Ecotourism. The French Experience

Coming under several headings, such as green tourism, local development, natural tourism or the conservation of the natural heritage, many French stakehoders in both the public and private sectors have set up a broad spectrum of initiatives which today are part and parcel of French ecotourism. The World Ecotourism Summit held in Quebec in May 2002 was an opportunity to acknowledge the experiments conducted in several countries, such as France, and which have reached a certain degree of maturity in tourism , and also to assess the needs and the risks observed by those who are generating a new economy in this sector. For the international year of Ecotourism, the French ministries in charge of tourism and the environment have decided to present here the experiments conducted in France over the past few years, together with the original, on-going exchanges with the rest of the world in the shape of joint initiatives, transfer of know-how and cooperation programmes. Thus, this document is specially targeted fot all national and local institutions, NGOs, local stakeholders and experts - in fact, everyone who is interested in the methods, techniques and experience which can serve a form of tourism adapted to the indispensable conservation of natural environements and the aspirations of local communities.