Yet ecotourism also contains an important social component, as ecotourism destinations are often the homelands of traditional indigenous cultures. This form of tourism often involves such activities as trekking, river rafting, mountain climbing, bird watching, jungle safaris, and other forms of adventure travel, generally to remote and sparsely-populated regions. Canada, the United States, and Mexico have all witnessed a dramatic increase in ecotourism, to such locations as the Arctic, the desert Southwest, and the tropical rainforests of Middle America. In many cases ecotourism can bring in greater revenues than traditional extractive industries such as mining, forestry, and ranching, and can lead to increased environmental awareness and protection.
Ecotourism is big, and it is here now.
Several issues must be considered. These are some of the questions that ecotourism planners must face. The example of the Lacandon rainforest in Chiapas, Mexico, illustrates just how difficult these questions can be. The 800 Lacondon people who live in the Lacondon rainforest of Chiapas, Mexico, were never conquered by the Spanish, and have therefore maintained much of their Mayan-derived culture, the same culture that built the great cities of Palenque, Bonompak, and Yaxchilan. The Lacondon economy and culture is largely based on barter.