The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
We analyse 214 cases worldwide where non-governmental organisations (NGOs) use ecotourism for conservation. Other stakeholders in these initiatives include local communities, the private sector, and government agencies. Stakeholder relationships determine NGO roles and project management structures and governance. We classified cases into 10 structural categories based on the initiating stakeholder and the NGO role, and used these categories to analyze geographic patterns and success factors. Most of the 214 cases are community-based (~170; 79%); most are in developing countries (190; 89%); and most are in protected areas (196; 91%). Frequencies of structural categories differ between continents. More cases in Latin America and Asia are initiated by NGOs and local communities, and more in Africa by the private sector. Case-study authors used a range of economic, socio-cultural and environmental criteria to judge whether projects were successful. At global scale, we found no significant association between project success and the involvement of private tourism entrepreneurs. Projects involving either local or international NGOs had higher success rates than those that involved both simultaneously. Future research could adopt political ecology approaches to examine: the factors that lead NGOs to adopt ecotourism enterprises; their internal decision-making processes and strategies; their interactions with the stakeholders involved; and their conservation goals and outcomes.
The conservation of biological diversity is urgent, insufficient, and underfunded [
Relationship between stakeholders are often complex, and partnership arrangements influence governance, management and outcomes of projects [
Many authors, for example, have suggested that NGOs in developed countries preferentially operate ecotourism enterprises themselves, or form partnerships with government agencies in tourism policy and management for protected areas [
None of these previous studies have conducted a global comparative analysis of approaches and outcomes at the scale of individual case studies. Here, therefore, we present a systematic worldwide review of published NGO-based ecotourism projects. The overall question addressed is: where, how, and how well do these projects operate? Specific questions examined are as follows. 1. How many NGO-based ecotourism projects are currently operational worldwide? 2. Where do they operate? 3. What stakeholders are involved? 4. Which stakeholder initiated each project? 5. What is the role of the NGO in each case? 6. What internal governance structure has each adopted to manage interactions between stakeholders? 7. How successful, or otherwise, has each project proved? 8. What specific environmental, social and economic outcomes have they achieved? 9. What factors have contributed to the success or failure of each? 10. What lessons can be learned for future NGO-based ecotourism projects?
We also test three specific predictions derived from previous published literature, as follows. Prediction 1. There are continental-scale patterns in the design, structure and operational parameters of ecotourism projects, creating “regional signatures” which reflect the different histories of land tenure and management, and past tourism patterns such as safaris in Africa and outfitters in North America (37). Prediction 2. The proportion of ecotourism projects which are successful is higher for those which are initiated or controlled by a private sector partner, because of business experience and commercial connections with the tourism industry [
We adopted the standard requirements of systematic reviews as specified by PRISMA [
Regarding sources, the PRISMA protocols provide for a series of successive screening steps, but then treat all selected publications as of equal weight. Here, however, we distinguished three sets of sources, providing different levels of detail, and hence contributing differentially to each individual research question as outlined above. Regarding data, the PRISMA protocols are designed primarily for quantitative data, whereas we included both quantitative and qualitative information, derived from analysis of text. Regarding analysis, the PRISMA protocols assume a single-stage analysis of the final set of publications which survive the screening processes. In this analysis, however, we adopted a two-stage approach. First, we used qualitative data, extracted from some of the sources, to generate a new structural classification of cases. This classification constitutes the first result of our analysis. We then used the categories in this classification as an additional parameter for quantitative analysis of cases from all sources.
Our sources were derived as follows. We searched the refereed published literature between May 2012 and June 2015 using standard academic search engines including Web of Science®, Google Scholar® and Science Direct®. We used search terms ‘ecotourism’, ‘community-based tourism’, ‘conservation tourism’, ‘sustainable tourism’, ‘venture tourism’, ‘voluntourism’ and ‘cultural tourism’, in Boolean combination with ‘non-governmental organisation’, ‘civil association’, and ‘non-profit organisation’. We tracked citations both forwards and backwards.
We included only peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and book chapters, published in English or Spanish. We examined the geographic distribution of the studies identified, as an outcome-level check against possible bias through language of publication, and we examined the academic journals and disciplines where each case study was published, as an outcome level check against possible bias associated with different academic disciplines.
Our data were extracted as follows. For each individually identifiable case study, we extracted information on: (i) the specified objectives of each study; (ii) the research methodologies adopted; (iii) the principal country concerned; (iv) whether or not each ecotourism initiative took place within a protected area; (v) the declared aims and implementation date of each project; (vi) the type and scale of the NGOs involved; (vii) any other stakeholders involved, and their roles; (viii) the NGO goals, roles and rationales for adopting ecotourism strategies; (ix) the specific outcomes of each project as described by each study’s authors; and (x) whether or not these authors considered each project to be successful, and why. Most of these data are thus qualitative, categorical or dichotomous. We examined frequencies of different categories as an outcome-level check against possible bias towards reporting only projects considered successful.
Most of the cases considered in this meta-analysis were published in social science journals, as outlined below in the first section of the Results. They presented their objectives and methods (information types (i) and (ii) in the preceding paragraph), and also their findings, in textual rather than numerical form. To conduct this review, we therefore used a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, to simplify the data structure sufficiently for statistical analysis, without losing the richer degree of detail contained in text presentations.
Qualitative analysis extracts distinct and identifiable concepts from a set of text, and iteratively builds a hierarchical pyramid of constructs. This approach requires that all the text analysed addresses the same issues, so that the lowest-level concepts can be linked into higher-level constructs. Of the ten sets of data extracted from each case analysed here, some represent logically linked concepts, which can be incorporated in the same qualitative analysis. Others, however, are logically independent of each other, so their associations can only be considered in a statistical sense. For example, there may be a statistical association between the success or failure of each project, data item (x) above, and the country where it took place, item (iii), but there is no logical qualitative hierarchy between them.
To conduct statistical meta-analysis of patterns, we therefore converted coded concepts, which are philosophically part of a qualitative analytical approach, to statistical categories, which are philosophically part of a quantitative approach. For some of the types of information extracted from each case, this conversion is straightforward. For example, text specifying where each case study was conducted can be coded as inside or outside a protected area, and this can be converted unambiguously to a dichotomous variable. Similarly, location text can be coded as developed or developing nation, which converts unambiguously to a second dichotomous variable. It can also be coded as a country name, which converts unambiguously to a categorical “continent” variable. Conversion from country to continent is unambiguous, but involves substantial data compression.
For information of types (v) to (vii) above, we adopted a combined data compression approach, using several sets of case-study information simultaneously in order to generate a categorical classification of case studies. The details are set out in the next section. This created a new, derived, categorical variable for each case study, which we refer to as structural classification type, and which we then used in subsequent statistical analysis. We also used a qualitative approach to identify the various rationales used by NGOs for adopting ecotourism as a conservation tool, item (viii) above.
Finally, for information of types (ix) and (x) above, we used a qualitative approach to identify how individual case-study authors described case-study outcomes, and how they judged the success or failure of each of the projects concerned. We also converted the highest-level construct for item (x), project success or failure as judged by case-study authors, to a dichotomous variable for use in statistical analysis. We did not attempt to re-interpret the judgements of case-study authors, firstly since we did not have their direct experience of the projects concerned, and secondly since the various published studies did not all have the same aims or employ the same criteria.
We developed the structural classification through standard iterative qualitative analysis of text [
This process yielded 10 structural categories, with distinctions between categories reflecting only two of the case parameters: the stakeholder that initiated the project, and the role adopted by the NGO. We were therefore able to define each category using fixed combinations of those two factual criteria. That is, we initially derived or identified the categories using an iterative qualitative procedure, which involves ambiguities; but we ultimately defined the categories using objective criteria, which are unambiguous. These combinations and definitions are also derived as part of our analyses, and are therefore presented below in the Results.
We assigned each of the individual cases to one of these structural categories, and used those categories as an additional parameter for further analyses. For 37% of cases, the allocation of cases to categories was carried out independently by the first two authors, and then compared so as to calculate an inter-coder reliability rate, ICRR. Since the final criteria used to define the categories are unambiguous, the ICRR for these cases was 100%.
To address the questions predictions outlined earlier, we tested for associations between the categorical variables for each case study, including the additional variable derived from the structural classification. We used Fisher’s Exact Test for all tests of associations, two-tailed except where otherwise stated. Since all the parameters are categorical, parametric statistical techniques are not applicable.
We present our findings under seven headings, as follows. (i) Summary of data sources and screening using a PRISMA flowchart. (ii) Structural classification of cases, based on stakeholder involvement and roles adopted, and project initiation and governance. (iii) Rationales advanced by NGOs for taking part in ecotourism projects. (iv) Social, economic and environmental outcomes of each case study, and the mechanisms by which these outcomes were achieved, focussing on quantifiable conservation outcomes where these are available. (v) Criteria used by case study authors to evaluate success or failure of each project, and the underlying reasons where provided. (vi) Country-by-country geographic distribution of case studies, and test for associations with protected areas, level of development, and structural category. (vii). Associations between success or failure, and other variables.
We identified source materials in three categories. The first category (
The journal articles and books analysed were published in three main disciplines: tourism (55 articles, 65.4%), ecology (9 articles, 10.7%), and geography (4 articles, 4.7%). The rest were published in fields such as conservation and biodiversity, ornithology, forestry, human ecology, policy, social development, interdisciplinary fields, anthropology, rural studies, and education: >40 different journals in all. A wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted in these studies, including surveys, interviews, participant observation, ethnographic approaches, focus groups, discourse analysis, case studies, content analysis, narrative opinions and mixed approaches.
The iterative qualitative analysis used to derive the structural classification yielded four key simplification steps or insights. The first of these is that the cases can be classified using a matrix of stakeholder type vs stakeholder roles. Four stakeholder types can be distinguished: government agencies, private operators, local communities, and NGOs. The second is that the roles adopted by three of these four stakeholder types are largely consistent across cases, whereas the NGO stakeholders adopt a range of roles which produce different consequences for project structure. Ten NGO roles are distinguishable: lobbyist or promoter, landowner or land manager, champion, ongoing manager, founding manager, certifier, advisor or facilitator, networker, broker, and consultant. The third step is that the single most influential aspect of stakeholder roles, in determining subsequent structure and governance, is which stakeholder originally initiated the project. We therefore reduced the classification to a matrix of initiating-stakeholder vs NGO-role. The fourth and final step is that of the numerous theoretically possible combinations of initiating stakeholder and NGO role, only 10 actually occur in practice. This iterative process thus successfully allocated the 214 individual cases into 10 structural categories, summarised in
Category | Initiator | NGO role | NGO actions | No. of cases |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | NGO | Lobbyist / Promoter | Promotes ecotourism through campaigns, code of conducts, protests, marketing, environmental education and policy making | 6 |
2 | NGO | Land owner or manager | Manages and safeguards an entire protected area, private or public, and incorporates tourism components | 19 |
3 | NGO | Champion | Principal driver of community-based ecotourism (CBET) projects | 63 |
4 | NGO | Ongoing manager | Operates its own tours, mostly associated with scientific research for conservation | 15 |
5 | NGO | Founding manager | Operates its own tours initially, but intending to hand over management to a local community once established | 10 |
6 | NGO | Certifier | Creates certification, awards, and monitoring mechanisms for ecotourism ventures and hotels | 1 |
7 | Local community | Advisor / facilitator | Assists and advises in the creation or re-organization of CBET projects. | 31 |
8 | Local community | Networker | Links various existing CBET projects together and with other stakeholders, e.g., local government and private tour operators, and/or assists them with promotion strategies. Umbrella organisations. | 15 |
9 | Private tour operator | Broker | Supports ecotourism enterprises carried out by private tour operators that supports conservation and social initiatives, and may link them with local communities and/or government | 36 |
10 | Government | Consultant | Assists local governments in the design and/or execution of ecotourism projects | 7 |
a n = 203 cases; for 11 cases, the role of the NGO was not clear.
There are six categories where the NGO is the initiator, and four where it is not. In projects initiated by other stakeholders, NGO involvement can occur either at the request of that stakeholder, or through the proactive initiative of the NGO. In categories 1–6, where the NGO is the initiator, NGOs exercise principal control over the project management structure. These categories are distinguished by the role played by the NGO as (1) lobbyist or promoter, (2) land owner or land manager, (3) champion, (4) ongoing manager, (5) founding manager, or (6) certifier. In categories 7–10, projects are initiated and generally also managed by other stakeholders, with NGOs playing secondary roles. In categories 7 and 8, the local community is the initiator. In category 7, the NGO acts as advisor or facilitator. In category 8, the NGO acts as a networker across multiple projects. Category 9 consists of projects initiated by private tour operators, where the NGO acts as a broker to other stakeholders. Category 10 consists of projects initiated by a government agency, where the NGO acts as a consultant.
Globally, the most frequent category (63 cases, 29.4%) is category 3, where the NGO champions its own initiatives. The second most frequent (36, 16.8%) is category 9, where projects are initiated by private-sector partners. The third (31, 14.4%) is category 7, where the NGO acts as advisor and facilitator for projects initiated by local communities. Overall, ~170 of the 214 case studies (~79%) involved community-based ecotourism, but only 46 of these (27%) were initiated by the communities concerned.
Different NGOs preferentially adopt different roles, depending on their profiles, aims and expertise. The role of the NGO can evolve during the course of an individual project: for example, where the NGO acts initially as consultant to a government agency (category 10), but later as champion of the initiative itself (category 3). An NGO may adopt multiple simultaneous roles in the same project: e.g., both as broker (category 9) linking a private operator with local landowners or government, and simultaneously as lobbyist (category 1) for the entire initiative. An NGO may adopt multiple roles in different contemporaneous projects: e.g., as founding manager (category 5) in one project, and advisor or facilitator (category 7) in another.
From the 57 individual cases described in detail (
Case-study authors adopted a wide range of different measures to assess project outcomes: e.g., profits, visitation rates, social benefits, conservation consequences, or changes in environmental policies. Some authors showed that projects may yield social benefits, even where they fail to achieve conservation goals [
Few of these case studies, however (
Criteria put forward by the case-study authors as evidence of project success or failure are summarised in
Positive benefits | Negative impacts | |
---|---|---|
Employment Economic diversification Sale of other local products Economy dependent on ecotourism Creation of savings, loans, pensions, and other economic compensation |
Any income and employment small, insubstantia Only a few inhabitants gain, creating economic inequities Economic inflation |
|
Support for other conservation initiatives Resources monitoring Promotion of environmental education, increased awareness Halt to uncontrolled development |
Exploitation of natural resources through livestock grazing, farming, timber cutting, poaching, hunting, or fisheries; often due to lack of immediate economic benefits from ecotourism Pollution and ecological damage |
|
Increased capacity, training, new skills, new experiences Increased quality of life via new infrastructure and services Promotion of ownership, social cohesion, broader community vision, political effectiveness Protection of culture and promotion of equity |
Traditions affected Domestic violence, where men object to involvement of women in projects Feelings of frustration Social division Prostitution and drugs |
Where case study authors judged projects as unsuccessful, they commonly cited sociocultural criteria such as conflicts and violence, disorganization and lack of trust, resentment and frustration, prostitution and drug abuse, and damage to local traditions. The projects concerned generated little income or livelihood improvement. Reasons cited include: lack of a competitive tourism attraction; inadequate tourist access and infrastructure; poor marketing and management; and poor quality services provided. Some of these projects hampered conservation rather than enhancing it: e.g., where ecotourism incomes were used for environmentally damaging purchases such as expansion of cattle herds.
The geographic focus of previous literature is mapped in
Map created using ArcGIS® (
Contrary to predictions and suggestions by previous authors [
Also contrary to previous suggestions and predictions [
This analysis provides the first global-scale review of the role of NGOs in ecotourism. It complements previous reviews of ecotourism in private conservation reserves, communal conservancies, and public protected areas [
This analysis shows that NGOs do indeed play a significant role worldwide in the use of ecotourism for conservation, particularly through community-based approaches associated with protected areas in developing countries. It demonstrates that: there are multiple different mechanisms by which NGOs may become involved in ecotourism initiatives intended to benefit conservation; different NGOs may prefer different approaches; the historical frequencies of different approaches, involving different stakeholders, have differed between continents; and these frequencies may currently be changing, so as to bring greater coherence in practices worldwide. These findings indicate that the paucity of knowledge on the role of NGOs represents a significant gap in current research on ecotourism, community-based tourism and conservation tourism, and merits greater attention.
This analysis also confirms the importance of the relationships between stakeholders for project structure. The stakeholder that first proposes or establishes each new ecotourism project seems to become dominant in determining its initial goals, design, structure, governance and management. Projects proposed by NGOs adopt different management structures and different NGO roles, from projects proposed or established by local communities, private tour operators, or government agencies. This applies even if all the same stakeholders are involved. Some NGOs may later expand or change their roles, even in projects that they did not initiate. Since this may affect project outcomes, it would be valuable to examine in detail what factors promote such flexibility.
The high proportion of cases in developing countries suggests that in these countries, rather than relying on national governments, NGOs endeavour to undertake conservation activities directly, including community engagement and revenue generation through ecotourism [
The preponderance of privately-driven projects in Africa, and NGO and community-driven projects in Latin America and Asia, for example, may reflect political histories [
Our analysis shows that historically and at global scale, collaboration between the private tourism sector and NGOs has not increased the proportion of successful ecotourism projects. It also indicates that the proportion of successful projects is greater for NGOs working individually than for those collaborating with other NGOs. There are however, two caveats. The first is lack of detail on the roles adopted by different stakeholders. The second is that local-scale patterns may be masked at global scale. Finer-scale research could examine: how stakeholder perceptions of each other influence partnerships [
This analysis reveals that tangible contributions to conservation are rarely quantified in any reliable manner. For example, very few of these 214 studies have measured or reported: contributions to the viability of threatened species populations [
Improved evaluation of environmental, sociocultural and economic outcomes, and factors contributing to the success or failure of individual projects, is increasingly important as aggregate global investment in ecotourism by NGOs and their donors is now in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars across the globe [
The global framework and meta-analysis presented here provides a robust, comprehensive and coherent picture of patterns at global and continental scales, but a coarse-grained one. Many of the individual case studies cited here did provide detailed analyses, but at single-site scales. The more general of the previously published studies identified broad issues and discourses, but with limited detail. We suggest, therefore, that the next step in analysing the use of ecotourism as a conservation tool by NGOs, and the role of NGOs in conservation tourism projects, should be to identify drivers, decision-making processes, designs, and management strategies used across suites of similar initiatives in individual nations or otherwise similar social, political and historical frameworks. We suggest that a political ecology framework could be used to examine how historical processes, cultural factors, actors, institutions and biophysical environments [
In particular, it is noteworthy that whilst four fifths of these cases involved local communities, only one fifth were initiated by these communities. That is, most community-based conservation ecotourism projects are initiated by NGOs. Therefore, the processes which determine how NGOs select and define these initiatives are key in the use of ecotourism in conservation and community development, and deserve future research attention.
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We thank Fernanda de Vasconcellos Pegas for valuable discussion in the early stages of this research.