Journeying To Where The Wild Things Are
Texan Maps Out First Book
On Eco-Tourism In Mexico
By Anthony Wright
Exploit the riches of the forest lightly, exploit the riches of
the plains well, and take care of both.
CARLOS FUENTES, The Two Shores
A perusal through some old Mexico Desconocido travel magazines reveals a
wealth of camping and exploring milieus: deserted beaches, obscure lagoons;
moonlike terrains of rolling dunes and boulder pastures; forests teeming
with iguanas, jaguars and toucans.
Despite the repeated predictions of ecological doomsayers that the Earth
would be transformed into a denuded wasteland by next century's end - or
perhaps because of those predictions - the world and the governments of its
nations have become more aware of the environment and the consequences of
unwisely exploiting its resources.
Tourism has traditionally played its part in bringing people into contact
with natural environments, but often increased commercial development in a
natural area - which multiplies tourism and its harmful impact - has
resulted in what environmental writer Ron Mader calls "killing the goose
that laid the golden egg."
Mader, 32, formerly of Austin, Texas, was recently contracted by John Muir
Publications to write what will be the first Mexican guidebook of its kind:
Mexico: A Natural Destination - a book solely devoted to "eco-tourism"
destinations in Mexico.
Eco-tourism (or ecotravel) is the current buzzword for a kind of low-impact
tourist activity which is gaining favor among many of the world's travelers.
This kind of traveler seeks beautiful, remote pales of nature, and doesn't
need (or much less want) five-Star hotel accomodation, night clubs and KFCs
upon arrival. Mader believes there are many such locations in Mexico, and
he's going to show you how to get to them.
"There's a slew of travel books, academic works and photographic coffee
table books on Mexico but there's nothing out there that deals exclusively
with environmental tourism," Mader told The Mexico City Times in an
exclusive interview last week. "And we're finding that more people want to
visit eco-destinations."
John Muir Publications' most famous book is Carl Franz's People's Guide to
Mexico, now enjoying its 25th year in print. It has also published three
other guidebooks in the Natural Destination series, covering Costa Rica,
Guatemala and Belize.
"Doesn't Mexico also have areas of endemic bio-diversity you can see?" Mader
asks. "Mexico is the country that revolutionized and designed a park concept
which protects the nucleus of biosphere reserves while using their
perimeters for forestry, agriculture or tourism. The case has shown that
tourism is one of the most benign forms of economic use of these
environmental areas."
A Natural Destination will discuss what protected regions exist in Mexico,
explain why they are protected; which areas are not national parks or
biosphere reserves but are still beautiful places to visit; and provide
directions and on how to get "where the wild things are."
The Mexican government tourism agency SECTUR is currently promoting
eco-tourism destinations such as the Mundo Maya of the Yucatan peninsula;
the Barranca Del Cobre (Copper Canyon) in Chihuahua; and the beautiful
gypsum dunes and multi-colored pools of Cuatrocienegas in the state of
Coahuila (featured in the August edition of Mexico Desconocido).
Mader will feature these and other destinations - roughly 20 in all - in his
book, due for publication in early 1997.
"Sure, a lot of these places are most easily accessible if you have a car,"
Mader said. "On the other hand, I've never driven in Mexico. There are
buses, there are guides. Mexico has the best sytem of bus transportation
I've come across in Latin America. Traveling here is easy."
It may come as a surprise, but Mader considers Mexico City's own Xochimilco
Reserve as one of the original forerunners of the eco-tourism mindset.
Xochimilco's "floating gardens," or chinampas, consist of raised planting
platforms separated by water-filled canals. They are are seen as an
alternative model of wetland development, and regarded as one of the most
productive farming systems ever developed.
"In environmental terms, Xochimilco and its water gardens are the basilica
of the environmental movement," Mader said. "It has now been sustaining
populations of farmers for more than 500 years, and yet if it weren't for
tourists visiting the place, the government would have no incentive to
maintain it."
In fact, Xochimilco is described in this month's outstanding National
Geographic . "Emerging Mexico, A Special Issue" - as a "park which protects
singing crickets, wading cranes, and fragrant chamonile from urban
encroachment."
Mader also cites the historical example of Costa Rica as influencing the
Mexican government model to foster its eco-tourism niche - with projects
like Quintana Roo's Sian Ka'An and El Cielo Biosphere Reserves - as part of
a two-pronged tourism attack (the other being mega proyectos like Cancun and
Huatulco).
The Costa Rica example began in the 1950s when a group of Quakers from the
United States traveled down a pot-holed, decaying Pan American Highway to
set up shop in the forests of Monte Verde.
The Quakers developed a number of land-level cottage industries - such as
ranching and cheese-making - while keeping the tops of the hills forested as
a water shed.
Time passed. People began visiting Monte Verde to commune with its countless
hummingbirds, quetzals and gorgeous, variegated orchids. It is now protected
as a private natural reserve, where the people who run Monte Verde protect
the environment while making limited tourism and travel accessible.
"That's what I'm trying to find more of in Mexico," Mader said. "In terms of
national strategy, eco-tourism was a buzzword in 1989 and it'll be a
buzzword in 1999. The temptation is to create mega proyectos - but
eco-tourism dictates building closer to the ground, closer to the community,
to develop it as it comes along."
Mader was an environmental journalist in Mexico City for several years
before turning freelance. He has since founded the newsletter El Planeta
Platica and the Internet web site Eco Travels In Latin America.
The web site has been praised as a "veritable bible" by Green Arrow Guide,
and "the foremost site online for environmentally-minded travelers" by
Fodor's Travel; while the newsletter has received a four-star rating (the
highest) from Travel World.
There is always the moral dilemna for any travel writer - ecotravel or
otherwise - that, once he has alerted readers to a beautiful, relatively
unvisited site, it inevitably becomes overun with tourists in the years to
come.
Mader is all-too aware of this dilemna, but hopes that education and a sense
of responsibility will remain the philosophical underpinnings of
eco-tourism.
"It's incumbent upon me as the author of this book to promote responsible
environmental travel," Mader said. "Without doubt, if a park reaches its
capacity of 80 people or whatever park authorities should close it. The idea
is to keep the environment as it is which inspired its appeal in the first
place."
Ron Mader's Mexico: A Natural Destination, is currently in preparation,
along with his other book, Honduras: A Natural Destination. If you would
like to share information or obtain it from Ron's web site, contact
http://www.planeta.com/
This article was published in the Mexico City Times, August 20, 1996, p. 19
--Ron E. Mader, Publisher El Planeta Platica: Eco Travels in Latin America WWW http://www.planeta.com Ron@txinfinet.com ------------------------------------------------------------ InfiNet - an online community for progressive information BBS 512.462.0633 Telnet: shakti.txinfinet.com:3000 WWW http://www.greenbuilder.com