The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests for the benefit of the global community. Its mission is to develop and promote economically viable and socially desirable alternatives to the destruction of tropical forests. It pursues this mission through education, research in the social and natural sciences, and the establishment of cooperative partnerships with business, governments and local peoples. In its efforts to establish such partnerships, the Rainforest Alliance and its partner groups in the tropics have become fully aware of the tourism industry's potential to become a conservation ally, as well as the detrimental effects that unsustainable mass tourism often inflicts on the environment and local cultures. Thus, the Rainforest Alliance believes that:

• True ecotourism is the type of tourism most compatible with the mission of the organization and our conservation activities. We define true ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people" (The Ecotourism Society, 1991) and that complies with the following principles (Honey, 1999):
  • Involves travel to natural sites.
  • Minimizes impact.
  • Builds environmental awareness.
  • Provides direct financial benefits for conservation.
  • Provides financial benefits and empowerment for local communities.
  • Respects local culture.
  • Is sensitive to the host country's political environment and social climate.
  • Supports human rights and international labor agreements.

• True ecotourism is a conservation option that can be offered to rural people who want to maintain their forests, coastline, coral reef, wetland or other ecosystems.

• True ecotourism is often promoted as a panacea, when in reality it is only applicable to certain areas and must always be well planned and well managed.

• There is a lack of credible, independent third-party certification schemes for true ecotourism and an increasing need for establishing an accreditation body in this field.

• It is necessary to differentiate true ecotourism from other types of nature-related tourism and to separate efforts that aim at greening the tourism industry at large from those efforts that aim at implementing true ecotourism.

1. Feasibility studies to explore the creation of an accreditation body for ecotourism certification, which we might call the Ecotourism Stewardship Council (ESC). This independent agency would represent all stakeholders and be responsible for accrediting organizations that claim to have ecotourism certification schemes.

2. Joint efforts by interested non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to explore the possibilities of a unified certification program in true ecotourism performed by local third-party certifiers.

3. Other specific projects that clearly attempt to promote true ecotourism among the industry, governments and other NGOs.

4. Although the Rainforest Alliance gives priority to the true ecotourism actions aforementioned, we also recognize the importance of efforts that target the greening of other sectors in this industry -- particularly, other types of nature-related tourism such as wildlife and adventure tourism. The Rainforest Alliance's participation in such efforts is analyzed on a case by case basis.

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