Athens, Greece - 31 March 2009

Interviewed by ECOCLUB.com, Brian Tokar, author and leading critical voice for ecological activism since the 1970s, and currently the Director of the Institute for Social Ecology, based in Vermont, United States, pointed out that a more genuine ecological tourism would necessarily begin with the genuine needs and lived realities of the host community: "Visitors would participate in ongoing community activities and voluntary forms of service to their hosts. Facilities would necessarily be owned and managed by local people and genuinely reflect the community's lifeways, rather than some idealized or repackaged version of those".

The fundamental problem with Tourism today, according to Mr Tokar was that
"it transforms communities and important natural areas toward serving the desires and perceived needs of more affluent people who come to visit from other parts of the world".

Brian Tokar was especially skeptical of carbon offsetting for travel, "with many carbon offset projects ultimately doing more harm than good". Asked about how optimistic he was about the new US administration, he replied that "we may be seeing as much change as is possible within the constraints of the current structures" but that it is clearly not enough in the face of mounting ecological and economic disruptions.

>> The full interview can be found at:
https://ecoclub.com/news/101/interview.html