“EcoTourism”: Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people. (TIES, 1990)
Principles of Ecotourism:
Ecotourism is about uniting conservation, communities, and sustainable tourism. This means that those who implement and participate in ecotourism activities should follow the following ecotourism principles:
Do’s & Don’ts when in Langkawi UNESCO Global Geopark:-
- When driving along eco sensitive areas i.e. rainforest, drive carefully so as to avoid wildlife road kills. (When avoiding wildlife on the road do be cautious that you do not no brake abruptly incase there are cars following closely behind as your safety and other motorist safety are paramount);
- The ideal speed along our country roads are between 60 to 70 km/h. Drive on the LEFT of the road;
- Do not feed wildlife like monkeys as this encourages them to frequent roadside, increasing the chances of them being killed by passing traffic;
- Observe wildlife from a reasonable distance so as not to alter their natural behaviour to hunt and forage for food;
- Do not litter. Avoid the usage of plastic;
- Within enclosed waterways like mangrove rivers please do not speed and ensure your boat operator does not speed as the wake & waves created erodes the river bank causes the trees to fall over and damages the mangroves;
- Use tour operators that abide by environmental best practices. This will encourage other operators to follow likewise.
Why we should not feed wildlife:-
- Eagles and Kites are birds of prey and have an important role to play as a top predator in managing the food chain i.e. managing sea snakes and weak fish populations.
- The natural diet of these animals of fish and snakes are high in protein and calcium. A healthy diet that ensures the proper development of the bird’s muscle, bone, feather and egg shell. Habituating these animals to feed on chicken intestine and skin, a diet poor in calcium and proteins will impact their health.
- The chicken is sourced from intensive poultry farms, farmed chicken are fed feed that are high in antibiotics and growth hormones. This too will impact the health of the wild birds as they will in turn absorb it into its system.
- Farmed chicken carry bird related diseases, like bird flu, bird cholera etc and there is a chance that some day a contaminated bucket of chicken fat and intestine will be fed to these wild birds and may devastate an entire population of these birds.
Download Tourist Guidelines (PDF)
Download Tri-Fold Do’s & Don’ts Pamphlet (JPG) *hi resolution
Download Tri-Fold Do’s & Don’ts Pamphlet (HD-PDF) *extended file size
Joint Coalition of Tourism Stakeholders:
