Ecotourism in Madagascar - Responsible Tourism: Critical Issues for Conservation and Development - page 38

Why has a country with such outstanding
natural/cultural resources not been able to create a
proper ecotourism niche and sustainably manage its
resources?
The situation for this niche sector of tourism and its value chain is still somewhat
unstable; one could also say that, with few exceptions, Madagascar is not yet an
authentic ecotourism destination but has incredible potential to be one in the
future. The sleeping beauty has been recently awakened by the government's
MAP and major activities as, for example, by the PIC project for tourism develop-
ment and the IFC's concession programme for national parks. The stated
willingness of the government to develop this niche has been indicated by several
actions taken in the recent past and the signs for future development are promis-
ing. Viewing the outstandingly rich but fragile biodiversity of this country, the
focus on high class ecotourism seems to be a promising idea for preserving this
uniqueness. To make the wish come true to be the premier ecotourism destination
in the Indian Ocean and being able to compete with well known countries already
specializing in this area, Madagascar might want to re-direct itself using the
following five steps:

1 To establish a proper conservation mechanism to preserve its natural
resources, which are very much under pressure: by the countries ongoing
deforestation 7 through the local populations' tavy culture 8 and their current
poor agricultural practices as well as the actual desire of the government to
grow stronger in the mining and oil industries. Instead of appreciating and
exploiting the country sustainably by installing a proper ecotourism niche,
this given base has to be continuously defended today. One way to protect
these important biodiverse areas might be to meet with local community
religious and spiritual leaders and agree to place fadys on pristine areas for
both locals and foreigners. This practice of protecting areas through religious
and spiritual beliefs is being used successfully in several places in the world.

2 To have a proper vision for what ecotourism stands for in Madagascar (the

majority of the people still confuse it with nature tourism).

3 To develop and manage ecotourism development correctly (establish the

necessary policy, implementation, strategy and activity by the creation of a
new department for sustainable tourism and ecotourism inside the Ministry
of Tourism).

4 To follow this up by managing it in a very professional way, supported by

appropriate instruments and mechanisms and the integration of the local
population (e.g. by awareness-raising measures to preserve their environment
and let them personally participate by improved training and education
measures that conform to international standards (e.g. for guides), creating
jobs or their own businesses or finding ways to channel the benefits through
to them).