Vietnam has its Halong Bay, Thailand has its Phuket Beach, Indonesia has its Bali island, and Philippines has its Chocolate Hills.

Chocolate Hills in Bohol, Philippines
(Photo from: www.richard-seaman.com)

They are endowed with the best of what nature has to offer: beautiful landscapes, beaches, and islands. As these countries move towards globalization, they have an important asset to take care of: ecotourism.

Through responsible ecotourism, countries can draw large incomes at the community level without jeopardizing the environment.

Ecotourism is a "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."1 Some ecotourism activities that are slowly gaining popularity include mountaineering, wildlife watching, scuba diving and snorkeling, caving, kayaking/rafting, and surfing.

In the Philippines, for example, Bohol is a successful case of ecotourism. Tourists come and go everyday in the province to enjoy the scenic view of Chocolate Hills, relax in the white-sand beaches of Panglao Island, and see the world’s smallest primate, tarsier (Tarsius syrichta). Local people have become accustomed to this flock of tourists. In fact, they serve as tour guides and this became their source of income.

Harboring a rich diversity of plants and animals, the Philippines, in all its 7,107 islands, has a huge potential of making it big in the ecotourism industry. Coupled with community-based approaches, ecotourism is a good take-off point in addressing the problem of biodiversity conservation.

Seeing the potentials of the industry, Philippine policymakers are now consciously making efforts towards developing it further.

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Related Link:
Reyes, D.P.T. (2008). Agri-based Ecotourism: Potential in the Philippines. Paper presented during the Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS), 23 September 2008, SEARCA, College, Los Baños, Laguna

Endnote:

¹ McCormick, Kenneth. 1994. Can Ecotourism Save the Rainforests? http://www.ran.org/ran/info_center/ecotourism.html. Rainforest Action Network