Responsible tourism in Ecuador

Edgar Morin is one of France’s leading philosophers, and, on a visit to Ecuador in 2012, he highlighted this stunningly biodiverse country as a model of good living; how it is the right path to follow if you want to understand how social and conscious economies work. This is the effect Ecuador has on people, even 90-year-old philosophers. It has ‘good living’, or buen vivir and the rights of nature written into the constitution, for goodness’ sake. And it even has a Minister for Good Living. So, it is up to us, as visitors, to not only to respect their inspiring attitude to life, but to learn from their generous community ethos, and apply it to our own lives back home as well as to our travels elsewhere in the world.

Going local – it's in the constitution

The one thing that strikes you in Ecuador is that responsible tourism comes naturally. So much of it is locally run and environmentally aware. This is due to a combination of factors. First, they seem to be innately socially conscious people and proud of that heritage. Second, the people took on the oil industry and its devastating impacts on people and place, in an unprecedented case to protect their indigenous lands in the 1990’s. And thirdly, in 2008, a new constitution was ratified by the people which included a Chapter: Rights for Nature. This acknowledges that nature in all its life forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, and that the people have legal authority to enforce these rights on behalf of ecosystems.

This explains the reassuring proliferation of eco accommodation in Ecuador. In nearly all cases, when you look for somewhere to stay, it will be locally managed, environmentally responsible, with local employees and serving local food. These range from plush haciendas to small, locally run lodges. Gleaming examples include the famous Black Sheep Inn, Napo Wildlife Center and Kapawi Ecolodge of course, but these are just like the elders in a one great big family of businesses looking out for one another.

However, times are a changing in Ecuador at the moment. The current government is threatening to overturn some of the 1990’s social and environmental achievements, announcing in 2013 that that it will auction more than three million hectares of Amazonian rainforest to Chinese oil companies. Not only do local people object, but international campaigners are watching on with interest too. For more information, see Amazon Watch’s website. The Pacific coast is developing too, with a push to attract outside investment, in particular from expats who want somewhere cheap to retire to. Expats who want nothing more than a second tourism income to top up their retirement fund. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, of course, with many destinations kept afloat by expat tourism businesses. However, just to be wary that on the coast, in particular, the community vibe might be dissipated with time. But hopefully not.

The Galápagos are a bit greedy and needy when it comes to getting all that Ecuadorian tourist adulation and adoration. Going to Ecuador and not spending serious time on the mainland is a bit like going to Sicily but never bothering with Rome, Florence, Tuscany or the Dolomites. So, yes, go for the iguanas and islets, but don’t go all that way and miss the Andes and Amazon, World Heritage cities and coast. National park fees are ridiculously low in Ecuador, and in some of the less-visited parks they are rarely enforced, meaning there are not enough rangers to patrol the areas, and the deforestation is on the increase. In coastal areas, this also results in the clearing of mangroves in protected areas to create illegal shrimp farms. Which is not to say that you shouldn’t visit national parks; you absolutely should. Just be sure to pay the fees. If you aren’t asked for them, push the issue. The new train service, Tren Ecuador, launched in 2013, travels between the port of Guayaquil and Quito. This is not an Orient Express experience by any means, but one that is about connecting you with Ecuadorian life, not just its landscape. It is also considered by local people to have been a super successful social initiative to re-engage communities that lost their way a little when the old railroad collapsed. In 2016, it was a joint overall winner of the World Responsible Tourism Awards.