ISSN 1108-8931

INTERNATIONAL ECOTOURISM MONTHLY

Year 5-Issue 55, Dec. 2003

Whitewater Rafting - A Sustainable Future
by Debra Scisco*

Whitewater rafting, as an industry, has many opportunities to contribute to the conservation of the natural environment and the sustainability of the local communities:

An alternative to other forms of employment or industry
Establishing whitewater raft tourism into a community gives the local persons an alternative to other industries and employment that could be harmful to the environment. Ecologically friendly employment can include river guides as well as Ecolodge staff. In Costa Rica, the significant rise of tourism and creation of nationally protected parks and areas has led to tourism becoming the second largest industry in the country and services containing 58% of the labor force in 1999.The slash and burn tactics and deforestation of the country's natural resources have become almost non-existent.

Contributions to the local community
Contributions to the community can be in the form of direct contributions or governmental charges. Fees could be charged for the use of certain sections of a river, entrance to a national park or conservation activities. The government may enforce other fees such as user fees, permits, taxes on sales or rentals of whitewater raft equipment and licenses for the company to operate. These monies can be allocated to the community to pay for the protection of their natural environment as well as for improving community and tourism facilities. For example: "In West Virginia a whitewater rafting tax is collected from everyone who participates in a commercial rafting trip. The fee goes toward studying the environmental impacts of rafting. In addition, the rafting companies participate in several river cleanup days each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Maintain cultural values
Whitewater raft companies can help the local community to sustain their cultural values by designing their tours and their Ecolodges to be a "cultural" experience. Local community members use their skills and trade as part of the tour. The company could even involve the community leaders in the management of the company to ensure cultural values are attained. In Fiji, one whitewater raft company selects guides "by a cooperative consisting of village elders, traditional landowners and company management. This method ensures that cultural and sociological decision making processes are maintained and supported" (Don Morberg, 2002). These practices will be far more likely to result in positive support for whitewater raft tourism from the local communities as well.

Use of Ecolodges for overnight trips
For multi-day trips the use of an Ecolodge for the overnight stay in place of camping on the riverbank has many advantages. It minimises the impact on the environment in that it is an established location, waste is contained, and the wildlife is less disturbed. As a former whitewater guide, this author is familiar with how difficult it is to enforce environmental practices on tourists. It creates employment for the local community and can be an educational and cultural experience for the ecotourist as well. Several raft companies in Central America have been very successful using the Ecolodge as part of their tours and have gone as far as to make it their main attraction.

Enforce controls on the number of tourists per region
Raft companies can offset the negative impacts of tourism by enforcing controls on the number of tourists and tours per day on each section of the river. This enforcement would require cooperation between the competing raft companies; therefore the state and/or federal government usually enforce the regulations. In Utah and Arizona, certain sections of the Colorado River are protected by regulatory measures in the form of permits. The Grand Canyon, with "a waiting list of over 600 names means you could wait for more than 8 years for your name to come to the top of the list" (River Permits and Info Grand Canyon National Park, 2003). Although it may be difficult or take years to obtain these permits, they help to reduce the negative impacts on natural resources and wildlife. These regulations make the trip more aesthetically pleasing as well because the tour does not have to be shared with a multitude of other boats and companies.

About the Author: Ms. Debra Scisco is the principle consultant for EcoSupport 
(http://www.ecosupport.net). Contact Ms Scisco at: http://ecoclub.com/experts/scisco.html 

Cultural Tourism in Nigeria:
Reply to an Enquiry by Samuel Segun Odunlami*

Cultural tourism involves tourism based on beliefs and religion and Nigeria been a country with over 350 ethnic groups with unique beliefs and customs, is very rich in diverse cultures and festivals. In fact there is hardly any week in Nigeria without a festival. In this context, the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) has identified cultural Tourism as very important to realising tourism development in the country and has recently come up with a "cultural tourism calendar" for the country. The major festivals have been carefully chosen for promotion and development. This is to allow for the development of other events that will later on be developed and adequately promoted. The major festivals that are currently given priority include the Osun Oshogbo Festival in Osun State, Durbar Festivals in most states of the North, Mmanwu Yam Festival in Enugu, Eyo Festival in Lagos and Argungu Fishing Festival. Others include Ovia Osese in Kogi State, Ikeji Festival in Imo State and the Boat Regata in the Riverine areas.

Concerning the issue of Ecotourism and Cultural Tourism, the fact remains that cultural tourism is more popular among Nigerians. Many will go back to their villages from the cities either to participate or witness these cultural events. It is more popular than ecotourism and better perceived than ecotourism. But it is also a fact that many tour operators usually include a tour to a national park in their itinerary. Also, tours to any of the national parks always include the use of the local cultural display to entertain visitors, especially foreign tourists. From my personal experience as a trainer in the industry, the two go hand in hand and should be coordinated.

Until now only a few Nigerians have really taken the initiative to invest in tourism, as it would require a reasonable sum of capital investment. Many also complain to us that the government has not provided enough infrastructures for serious tourism development so that private investors would be attracted. Besides the era of Obasanjo administration in the early seventies, none of the governments that followed showed any serious commitment to the development of the industry as they were all more interested in oil extraction. Another important factor has to do with domestic awareness, as many Nigerians simply do not know where some of these attractions are located. With respect to Cultural Tourism, many who would have loved to experience these unique events can find little information about where and when celebrations are held. Hopefully the NTDC calendar for Cultural Festivals can address some of these issues.

Not all is bleak, though. There is indeed a steady growth in the number of domestic tourists visiting the tourist attraction sites in Nigeria. What is even most interesting is the fact that majority of these visit the Nigeria national parks, especially the Yankari, Old Oyo and kainji- Lake national parks which are recording an unprecedented number of Nigerians every weekend, although of course few of these visitors can be classified as ecotourists. It is just that the national parks are the most developed tourist destinations in the country.

About the Author: Mr Samuel Segun Odunlami is Senior Lecturer at the National Institute for Hospitality & Tourism Studies in Kano, Nigeria. Contact Mr. Odunlami at http://ecoclub.com/experts/odunlami.html

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