Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T18:22:01.342Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Indigenous ecotourism in the Amazon: a case study of ‘Casa Matsiguenka’ in Manu National Park, Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2008

JULIA OHL-SCHACHERER ,
ELKE MANNIGEL ,
CHRIS KIRKBY ,
GLENN H. SHEPARD JR  and
DOUGLAS W. YU
JULIA OHL-SCHACHERER*
Affiliation:
Schools of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
ELKE MANNIGEL
Affiliation:
International Nature Conservation, University of Greifswald, Johann Sebastian Bach Strasse 11/12, D-17487 Greifswald, Germany
CHRIS KIRKBY
Affiliation:
Schools of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
GLENN H. SHEPARD JR
Affiliation:
Schools of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
DOUGLAS W. YU
Affiliation:
Schools of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
*
*Correspondence: Dr Julia Ohl-Schacherer e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Ecotourism can capture biodiversity values and provide incentives for conservation, and many integrated conservation and development projects include an ecotourism component. One key assumption behind this strategy is that ecotourism businesses can achieve financial viability. This paper presents a financial case study of the well-known community-based ecotourism lodge ‘Casa Matsiguenka’, owned by an indigenous Matsigenka population in Manu National Park (Peru), only the second such project to be thoroughly analysed in the literature. Built and financed from 1997 to 2003 with German official aid, the lodge's revenues have only just exceeded operating costs and have not covered the costs of infrastructure replacement, thereby failing to secure long-term business sustainability. Wages and income from handicraft sales have covered about a third of individual cash needs in the two participating communities, but communal income from lodge operating profits (for example to pay for community infrastructure, health care or education) has been minimal. The lodge's difficulties are attributed largely to a flawed business plan in which the lodge has sold its services to its own competitors, a group of ecotourism agencies that have used their lobbying power to create a cartel in Manu. In a narrow analysis, the return on investment for this project has been approximately one-third of what could have been achieved to date by merely investing the start-up grant monies in a bank account and paying the interest directly to the Matsigenka communities in exchange for conservation actions. Broader analysis indicates the modest income and slow pace of business so far has permitted gradual social and economic adaptation on the part of culturally conservative indigenous communities. Moreover, the lodge project has generated processes of social and political organization, and sustained positive contact with Peruvian national society, which can be counted among its successes. The lodge has helped produce dialogue between the Park administration and the Matsigenka communities, a process that could ultimately result in co-management agreements that help to resolve people-park conflicts in the Park.

Keywords

Amazonco-managementcommunity-based ecotourismindigenous communitiesMatsigenkapayment for ecological servicesprotected areas
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , March 2008 , pp. 14 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alcorn, J. (1993) Indigenous peoples and conservation. Conservation Biology 7: 424–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amend, S. & Amend, T. (1992) Espacios sin Habitantes? Parques Nacionales de América del Sur. Caracas, Venezula/Gland, Switzerland: IUCN: 480 pp.Google Scholar
APECO (2000) Sistema de monitoreo cultural y ambiental del Albergue Matsiguenka, Parque Nacional del Manu. Project proposal submitted to Proyecto FANPE (INRENA/GTZ Cooperation), Asociación para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, Lima, Peru, February 2000 [www document]. URL http://www.apeco.org.peGoogle Scholar
Archabald, K. & Naughton-Treves, L. (2001) Tourism revenue-sharing around national parks in Western Uganda: early efforts to identify and reward local communities. Environmental Conservation 28: 135–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aylward, B., Allen, K., Echeverra, J. & Tosi, J. (1996) Sustainable ecotourism in Costa Rica: the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. Biodiversity and Conservation 5: 315–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boo, E. (1990) Ecotourism: The Potentials and Pitfalls. Washington, DC, USA: World Wildlife Fund USA.Google Scholar
Bookbinder, M.P., Dinerstein, E., Rijal, A., Cauley, H. & Rajouria, A. (1998) Ecotourism's support of biodiversity conservation. Conservation Biology 12: 1399–1404.Google Scholar
Brandon, K (1996) Ecotourism and conservation: a review of key issues, World Bank Environment Department Paper No. 033, World Bank.Google Scholar
Brandon, K., Redford, K. & Sanderson, S. (1998) Parks in Peril: People, Politics and Protected Areas. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press.Google Scholar
Budowski, G. (1976) Tourism and environmental conservation: conflict, coexistence, or symbiosis? Environmental Conservation 3: 27–31.Google Scholar
Colchester, M. (2004) Conservation policy and indigenous peoples. Environmental Science and Policy 7: 145–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danielsen, F., Balmford, B. & Balmford, A. (2005) Monitoring matters: examining the potential of locally-based approaches. Biodiversity and Conservation 14: 2507–2542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Declaration of Belém (1988) The Declaration of Belém. In: Ethnobiology: Implications and Applications, ed. Posey, D.A. & Overall, W., pp. 12–14. Belém do Pará, Brazil: Proceedings of the First International Congress of Ethnobiology Museu Paraense Goeldi.Google Scholar
Doyal, L. & Gough, I. (1994) Human needs and social change. In: Ecology: Key Concepts in Critical Theory, ed. Merchant, C., pp. 107–111. New Jersey, USA: Humanities Press.Google Scholar
Ferraro, P.J. & Kiss, A. (2002) Direct payments to conserve biodiversity. Science 298: 1718–1719.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferraro, P.J. & Simpson, R.D. (2002) The cost-effectiveness of conservation payments. Land Economics 78: 339–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hearne, R.R. & Santos, C.A. (2005) Tourists’ and locals’ preferences toward ecotourism development in the Maya biosphere. Environment, Development and Sustainability 7: 303–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IUCN (1994) Guidelines for protected area management categories. Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Johnson, A.W. (2002) Families of the Forest: A Psycho-Ecological Study of the Matsigenka of the Peruvian Amazon. Stanford, CA, USA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Kiss, A. (2004) Is community-based ecotourism a good use of biodiversity conservation funds? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19: 232–237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krüger, O. (2005) The role of ecotourism in conservation: panacea or Pandora's box? Biodiversity and Conservation 14: 579–600.Google Scholar
Lindberg, K. & Enrıquez, J. (1994) An Analysis of Ecotourism's Economic Contribution to Conservation in Belize, Volume 2: Comprehensive Report. Washington, DC, USA: World Wildlife Fund and Ministry of Tourism and the Environment (Belize).Google Scholar
Lindberg, K., Enriquez, J. & Sproule, K. (1996) Ecotourism questioned: case studies from Belize. Annals of Tourism Research 23: 543–562.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKay, F. (1999) Los derechos de los pueblos indigenas en el sistema internacional. Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos, Lima, Peru.Google Scholar
Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., da Fonseca, G.A.B. & Kent, J. (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853–858.Google Scholar
Ohl, J. (2004) Die ökonomie der Matsigenka im Nationalpark Manu, Peru. Tourismus als chance für eine nachhaltige entwicklung? Ph.D. thesis, University of Greifswald, Germany: 219 + 25 pp.Google Scholar
Ohl, J., Wezel, A., Shepard, G.H. Jr, & Yu, D.W. (2007) Swidden agriculture in a protected area: the Matsigenka native communities of Manu National Park, Peru. Environment, Development and Sustainability (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ohl-Schacherer, J., Shepard, G.H. Jr, Kaplan, H., Peres, C.A., Levi, T. & Yu, D.W. (2007) The sustainability of subsistence hunting by Matsigenka native communities in Manu National Park, Peru. Conservation Biology 21: 1674–1680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peters, J. (1998) Sharing national park entrance: forging new partnerships in Madagascar. Society and Natural Resources 11: 517–531.Google Scholar
Place, S.E. (1991) Nature tourism and rural development in Tortuguero. Annals of Tourism Research 18: 186–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redford, K.H. & Stearman, A.M. (1993) Forest-dwelling native Amazonians and the conservation of biodiversity: interests in common or in collision? Conservation Biology 7: 248–255.Google Scholar
Robertson, N. & Wunder, S. (2005) Fresh tracks in the forest. Assessing incipient payments for environmental services initiatives in Bolivia. Center for International Forestry Research, Indonesia.Google Scholar
Rodriguez, A. (1999) Kapawi: a model of sustainable development in Ecuadorian Amazonia. Cultural Survival Quarterly 23: 43–44.Google Scholar
Salafsky, N., Cauley, H., Balachander, G., Cordes, B., Parks, J., Margoluis, C., Bhatt, S., Encarnacion, C., Russell, D. & Margoluis, R. (2001) A systematic test of an enterprise strategy for community-based biodiversity conservation. Conservation Biology 15: 1585–1595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartzman, S., Moreira, A. & Nepstad, D. (2000) Rethinking tropical forest conservation: perils in parks. Conservation Biology 14: 1351–1357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shepard, G.H. Jr (1998) Evaluación del proyecto albergue Matsiguenka, fase 1: realización de objetivos, efectividad de capacitación y impactos socio-culturales. Report submitted to Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales (INRENA) and Gessellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Lima, Peru, December 1998.Google Scholar
Shepard, G.H. Jr, Rummenhoeller, K., Ohl-Schacherer, J. & Yu, D.W. (2007) Trouble in paradise: indigenous populations, anthropological policies, and biodiversity conservation in Manu National Park, Peru. Journal of Sustainable Forestry (in press).Google Scholar
Simpson, R.D. (1999) The price of biodiversity. Issues in Science and Technology 15: 65–71.Google Scholar
Stone, M. & Wall, G. (2004) Ecotourism and community development: case studies from Hainan, China. Environmental Management 33: 2–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Terborgh, J. & Peres, C.A. (2002) The problem of people in parks. In: Making Parks Work: Strategies for Preserving Tropical Nature, ed. Terborgh, J., pp. 307–319. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press.Google Scholar
Weaver, D. & Elliot, K. (1996) Spatial patterns and problems in contemporary Namibian tourism. Geographical Journal 162: 205–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, M. P. (1993) Neglect of biological riches: the economics of nature tourism in Nepal. Biodiversity and Conservation 2: 445–464.Google Scholar
Wunder, S. (2000) Ecotourism and economic incentives. Ecological Economics 32: 465–479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wunder, S. (2007) The efficiency of payments for environmental services in tropical conservation. Conservation Biology 21: 48–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wezel, A. & Ohl, J. (2005) Does remoteness from urban centres influence plant diversity in homegardens and swidden fields: a case study from the Matsiguenka in the Amazonian rain forest of Peru. Agroforestry Systems 65: 241–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yu, D.W., Hendrickson, T. & Castillo, A. (1997) Ecotourism and conservation in Amazonian Perú: short-term and long-term challenges. Environmental Conservation 24: 130–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ohl-Schacherer et al. supplementary material

Supplementary tables and figures

Download Ohl-Schacherer et al. supplementary material(File)
File 41.5 KB