Reducing Poverty, Protecting Livelihoods, and Building Assets in a Changing Climate

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That is particularly the case in the development of ecotourism. Several community-based ecotourism initiatives are under way in the LAC region, including in Belize (box 5.6); Paraná, Brazil; Silvestra Agroecotur, Colombia; and the area of Corazón in Nicaragua and Honduras (LCSSD 2008). Indeed, ecotourism has been a successful form of development and empowerment. In Bolivia, the community of Quechua-Tacana developed the ecotourism resort Chalalan, which takes advantage of the surrounding area’s pristine rainforest and the Chalalan lagoon.25 Today this resort is fully owned by the community and provides jobs for roughly 1,500 local people. The resort has made the community more prosperous, bringing in roughly US$350,000 annually, of which half is reinvested in the community for health care, infrastructure, and education and the remainder divided among families. The initiative in Chalalan is a good example of how building financial assets and investing in physical assets through community activities can enhance human capital. In addition, it shows the benefits from a high level of social capital through trust and cooperation within society.26 Further, the Chalalan model is a good example of why tourism should be run by—and benefit—local stakeholders: if tourism is to be a sustainable way to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean and build resilience to the effects of climate change, it is highly important that its management and benefits be in the hands of people whose livelihoods depend on the sustainability of the local natural resources. This approach contrasts with the resource-mining mentality that has typified the tourist industry. Clearly, such success helps raise some capital, but other adaptation strategies must be considered as well to fully climate-proof tourism. New building codes and policies must be developed and implemented that restrict development in near-shore zones or other areas at high risk of damage from climate change. Detailed environmental impact assessments that incorporate climate considerations are necessary to identify risks and assess viability before developing resorts. New hotels and resorts should be built further inland or in non-windward areas away from erosion and landslideprone slopes. Areas that are not natural to the coastal zone should not be established; for example, beaches should not be developed where they are not natural, and indigenous coastal vegetation surrounding resorts should be maintained to provide protection from storms and hurricanes. Finally, the tourist industry must consider that beaches and other ecosystems may be altered, seasons may change, and some popular tourist


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