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By Jenny Williams
Putting ethical travel values into action—and then writing about the experience honestly—can be difficult. Sarah Baxter, a 25-year-old graduate student of Responsible Tourism at Leeds Metropolitan University, rises to the challenge with her current blog about ethical travel in Indonesia: The Exotic Durian.
The Project
The blog chronicles Sarah's two-month trip through Indonesia, a country facing rapid deforestation, air and water pollution, overfishing, and poverty. [refer to panda.org]
"It's sad to see places lose their character, or people adversely affected by tourism," Sarah told Ethical Traveler. "That's why I first became interested in learning about ways that travel could improve [to support positive development in a destination]."
Sarah's project takes a two-pronged approach: first, she works hard to "live local" and reduce her impact on the road, which means taking buses, eating local food, and generally trying to minimize the resources she uses. By recounting such a lifestyle on her blog, she hopes to share the challenges and experiences with other travelers who wish to align their vacations with ethical guidelines.
Second, Sarah is making a point of visiting NGOs, community groups, eco-tour operators, and other organizations "working to improve the effects of tourism" all over Indonesia. In her blog, she presents interviews and profiles of these groups—their successes and struggles—and thereby paints a richer portrait of a country that, despite facing innumerable obstacles, is making strides in the area of responsible tourism.
Reactions
So far, response to The Exotic Durian has been "very positive."
"Many travelers have never heard the term 'responsible or ethical travel,'" Sarah said, "so [they] are usually interested when I explain the basic ideas and share the blog with them. The organizations are of course happy for the promotion. In general, there seems to be a lot of general curiosity about and interest in the project."
But heightened awareness as a traveler can sometimes reveal negative aspects of a place that "sun and sand" holiday-seekers might not notice.
"I was visiting an indigenous area that had just developed tourism five years ago," Sarah explained to ET, "and I was curious to see the effects. I was shocked when I arrived to see that tourism had taken a secondary role to their new occupation—illegal logging! Some Jakarta businessman had visited the local village two years ago and convinced the indigenous villagers to start chopping down the trees in the protected area. Witnessing all those trees floating down the river, and the local indigenous inhabitants participating for likely a meager sum, was difficult to see."
What does an ethical traveler do in such a situation? Sarah contacted local environmental groups and officials, but continues to worry that "the outlook for change does not look good."
Still, Sarah maintains the conviction that responsible travel can make a difference.
Planning for an Ethical Trip
"There is so much potential for travelers to have a beneficial effect on the local economy, culture, and environment they visit, as well as potential to cause harm without even realizing it. Doing ones homework before leaving seems the best way to understand the issues a destination is facing, so that way a traveler can act as ethically as possible and not unknowingly add to the problems."
For more information about ethical travel in Indonesia, Sarah recommends responsibletravel.com and wildasia.net. You can read her posts and subscribe to her blog by following the links in the sidebar to the right.
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