ECO-TOURISM: Unique Proposal from Latin America to the World Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg

“The Declaration of Galapagos” was signed by 46 Environment and Tourism ministers and authorities, representing 23 Ibero-American countries.

The declaration sets out, in view of the Johannesburg Summit, to advance the development of tourism in the region according to principles of ecological sustainability  and to see to it that tourism and planning policies take into consideration local communities and realities.  In addition, there is a proposal to design an enviornmental impact assessment system to evaluate environmental impact caused by tourism --by enabling the exchange of information and experience--, as well as follow-up mechanisms and feedback.  In the general document, the representatives of countries attending the meeting committed themselves to 30 items, divided into five groups, related to tourism and preservation.

In Galapagos, it was also agreed to create a Protempori Annual Committee that will coordinate actions at the environmental and tourist levels and its headquarters during 2002 will be located in Ecuador.  Peru will host the headquarters next year.

RELATED DOCUMENTS:
Declaration of Galapagos on Ecotourism
Declaration of Quebec on Ecotourism

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