Tourism

Although purporting to be beneficial to the society, ecotourism has greatly contributed to the collapse of many ecological systems and led to environmental degradation. The frequent visiting of protected and conserved ecosystems by tourists most of who come from places too far away to care to understand what the local way of life is and to appreciate the conservation effort, has triggered the debate regarding the real gain obtained out of such visits. In some cases, cultural ecotourism has been advancing and impacting in negative ways on the local cultures and ways of life of the people. This essay explores the whole subject of ecotourism in order to establish its impacts on the modern society, especially on the people in the visited areas as is the case of the aboriginals who live in Australia.

Discussion
Ecotourism has impacted negatively on the environment and the communities where it takes place. As they come visiting these natural areas, the tourists carelessly trample on plants and destroy animals. Some animals are solitary and dislike any form of intrusion and the presence of people offends them. In addition, protected areas are usually home to the worlds most endangered plant and animal species, and the coming of ecotourists increases the risk that these species will diminish and become extinct over time. This is because ecotourists will often pick plant and animal species indiscriminately without caring about the damage they are causing. The polluting of ecosystems is another harmful aspect of ecotourism. Not only do the tourists litter carelessly but also fail to clean up after their visits to these areas.
   
While ecotourism has provided a lot in terms of economic growth that stems directly from the sector of tourism, it has remained a matter of concern understanding who the people that really benefits from ecotourism proceed. Development is supposed to go hand in hand with an understanding and adhering to the needs of the people in the society. A case at hand is the Aboriginal community which in spite of being the main attraction and their lifestyle being a great source of awe and who are entitled to any proceeds from tourism in their region, has continued to suffer in poverty and neglect. In fact, some tourists have visited aboriginal sites in the forest not really as a desire to appreciate their rich culture but to pour scorn on it and to ridicule the apparent backwardness of the community. Although there have been claims of using ecotourism proceeds to help improve the habitat and the local community, this has never been actually felt by the people, as the aborigines can prove.
   
Ecotourism has also had social impacts on the local community. As these eco-tourists have kept coming, they have interrupted the usual cultural way of the local people. Owing to the fact that a majority of these tourists come from cultures different from that of the locals, their culture spreads among the locals who quickly forget their own lifestyles. This cultural erosion has been enhanced by the comparatively poor state of some of these local people who have to bow too low to get financial favors from these tourists. This trend has caused the loss of many cultural and ethnic values of the local people.
   
Doinicar et al. (2009) presents the opinion that quite often than not, the tourist who spoil habitats are never in tending to do so. Writing in the article Environment Friendly Tourists what do we really know about them This author is of the opinion that while ecotourism is harmful to natural habitats and destroys both fauna and flora, there can be ways that these tourists are made to be friendly to the environment. The truth of this assertion is annulled by Lawrence (2009) in The Future of Ecotourism and the Effects on the World who insists that tourists have been very destructive to the environment. The fact that eco-tourists only visit areas that have been conserved or are protected posses a great challenge to the wildlife as well as the environment there. Natural settings provide the plants and the animals a chance to adapt to their natural settings and to enjoy their natural way of life, given that the essence of creation is originality and it is only in their natural habitat that they can best exhibit originality. Eco-tourists interrupt this natural order every time they visit the habitat.
  
The fact that ecotourism has many negative impacts both on the local people and on the environment can never be denied. As has been witnessed, eco-tourists leave their destination limn a shape that is worse off than they found it.  The ecological balance that usually exists in such areas is usually offset when tourists come. In addition to this, they destroy the natural habitat cutting and carrying away plant species and killing or harming animals. The fact remains then that while ecotourism might be responsible for a considerable contribution to the economic growth destination countries, the development is hardly translated to provide for the real needs of the people. Instead, the local people continue languishing in poverty. The erosion of cultural values that results from ecotourism has epitomized the negative impacts of ecotourism, proving that most of the tourists seek to advance their own cultural interests. Cultural tourism has played an even greater role in this cultural erosion, especially where it has been conducted in a protected forest like the case of the aborigines.