Most nations have national parks – areas of particular beauty or environmental interest that need protecting from the effects of developmental change. Dedicated to animals, walkers and scientists they are usually strict non-commercial enclaves. But increasingly, parks departments are allowing commercial ecotourism operators to help promote their values and valuables. By Jeremy Torr.
Courtesy SPSNR
Queensland, Australia. 10 November 2020. For the last 60 years, Costa Rica has consistently marketed itself as an ecotourism destination. The approach has worked; deforestation rates have dropped so dramatically the size of its woodlands is today increasing. Yet it still boasts a thriving economy – with ecotourism a key factor. Costa Rican ecotourism has seen revenues jump by almost half over the last fifteen years, and it now brings some US$1.4 billion a year into the national coffers - more than 3% of the country’s GDP. Ecotourism operators and national parks are together bringing both prosperity for locals and a better environment.
“This kind of approach can definitely work – but there have to be caveats,” says Ben O'Hara, environment and land general manager at Queensland-based Spicers Peak Station Nature Refuge (SPSNR). “There has to be a balance; a balance between not just size and visitor numbers, but the impact of those visitors on whatever it is they have come to look at and experience,” he says. Some visitors are emphatic that money and National Parks (NPs) should never mix, but he suggests that with careful management, commercial operations can help sustain both environment and local populations too.
O'Hara knows what he is talking about – the SPSNR was set up in 2006 on what was a working cattle station, and stretches over 3050ha, with a range of eco-systems including plains, woodlands and temperate rainforest. Its owners signed an innovative Nature Refuge conservation agreement with the Queensland government to protect and gazette the land in perpetuity as an area of significant natural and cultural resource – an NP. Part of this covers commercial activities including farming as well as eco-tourism.
Indonesia’s Mount Gede Pangrango National Park is an ecotourism mecca. Courtesy Hardi Budi.
“Ecotourism in National Parks has to be carefully considered,” warns O'Hara. “It can’t be generalised by just saying, yes, that’s a good idea. There has to be appropriate regulation, with relevant guidelines.” As part of any deal between the NPs and an operator, there needs to be a strong awareness of the obligations on both sides, notes O'Hara. He points out that while NPs generally have a huge depth of knowledge and specialized skills when it comes to research, protection and maintenance of sensitive ecosystems, they are not always best at running a business with a customer-facing element.
“When it comes to running an ecotourism facility, it really does require runs on the board; the previous experience of responsibly operating a service that people pay for,” he explains. “They (NPs) might think they have commercial capability, but they are less likely to (have to) strictly apply the rules of business.”
This is a balance that is being sought worldwide; currently the NP authorities in Indonesia at Mount Gede Pangrango National Park in West Java are trying to juggle the needs of the delicate volcano ecosystems with the demands of ecotourism operators bringing in valuable tourist dollars to a post-Covid economy. As one report has noted, the parks authority there “has a duty to conserve natural resources and ecosystem … but cannot separate this from the development of nature tourism”. This, it rightly observes, sees many people visiting to ‘gain experience interacting with extraordinary biological communities’ but just as importantly, to spend their money.
Visitors bring appreciation - and income to locals at Spicers Peak Station Nature Refuge. Courtesy SPNR.
This can be big dollars. Another recent paper from Queensland estimated that almost $6.50 in benefits are generated for every dollar spent on visitor management. There are also intangible benefits; the same report established up to 20% of visitors polled would not have visited the locality if they couldn't visit a national park.
Nonetheless, the attractions of any NP need to be tempered by that previously-mentioned balance, says O'Hara. “What commercial operators can do is to provide a better experience. They can get an environmental experience that introduces them to things and animals they otherwise would never be able to do – but (we) have to make sure we are not just offering another Disneyland,” he adds. “It might be difficult and it might be costly, but we and the NPs have to act (together) with the best intent on this.”
“Ecotourism in National Parks needs to be carefully considered” - Ben O’Hara of Spicers Peak Station Nature Refuge, Queensland
O'Hara admits the Spicers Scenic Rim Trail (SSRT) was something of a ‘guinea pig’ operation when they first began negotiating with the Queensland government in 2011, but that all parties have learned a lot from the experience. He says the commercial experience of planning ahead, looking over the horizon and managing new projects were something parks managers were not used to. They were more likely to respond more reactively to issues, and were more risk averse and therefore less innovative than business operators.
Nonetheless, says O'Hara, the links between commerce and NP operation can be of high mutual benefit as long as the joint lines are carefully handled and implemented. In the case of SSRT, the cross-skilling process has brought the best outcomes for government, the environment, and visitors too.
“We work on our (ecotourism) business because it’s the right thing to do,” he says. “It shouldn’t just be about the money. There has to be the ability to meet obligations, and to be compliant with the regulations. And like any relationship, there has to be trust.”
Get more insights about ecotourism across the region at the Ecotourism Australia 2020 Conference, held from 1 to 3 December 2020 in Margaret River, Western Australia. Live streaming options are available too; register today.