?Educates himself as much as possible about the history, natural history and local customs of a destination before visiting



?Respects local cultures

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?Supports locally-owned businesses, artisans and family-owned restaurants

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?Limits deforestation by planting saplings. Does not make open fires

?Leaves plants undamaged. Does not take away cuttings, seeds of roots, illegal in many parts of the Himalayas

?Uses alternative energy sources

?Leaves campsites clean, and takes back all non-biodegradable waste

?Uses no detergents in streams of springs

Does not scratch graffiti onto monuments

Ethical tourism: ?Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints?. Low visitor impact and sustainable tourism are the buzzwords of ecotourism. The UN had declared 2002 the International Year of Ecotourism.

There are two basic requirements for ecotourism: 1) a basic understanding of ecological issues and 2) a conscience.

Ecotourism, more than any other form of travel, demands that the tourist be able to reconcile the inner journey with the outer one. In simpler terms, the joy you get out of the environs should be shared with all that makes the surroundings what they are-the plants, animals, ?local? people, everything. Another fact that you need to bear in mind is that ecotourism is different from-and distinct part of- nature tourism. Nature tourism doesn't require you to take care of your own garbage or follow a strict code of conduct in a forest or worry about the per capita emission of carbon dioxide from your flight. An important difference is ?responsibility?: an eco-tourist has to be responsible for leaving no trail of the ?tour?; is expected to leave a very small ?ecological footprint?, prefer-ably none at all. This is not quite what the hospitality industry is known for, but that's where the times are headed (look at the number of ?nature? channels we have on television today).

Another is viewing wildlife in an atmosphere that is more natural than the run-of-the-mill ride on a jeep or on the back of an elephant. Most ecotourists are educated, sensitive people.

The World Tourism Organization estimates that ?nature tourism? accounts for 20 per cent of all international travel.

Ecotourism Society show that experienced ecotourism is willing to spend more than general tourists.

So where do you plan to go? For the international ecotourists, favored destinations include the US, Peru, Brazil, the Galapagos Islands, Australia, Nepal, Kenya and South Africa.