbons in Viet Nam—the only other country where the two species are found. The region where the two species were found is largely unexplored, filled with forests on steep karst (lime - stone) mountains, a habitat that the leaf-eating primates specialize in. – National Geo- graphic News Mangrove project to protect Viet Nam residents from storm surges September 2 – A project by the German development agency, GTZ, pays local people to plant mangrove trees along the coastline of the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang. The project protects the coastline, provides jobs for landless people during the dry periods and ensures the community’s source of fish and crabs. The International Centre for Environmental Management states that about 74 percent of Viet Nam’s 80 million people live in the low-lying coastal areas that are potentially at risk from rising sea levels and storms. It esti - mates that 85 percent of the flooding caused by a potential one meter sea level rise would take place in the Mekong River Delta, where close to 1.5 million or 90 percent of the country’s affected poor live. – IRIN imminent extinction of some of the Philippines’ most important species that are found only in Palawan due mainly to the destruction of their habitats and the illegal wildlife trade. All of Palawan’s endangered animal species live in low elevation areas and forest fringes that are classi - fied as “buffer” areas and open to human intrusion. There is also an increasing illegal wildlife trade of endangered species, particularly of the Palawan talking mynah, the blue-naped parrot and the Philippine cockatoo. – Philip- pine Daily Inquirer 100 Hawksbill turtles die in poaching incidents in the Philippines September 4 – More than 100 dead Hawksbill turtles were discovered aboard a Vietnamese fishing vessel apprehended near Malampaya Sound in the Philippines. Distinguished from other sea turtles by a hooked beak and heavily-serrated carapace, the Hawksbill has for millennia been hunted for food and tortoiseshell. The species is critically endangered and is protected by the Convention on International Trade in En - dangered Species. Under the Philippines and the interna - tional laws, it is illegal to cap - ture and kill sea turtles and to trade in turtle by-products. WWF Philippines is working to ensure that the Vietnamese poachers will be charged with violating the Philippine Wild - life Conservation and Protec - tion Act, penalties for which can include a fine of up to one million Philippine pesos Black-shanked doucs. (Photo by Wildlife Conservation Society) A joint team of Vietnamese government ofcials and GTZ staff head out to the mangrove restoration site in Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. (Photo by GTZ) Maturing mangrove forests along the coast of Soc Trang Province. (Photo by GTZ) Hawskbill Turtle 8 J U L Y - S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8 n w w w . a s e a n b i o d i v e r s i t y . o r g Firey populations are blinking out September 2 – Firefly populations have dropped 70 percent in the past three years and their fate drew more than 100 scientists to Chiang Mai, Thailand for an international symposium on the “Diversity and Conserva - tion of Fireflies.” Researchers mostly cite urban sprawl, industrial pollution and the spread of artificial lights as the factors that destroy the insects’ habitats and disrupt their mating behavior. – The Associated Press Endangered elephants and tigers get boost August 29 – Sumatra’s en- dangered elephants and tigers should get a boost from an Indonesian government move to expand the Tesso Nilo Na - tional Park in Riau province. Around 60 to 80 elephants and some 50 tigers were be - lieved to live in the area now to be covered by the Park. Set up in 2004 with 38,000 hect - ares, it also has the highest lowland forest plant diver - sity known to science. Some 4,000 unique species have been recorded in Tesso Nilo and many more remain to be discovered. Riau Province is home to about 210 elephants, down from around 1,250 just 25 years ago, and 192 tigers, whose numbers have dropped from around 650 over the same period. – Reuters News Service Malaysia and the EU to sign agreement for trade in timber products August 26 - Malaysia and the European Union hope to sign a bilateral Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), to promote the trade in legally produced and harvested timber. The agreement would help ensure the sustainability and legality of timber production while improving the perception of tropical timber in Europe. – Bernama Rare leopards found in Borneo forest August 21 – Camera traps in Sebangau National Park in Central Kalimantan province have snapped pictures of two adult male Bornean clouded leopards in an area once decimated by logging. The discovery by Oxford Univer - sity’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit and Indonesia’s Pangkalan Raya University is the first confirmation that the clouded leopard lives in the Park. The discovery holds out new hope for the species, which numbers less than 10,000 individuals and is the top predator on Borneo island. The elusive species is a good indicator of forest health because large cats need prey and the prey, such as deer, macaques and bearded pigs, need the forest. – AFP through partnerships with the governments of Brazil, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and South Africa. Pollinators such as birds, bees, butterflies, bats and even mosquitoes are essential for food production because they transfer pollen between seed plants -impact - ing 35 percent of the world’s crops. Pollinators also ensure biodiversity and help nature to adjust to external threats such as climate change. For these reasons, pollinators are known as a “keystone species” in many terrestrial habitats. Main threats to pollinators can be linked to disease, pesticide use, habitat loss and degrada - tion, monocultures and the introduction of exotic species. – UNEP Lao PDR: Bringing light to remote villages July 3 – The Sunlabob Rural Energy Ltd (www.sunlabob. com) in Lao PDR is giving poor rural communities access to electricity by renting out solar-based systems. Services from solar power facilities can be availed of at the individual, family and community levels. The programme is prov - ing highly successful since it avoids the high start-up costs and ensures reliable service. Putting the community in charge of the process has also ensured sustainability. To date, 1,800 solar home systems and 500 solar lanterns have been rented out to families in 73 villages in Laos. The company A photo released by rey expert Anchana Thancharoen of Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand, shows the rare rey species Luciola aquatilis, perched on a plant. This photograph taken in July 2008 from a camera trap shows a leopard in Sebangau National Park in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province. Project to protect key pollinators August 11 – The Global Environment Facility has launched a $27 million-project to preserve species that are essential to the world’s crop production. The five-year “Conservation and Manage - ment of Pollinators for Sus - tainable Agriculture through an Ecosystem Approach” project will be implemented through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Orga - nization and will be executed Lao villagers erect a solar panel system. (Photo by Cathy Williams/IRIN) GLOBAL CONSERVATION NEWS A S E A N B I O D I V E R S I T Y 9 seeks to extend the project into Cambodia and Indonesia, with other potential opportuni - ties in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Sunlabob pro - gramme recently won the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Sasakawa prize, which is awarded to sustain - able and replicable grassroots projects that make significant contributions to the protection or maintenance of the environ - ment. – IRIN Solar panels are providing low-cost alternative energy to poor rural villagers in remote parts of Laos. (Photo by Cathy Williams/IRIN) GLOBAL CONSERVATION NEWS Study shows extinction risks are vastly underestimated July 2 – A study published in the journal Nature states that some endangered species may face an extinction risk that is up to a hundred times greater than previously thought. Cur - rent models typically look only at two risk factors, which are individual deaths within a small population, and the environ - mental conditions that can influence birth and death rates. Scientists say that two other determinants must be taken into account: male-to-female ratios in a species, and a wider definition of randomness in individual births and deaths. These complex variables can determine whether a fragile population can overcome a sud - den decline in numbers, such as through habitat loss, or whether it will be wiped out. The Inter - national Union for the Conser - vation of Nature (IUCN) says that there are more than 16,000 species worldwide threatened with extinction, and one in four mammals, one in eight birds and one in three amphibians are on the IUCN’s endangered species “Red List”. – Agence France Presse Census of marine life opens with 122,000 species July 1 – Using the internet and with the help of hun - dreds of scientists around the world, the Census of Marine Life aims to provide a full and flexible list of the world’s innumerable marine species. With 120,000 species now online, the Census considers itself half-way to its goal of checking and validating the 230,000 marine species cur - rently known to science. Once completed, the World Register of Marine Species, called WoRMS, will be the first source for descriptions on all marine life. – mongabay.com The ASEAN region is signicant to global biodiversity because it contains 40 percent of all species on Earth despite covering only 3 percent of the world’s surface. It includes three mega-diversity countries (Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines), several biogeographical units (e. g., Malesia, Wallacea, Sundaland, Indo-Burma and the Central Indo-Pacic), and numerous centers of concentration of restricted-range bird, plant and insect species. Saving ASEAN’s Natural Tresures is a testament to the richness of the region’s biodiversity, as well as an illustration of numerous threats to local resources. Saving ASEAN’s Natural Tresures provides information on the signicance of biodiversity, the wealth of habitats, species and ecosystems of the Southeast Asia, and various threats to the environment. The video also highlights the formation of the ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP) Programme and the need for trans-boundary cooperation. It includes video vignettes on the wonders and dangers faced by specic species, habitats and AHPs. It was produced by Available in DVD and VCD format. To get a copy, log on to www.aseanbiodiversity.org. the ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (now the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity) with support from the European Union. Saving ASEAN’s Natural Treasures 10 J U L Y - S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8 n w w w . a s e a n b i o d i v e r s i t y . o r g SPECIAL REPORTS Biak-na-Bato National Park, Philippines 10 J U L Y - S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8 n w w w . a s e a n b i o d i v e r s i t y . o r g [...]... local communities and ethno-linguistic groups, and protect the ecosystems in the area in general Moreover, several lessons need to be promoted and disseminated for other PA managers, other stakeholders and communities to consider in developing their respective ecotourism activities In March 2008, the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) organized the Regional Workshop on Recreation, Tourism and Ecotourism. .. local communities and ethnolinguistic groups who in most protected areas (PA) in Southeast Asia are living in harmony with nature 28 july-september2008 n www.aseanbiodiversity.org SPECIAL REPORTS View of Melaka Strait, Malaysia Participants to the ASEAN workshop cum study tour on recreation, tourism and ecotourism pose for posterity during their field trip to Tanjung Piai National Park, Malaysia As in ecotourism, ... Artificial Reef, the black marlin fishing area on Pemanggil Island, and the turtle hatcheries (MayAugust) on various islands ASEAN BIODIVERSITY 27 SPECIAL REPORTS Capacitating asean protected Area Managers on Ecotourism Management ASEAN workshop cum study tour on recreation, tourism and ecotourism P utting the face of people in biodiversity initiatives is one of the crucial challenges of actively promoting... Field Trip to Observe Best Practices in Ecotourism in Johor: Visits to Agro-Tourism Farms; Ecosystems Management Planning and Key Considerations for Ecotourism Development; Strategies and Mechanisms for Establishing and/ or Enhancing Ecotourism Sites; and Ecotourism Planning and Individual Planning The resource persons shared valuable insights on sustainable ecotourism involving community development... cultures as attractions, and give local people an alternative to destroying forests and wildlife.” Ecotourism may also provide alternative forms of economic development (Wearing, 1999) and livelihood for communities Ecotourism appeared to offer a sustainable development option for countries, regions and local communities, which would provide an incentive to retain and manage their wildlands and wildlife... peace and quiet, traffic flow and clean air Does ecotourism lead to preserving local culture? The socio-cultural values of a protected area are highlighted in ecotourism, which “has emerged as a result of increasing global concern for disappearing cultures and ecosystems” (Kutay, 1990) Does tourism /ecotourism increase community participation? A key aspect of ecotourism is that it is based on participatory... officials can support biodiversity, the community and local economies by integrating ecotourism principles in planning Consultation among stakeholders must be undertaken to generate awareness of local biodiversity and generate support for ecotourism Managing ecotourism Sharing experiences with managers and stakeholders in other ecotourism destinations will provide a better picture of how to improve the management... (Blamey, 1997) Weaver (2000) further classifies ecotourism as soft and hard Soft ecotourism refers to short-term, frequently mediated interactions with nature that are often just one component of a multipurpose tourism experience Hard ecotourism, on the other hand, emphasizes an intense, personal and prolonged encounter with nature, normally in a wil- Ecotourism is a low impact, environmentally sound... in 1983 He defined ecotourism as: “…purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the culture and natural history of the environment, taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem while producing economic opportunities that make the conservation of natural resources beneficial to local people.” Ecotourism and sustainable development The Ecotourism Society now recognizes ecotourism s role... attractions but also the cultural heritage of the local communities and / or ethnic groups The biological diversity and cultural heritage of an area should thus form part of any ecotourism planning activity Also, the rising tourism activities in PAs and parks in Southeast Asia demand more effective guidance in developing tourism, recreation and ecotourism opportunities within the context of conservation . 1 ASEAN CENTRE BIODIVERSITY FOR www.aseanbiodiversity.org Conserve Biodiversity, Save Humanity! ASEAN s Rich Biodiversity Despite occupying only three percent of the earth’s surface, the ASEAN. biodiver- sity, the ASEAN region’s 567 million people and the entire human race would be in danger. ASEAN s Response: ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity As an intergovernmental regional organization, the ASEAN. National Parks Corporation 21 Capacitating ASEAN Protected Area Managers on Ecotourism Management ASEAN workshop cum study tour on recreation, tourism and ecotourism 28 Profiles Myanmar Inlay Lake