Human Focus in Ecology

first of all, developing sustainable eco-tourism, creating skills for tour guides or planning to design eco-tourism for an eco-tourism area or tour.

With the desire to bring you a different approach to DLST and to provide a useful reference source for you, we boldly compiled this document.

Due to the “newness” of DLST not only in Vietnam but also in many countries around the world (including the leading countries in the field of DLST), some errors are inevitable and do not fully meet the requirements of readers. We look forward to receiving your comments so that the DLST book can be published in a complete way.

Maybe you are interested!

Prof. Dr. Le Huy Ba

INTRODUCTION TO ECOTOURISM

As we know, since the time of Tomat Cook until now, tourism has changed a lot both in theory and practice. Tourism in this century is a phenomenon that has been and is strongly influencing the economy of all mankind and is the largest industry in the world (Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), World Tourism Organization), proven by the following figures:

- The tourism economy attracts about 11 million workers in Southeast Asia (accounting for 7.9% of the total labor force in the world's tourism industry) and accounts for 9.9% of the total labor force in all industries.

- Tourism generates 10% of gross social product and 9% of GDP in Southeast Asia.

- Labor in travel and tourism activities in the world is growing 1.5 times faster than other sectors.

In the 1970s, mass tourism and undifferentiated tourism were still mainly focused on large animals, which damaged the habitat, disturbed the living behavior of wild animals, and destroyed nature and the environment. However, gradually tourists began to realize the ecological damage they caused, and moreover, local people also cared about the value of nature and the environment, so specialized tours such as bird hunting, camel riding, and nature trekking began to have strict guidance and management. Ecotourism gradually took shape from here (David Western).

Ecotourism is quite new and is gradually asserting its reason for existence; it is a fusion of nature tourism and outdoor tourism. In a narrow perspective, we can consider ecotourism as a meaningful combination of the two words “tourism” and “ecology”. However, the issue we are addressing in this document will have a broader meaning.

Ecotourism is still very new to tour guides, tour operators and even tourism researchers, so there is often confusion between ecotourism and other forms of tourism development. Some organizations have tried to clarify this confusion by using the concept of ecotourism as a tool to

implement conservation and sustainable development. Until 1993, the concept of ecotourism had a definition by Lindberg and Hawkins that quite fully reflected the content and function of ecotourism. Accordingly, " Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas, a tool to conserve the environment and improve the welfare of local people ".

However, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) also provides a more complete definition: “ Ecotourism is environmentally responsible travel and visitation to undisturbed natural areas in order to enjoy and appreciate nature and its existing or present cultural features, which promotes conservation, minimizes negative impacts caused by visitors, and provides benefits to actively participating local people” (Ceballos – Lascurain, 1996).

Today, the World Travel and Tourism Council considers tourism to be the world's largest industry, generating significant income and employment around the world. It is estimated that there were 650 million international tourists in 2000. Ecotourism is also a significant contributor to world tourism and is growing, generating large revenues for developing and underdeveloped countries. Ecotourism is the engine of the economies of many tropical islands in the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Ecotourism has played a role in putting Rwanda and Belize on the world map.

In VIETNAM, in the workshop on " Building a strategy for developing ecotourism in Vietnam " (September 1999), the definition of ecotourism was given as " Ecotourism is a type of tourism based on nature and indigenous culture, associated with environmental education, contributing to conservation efforts and sustainable development, with the active participation of the local community ".

In addition to the above concepts and definitions, there are some extended definitions of the content of DLST:

- “ Ecotourism is the creation and satisfaction of the desire for nature, the exploitation of tourism potential for conservation and development and the prevention of negative impacts on ecology, culture and aesthetics ”.

- “ Ecotourism is a type of tourism that takes specific, natural ecosystems as its target to serve tourists who love nature, travel, enjoy the landscapes or study ecosystems. It is also a form of closely and harmoniously combining economic development of tourism with the introduction of the country's beautiful landscapes as well as education and propaganda.

and protect and develop the environment and natural resources in a sustainable manner .”

PART 1: BASIC ENVIRONMENTAL ECOLOGY

CHAPTER 1

GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECOLOGY

1.1 DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECOLOGY

“Environmental ecology” is in the field of environmental science, studying the interactions not only between individual organisms but also between groups, between communities and the natural environmental conditions surrounding it. Depending on each moment, each place and each object, the interaction of each individual changes and is expressed through two criteria for evaluation: the dominance and uniformity of the biological population in an environmental ecosystem.

1.2 BRIEF HISTORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECOLOGY

The basic concept of ecology was mentioned by the Greek scientist Phrastus in the 3rd century BC. Phrastus was interested in the relationship between living and non-living matter. However, the term “ ecology ” was only really born in 1869 by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel. Haeckel was the first to lay the foundation for the science of ecology on the relationship between animals (as biotic environmental components) and abiotic environmental conditions and components.

In the mid-13th century, a group of European and American scientists conducted research on plants at the community level; the arrangement, structure and distribution of plant communities were also raised in the research. In addition, a group of American scientists also studied the development of plant communities and put forward their views on the organic relationships between animal and plant communities... That was the beginning of the research process on ecology. Today, ecology not only exists in biology but it is also a science of many fields such as agriculture, forestry, medicine, sociology and even economics and tourism.

In 1971, the book “Fundamentals of ecology” by Professor Eugene P. Odum, from Georgia University – USA, was published, which was an important event in the study of ecology. The author developed the theory

about ecology at a higher level and also in the 70s of this century, when the environmental science industry had determined its official position, environmental ecology was shaped and developed.

Nowadays, people have realized that not only the natural environment of animals and plants but also of humans has been seriously degraded and destroyed, and humans are the culprits causing such losses. Environmental ecology, in addition to the tasks of classical environmental ecology, also focuses on studying the relationships between humans and nature and the living environment through industrial and agricultural activities, resource exploitation, etc. Thus, environmental ecology must be the link between classical ecology and environmental science.

1.2.1 Premises of the formation of sub-disciplines of environmental ecology

The statement " When the structure becomes complex, the combined function is immediately supplemented with new characteristics" by Feiblemen (1954) is one of the theoretical premises for the formation of sub-disciplines of ecology.

1.2.2 Sub-disciplines of environmental ecology

- Based on the level of organization of living systems, there are:

 Individual environmental ecology;

 Population environmental ecology;

 Community ecology;

 Environmental ecosystem;

 Biosphere.

- Based on the research purpose:

 Basic Environmental Ecology: Study aspects of environmental ecology and develop environmental theories.

 Applied environmental ecology: Applying theoretical knowledge into practice to manage and improve the environment.

- Based on the nature of the environment:

 Soil ecology,

 Aquatic ecology,

 Air environment ecology.

- Based on the nature of the environment but according to a different frame of reference:

 Forest ecology,

 Marine environmental ecology,

 River ecology,

 Coastal ecology,

 Rural environmental ecology,

 Urban environmental ecology.

- According to another reference system of environmental properties:

 Natural environmental ecology,

 Artificial environmental ecology.

There are also many bases for distinguishing different types of environmental ecology such as the nature of the environment, each type of environment, environmental unit...

1.3 METHODS OF ECOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH

1.3.1 Methodology

Ecological environment research is the study of the interaction between environmental components . The ecological environment is made up of components that are closely related to each other. A component of the environment is a complete environment called a component environment. When a component environment or a link in the food chain is affected or broken, it will lead to the disruption of energy release activities and then the activities of the entire ecosystem will also be disrupted (refer to the document "Basic Environmental Ecology - Le Huy Ba, VNU-HCM Publishing House 2002)

Figure 1.1 : Human focus in the ecological environment

The exchange of matter and energy in the ecological environment is always in a state of “dynamic” equilibrium, in which the components of the environment are interrelated and mutually bound. Therefore, it is necessary to have a detailed study of the mutual correlations and interactions between the components and environmental factors.

Environmental ecology research should not ignore any component of the environmental ecosystem . Because most pollutants appearing in one component environment can spread to other components environment easily.

Water

Creatures and humans

land

Air quality Climate

Figure 1.2: Correlation between components in MTST

Studying the ecological environment is also to find the dominant and main factors in the environmental interaction system . Determining the homogeneity and dominance can determine the

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