Editing Ecotourism (section)

===Definition===
In the continuum of tourism activities that stretch from conventional tourism to ecotourism, there has been a lot of contention to the limit at which biodiversity preservation, local social-economic benefits, and [[environmental impact]] can be considered "ecotourism". For this reason, environmentalists, special interest groups, and governments define ecotourism differently. Environmental organizations have generally insisted that ecotourism is nature-based, sustainably managed, conservation supporting, and environmentally educated.<ref name="Tuohino and Hynonen"/><ref name="Buckley">{{cite journal |last=Buckley |first=Ralf |title=A Framework for Ecotourism |year=1994 |journal=[[Annals of Tourism Research]] |doi=10.1016/0160-7383(94)90126-0 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=661–665}}</ref> The [[tourist industry]] and governments, however, focus more on the product aspect, treating ecotourism as equivalent to any sort of tourism based in nature.<ref name="Tuohino and Hynonen"/> As a further complication, many terms are used under the rubric of ecotourism.<ref name="Tuohino and Hynonen"/> Nature tourism, low impact tourism, green tourism, bio-tourism, ecologically responsible tourism, and others have been used in literature and [[marketing]], although they are not necessarily synonymous with ecotourism.<ref name="Tuohino and Hynonen"/>

The problems associated with defining ecotourism have often led to confusion among tourists and academics. Many problems are also subject of considerable public controversy and concern because of [[green wash]]ing, a trend towards the commercialization of tourism schemes disguised as sustainable, nature based, and [[environmentally friendly]] ecotourism.<ref name="Tuohino and Hynonen"/> According to McLaren,<ref name="McLaren">{{cite book |last=McLaren |first=D. |title=Rethinking tourism and ecotravel: the paving of paradise and what you can do to stop it |year=1998 |publisher=Kamarian Press |location=West Hartford, Connecticut, USA |url=https://archive.org/details/rethinkingtouris0000mcla |url-access= registration}}</ref> these schemes are environmentally destructive, economically exploitative, and culturally insensitive at its worst. They are also morally disconcerting because they mislead tourists and manipulate their concerns for the environment.<ref name="Barkin">{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/13683500208667921 |title=NGO–Community Collaboration for Ecotourism: A Strategy for Sustainable Regional Development |year=2002 |last1=Barkin |first1=David |last2=Bouchez |first2=Carlos Paillés |journal=[[Current Issues in Tourism]] |volume=5 |issue=3–4 |pages=245–253 |hdl=11362/33030 |s2cid=133558848 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> The development and success of such large scale, energy intensive, and ecologically unsustainable schemes are a testament to the tremendous profits associated with being labeled as ecotourism.