AN EVALUATION OF ECOTOURISM IN AMAZONAS, BRAZIL

Registered ''ecotour'' lodges were studied using observation and inter views with visitors, employees, and local people. Findings were evalua ted using proposed ecotourism principles. Besides providing employment , lodges Improve access, stimulate new services (health utilities, etc .), and make valued but limited local purchases. In other ways, lodges fall short of the ideals inherent in the principles. They contribute little to conservation education, resource protection, or the involvem ent and empowerment of local people. Tourists wish to see and would su pport conservation and community development programs both financially and via their future selection of ecotour operators. Numerous implica tions for concessions, protected area management, and rural developmen t in Amazonas are discussed. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd