According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), ecotourism is a form of tourism that meets a number of characteristics, with the key points focusing on nature, small local business which educates customers and employees in practices consistent with environmental care and reducing the negative impact of their activities on nature. Indonesia, being one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity on the planet, has become one of the focal points for the growth and development of projects for the conservation and maintenance of its rich and abundant flora and fauna, both at the international level (the UNWTO developed a global recovery project in Pandangaran, West Java, including among many other initiatives towards the conservation and replanting of corals), and at the national level with organizations such as INDECON and the support and work of small local tourism businesses. With the Pandemic forcing people to relook at how they travel and interact with people, eco-tourism has a big role to play here. Natural, remote places that are surrounded by nature and away for the busy crowded cities, are going to be considers the best places to visit after the pandemic. 

Many of these small businesses, which Biodiversity Nature Resort is proud to be a part of, follow and carry out a series of sustainable practices which keep in terms with the concept of Ecotourism. This involves, in addition to significant energy savings, the awareness of everyone who comes into contact with them, whether as a customer, a worker, or through or online presence, to the importance of preserving the area we are located. The work of these small businesses is immeasurable, as they devote much of their efforts and income to promoting such practices through, sustainable management projects and, directly or indirectly, helping the local communities. 

On the other hand, more and more travellers are demanding this type of ecological and committed tourism. More and more people enjoy traveling responsibly and give preference to these ecotourism businesses which are small and personalised. Without a doubt, ecotourism offers numerous advantages, not only for the environment, but also for the local communities and, of course, for the tourists themselves. 

There are many ways to enjoy ecotourism but they are all intimately linked to nature: the respectful observation of free fauna, the observation of endemic flora, the observation of the stars, the participation in environmental education workshops, and even in campaigns for the recovery of any endangered species. In Indonesia, for example, many of us have carried out projects to recover corals or other marine species such as turtles; if you want to know more about these activities, click here. 

But what are the advantages of ecotourism for a traveller? Well, among other things:

1. Enjoy a natural and well-kept environment. Staying in places where the materials used are locally sourced and as natural as possible to the environment means there is minimal impact to the surroundings. All energies are sustainable with an emphasis on solar powered operations. The environment is clean and away from the pollution that you usually find in all the big cities. It is free from the stress of daily routine and allows you to disconnect completely from urban environments. All these small details of eco-tourism help enrich your experience and remind you of the beauty of mother nature.
2. Reconciling with nature. The practice of ecotourism allows us to restore harmony with ourselves as well as with nature. Helping us to realise the negative impacts we have on the environment. These operations have sustainable systems in place that allow for this. Save water as much as possible, reduce plastic use to the minimal, don’t leave rubbish where you go, recycle responsibly, ask for your towels to be changed after 4 days instead of everyday day, purchase locally produced food and materials; in short, make our impact on nature as small as possible. The fact that we can counteract our devastating effects on the environment helps us to feel a satisfactory and comforting sensation, which we can spread to others.   
3. Helping local communities. Ecotourism also implies travelling in a way that has the least impact on local culture and customs. But it also implies Integrating with locals and respecting their traditions but in a way that helps them to grow and improve. This can be done by supporting programs carried out by small businesses which have long term suitable management programs in place, like Biodiversity Nature Resort which follows the GSTC criteria to support and uplift the communities in all ways possible.  One could also volunteer to help the communities through organisations that have a system set up, for example: Trashhero is an organization that collaborates with many companies and individual volunteers in these and other related tasks.

• Post Covid-19. The world health organisation is recommending, social distancing and no large gatherings to continue after the pandemic has stabilized. Eco tourism operations are ideal for this when traveling. Biodiversity Nature Resort only has nine rooms evenly spaced out for each other. There is no other resort close by. The staff live in property, so there is less chance of coming into contact with an infected person and of course we are in a remote location, with fresh air and surrounded by nature rather than buildings. Ecotourism operations are the new places to visit post Pandemic. 

For our part, we are dedicated to carrying out various actions focused entirely on ecotourism, always faithful to our Eco Resort concept. At Biodiversity we invite you to enjoy our philosophy of life, were we support both the environment and our neighbouring villages through our educational and health projects.

There are a thousand reasons to come to Raja Ampat. Datang ke Raja Ampat!