Definitions by Hanna Plotnikova

Hanna Plotnikova

Ethics of wild nature is one of the ideologies, according to which nature is preserved for its own sake. This ideology is also called ecocentric ideology. The essence of it is that people do not have more rights that other species in the world. Moreover, people's interests should not be higher that the ones of the nature. The issue is that wilderness can not be conserved in order to have material, scientific, or aesthetic benefits in the future. On the contrary, territories of wilderness are protected in order to protect them and to forbid any interference with human beings. If we follow this ideology, we do not need to estimate economic value of wild areas because we should consider internal value of nature that can not be evaluated in money. So, ethics of wild nature is intended to conserve nature for its own benefits and does not take into account establishment of protected areas on the purpose of benefits for human beings.

Ecotourism is a kind of tourism which helps to protect nature and brings economic and social benefits for local communities. First, ecotourism includes existence of environmental awareness of tourists. It means that tourists realise themselves as a part of nature, thus they enjoy communication with nature, do not pollute rivers, do not throw garbage, do fires only in appropriate places and behave according to unwritten rules of the world of wilderness. Second, ecotorism activities are characterized by organization of recycling and efficient use of resources, such as water and energy, in campus and hotel service. Third, money received from ecotorism should be spent in order to improve protected areas management. Money that tourists pay for being in wild areas must be used for activities connected with protection of species, habitats and ecosystems. Finally, ecotourism has social and economic values for local communities. This is because of the fact that ecotourism in protected areas supports the development of infrastructure in surrounding areas and sustains status of local communities. So, ecotourism is beneficial for both nature and local community because of environmental, economic, and social benefits.