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  • Ecotourism in Podocarpus Na...
    Moran-Cahusac, Cesar

    Journal of sustainable forestry, 8/31/2009, Volume: 28, Issue: 6-7
    Journal Article

    Despite Ecuador's growing national rates of tourism visitation, Podocarpus National Park (PNP) has not benefited greatly. This analysis finds that PNP lacks a common vision for its tourism product. Stakeholders engage in independent tourism projects while using biodiversity as the park's main attraction. The two governing stakeholders, the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of the Environment, have different agendas for the park's management. The former promotes and sells while the latter protects, often making it difficult for them to work together. All of the above is occurring in the context of low levels of tourism visitation, which is a favorable condition to develop an inclusive vision of ecotourism development for the park. To help develop and manage ecotourism that is sustainable and inclusive in Podocarpus National Park, I recommend (a) developing a common ecotourism vision, (b) establishing an official information distribution platform, (c) developing a coherent sign plan and a clear trail system with necessary facilities, (d) building park ranger capacity and public presence, (e) building park management capacity and budget estimates with respect to tourist visitation, and (f) developing a plan for community involvement in and benefit from ecotourism.