Indigenous ecotourism's role in transforming ecological consciousness

Abstract

While ecotourism has many positive attributes, perhaps the most interesting is its potential to foster transformations in ecological consciousness that some view as vital to achieving more sustainable human–environmental relationships. Frequently, indigenous peoples and their cultures have been associated with ecotourism because of the ‘strong bond between indigenous cultures and the natural environment’ [Zeppel, H. (2006). Indigenous ecotourism: Sustainable development and management. Wallingford, UK: CABI.]. In fact, there are numerous examples from around the world of indigenous communities using the opportunity that ecotourism provides to educate non-indigenous people about indigenous values and lifeways in the hopes of overturning the destructive nature of the Western environmental paradigm. This article offers a critical perspective on the capacity of indigenous ecotourism to foster more sustainable lifeways by transforming the ecological consciousness of participants and stakeholders in ecotourism. This is timely as non-indigenous academic Fennell [(2008). Ecotourism and the myth of indigenous stewardship. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 16(2), 129–149] has recently presented a controversial analysis of the ‘myth of indigenous stewardship’. This paper focuses on the writings of indigenous experts to explore these complex issues. In addition to this conceptual analysis, this article offers a brief case study of Camp Coorong in South Australia, which demonstrates that some indigenous communities are using ecotourism to teach indigenous values in the hope of fostering transformations in consciousness.