'I've shared a bed with entire families, the kitchen table with cockerels, and my lunch with pigs. I've strangled chickens, pulled water from wells and collected children from school on horseback.'

In her latest Email from Central America, Holly Bruford finds out at first hand how families could benefit from community-based ecotourism.

I have just reintegrated into society this weekend after five days and six nights participating in the raw reality of rural community life in the southern plains of Nicaragua. I’ve shared a bed with entire families, the kitchen table with cockerels, and my lunch with pigs. I’ve strangled chickens, pulled water from wells and collected children from school on horseback.

The reason for my being there was, however, more than just voyeurism. My remit was to investigate the potential beginnings of an ecotourism project in the area.

The people from the villages of La Camarona and La Flor eek out a living from subsistence agriculture. The average family will have one cow, two pigs and a handful of chickens. They will own just enough land to grow sufficient crops to survive.

75% of the people of this rural region live below the poverty line. Recently, the communities came together to ask a local non-profit organisation for assistance in alternative forms of income generation; introducing community-based ecotourism in the area could be a possible solution.

Supposedly, the underlying principle behind ecotourism is that money from visitors can be channelled into protecting the natural resources they come to see. The more the locals put into protecting their environment, the more visitors come. The more visitors that come, the more income generated for the locals.

Ecotreks

In the past, I have been weary as to what the fashionable phrase actually defines. Across Central America rundown roadside motels offer ecotreks to hike and an ecolodge to spend the night. With little regard to the environment around them or any sign of community-based initiatives they are apparently joining the increasing number of tourist establishments hijacking the eco prefix for dubious uses.

And even if the genuine ecotourism experience is on offer, challenges remain over its own validity: attempting to protect an area whilst encouraging large numbers of people to visit somewhat contradicts itself. As ATEC, The Talamancan Ecotourism and Conservation Association in southwest Costa Rica underlines: “Ecotourism is not mass tourism behind a green mask.” (Rough Guide, 2004)

The recent growth in community-based projects seems a step forward in the development of an economically viable industry that is committed to protecting the local environment and its communities.

Grassroots initiatives are emerging across the region and the idea behind an ecotourism project in the area I have recently visited would be very much community-based. Far from encouraging mass tourism it would aspire to those off-the-beaten-track explorers, seeking to enrich their travels through the sharing of experiences with local people.

Locals are trained as nature guides offering treks through the tropical dry climatic zone of the region and demonstrating initiatives in sustainable agricultural and environmental activities whilst sharing their culture, traditions and way of life. The visitor stays with a different family each night. All tour fees go back into the local community.

Sensitive

It’s sensitive ground to tread. These communities have delicate customs to be protected and preserved, especially when opened to the inquisitive eye of the outsider. In turn, when the outside world enters, it should be an opportunity for exchange not exploitation.

Of course, the deepest understanding of what any of this would come to mean came from the people themselves. As Doña Nelly, a respected community elder told me: “It would be a beautiful experience that would allow a cultural exchange of our roots, customs and traditions; a wonderful pleasure to share the little that we have.”

Last week she did indeed share the little that she had with me. For Doña Nelly, it was a pleasure. For my part, an exceptional privilege far from the well-trodden tourist trail.

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