Community-Based Eco Tourism in Indonesia

 The folowing is from WWF for a living planet.
About Borneo Ecotourism
Kayan Mentarang National Park
Malinau
Nunukan
Community Interests Meet Environmental Responsibility
Ecotourism can be a sustainable enterprise. But to deliver on its promises, conditions must be created for communities to control the intensity of tourism, retain autonomy, and develop tourism in accordance with their own vision of the future and the needs of the environment.

Two aspects need to be addressed to develop ecotourism as a successful conservation-based enterprise. On the one hand, it has to be equitable and benefit local people . On the other hand, the enterprise has to be economically sound, generate revenues and be professionally operated. For this reason, it is important to develop appropriate marketing strategies and to engage in an open dialogue with the private sector.

Developing Community-Based Ecotourism
For a successful ecoutourism enterprise we need to pay attention , to people and nature, to capacity building, to partnerships and then support these efforts through adequate  practices and policies. With this mind, in developing community-based ecotourism we need to: adopt conservation principles, regulate the number of visitors, and closely monitor impacts
Ensure equitable benefits for local communities
Encourage fair partnerships between local communities/entrepreneurs and tour operators
Create “special transboundary ecotourism zones” where tourists are allowed to cross border for tourism purposes in areas like HoB with high potential for ecotourism.

WWF, a Natural Role in supporting Ecotourism
At several field sites, WWF is engaged in helping local communities  develop, promote and market community-based initiatives by :

Building capacity of communities to lead small ecotourism enterprises
Encouraging communities to enter  fair partnerships with private sector
Help strengthen environmental awareness
Support conservation efforts
Apply and monitor “Green and Fair” criteria in ecotourism development as part of a strategy to bring added value to this enterprise based inside or in the surrounding of conservation areas.
Help promote  Green & Fair products  like local crafts, NTFP, and local agricultural products to tourists and a wider market. .