TOURISM AND BIODIVERSITY : THE ALTERNATIVE ECO-TOURISM MASTER PLANNING FOR MEKONG DELTA VIETNAM

Abstract

Despite of global problems, tourism continues to grow. Concurrently, there are several negative impacts of tourism on biodiversity due to the increase of the number of travel to wild and seclude regions, especially in developing countries in South East Asia such as Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia. To reduce the negative impacts, Eco-tourism concept has been applied as a sustainable development. However when the concept is brought into practice, there are several coexisting paradoxes such as local people's benefit and self-sustaining living, local materials for construction, high carbon dioxide and petroleum consumption from distant travel to wild attraction places. The natural question is then risen: “What is an alternative form of Ecotourism that can minimize the paradoxes?” Taking a case of Mekong Delta in Vietnam, with a number of high biodiversity sites and a great potential of waterway traveling system, this thesis proposes an Eco Tourism master planning based on the river itself. In particular, the planning strategies aim to not only provide job and education to local people through setting up self-sustaining Eco-villages along the river as training centers and attraction places, but also protect high biodiversity sites with sustainable architecture solutions. Moreover, the planning proposes an alternative means of transportation also known as Eco Catamaran – a solar motor boat. The basic idea of this boat is for tourists to travel with zero fuel consumption and lowest impact on natural environment