In the speech of Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga during the International Ecotourism Forum held recently in Manila, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources defined regenerative tourism as “leaving a place better than it was before,” as it pushed for a shift towards that sort of tourism to boost the country’s ecotourism sector.
“It goes beyond environment and looks at the social and economic development of communities, preservation of local cultures, and protection of biodiversity. It is the understanding that everything is connected and the interactions between every stakeholder throughout the tourism value chain impacts on each other and our ecosystems,” she said as she emphasized the importance of transitioning toward tourism that regenerates the environment.
Yulo-Loyzaga noted that the country’s tourism sector faces challenges brought by climate change, extreme weather events, and slow and rapid onset hazards, which impede its potential to be a driver of environmental and cultural protection, economic progress, and social development.
She said the DENR has been at the forefront of ecotourism development through sustainable management of protected areas under the National Integrated Protected Areas System or NIPAS, which promotes sustainable tourism and responsible travel to natural areas through guidelines and standards, educational conservation, and economic and social development of local communities.
Buzzwords like “sustainable” and “regenerative” are popular nowadays, especially among government officials, as they hop on the environment and climate change bandwagon. The push of the Environment Secretary, for regenerative tourism could be in the right direction, especially if the Department of Tourism is also on board and the departments work together to transform the buzzwords into concrete and directed action to transform the ecotourism landscape of the country which holds a lot of potential to become a trailblazer and role model for the rest of the world to follow.
The Philippines is blessed with a bounty of beautiful natural attractions that will need to be preserved, sustained, and constantly regenerated if it is to meet its full potential. With the guidance and support of the DENR, DOT and all other government agencies concerned, the ecotourism sector has a long way to go.*
