Unique ecotourism program may soon be copied elsewhere
The state of New Mexico is looking at an ecotourism program that may eventually be widely emulated.
“It’s a whole new way of doing business,” said Stuart Wilde, owner of Wild Earth Llama Adventure in Taos.
.The new effort is described as bringing together environmentalists, hunters, fishing enthusiasts and ranchers to foster economic development and to protect resources, he said.
Wilde’s business is in Taos, the first of two pilot sites for the program.
The other is the Gila Wilderness near Silver City in the southwestern quadrant of the state, although other communities soon will follow, said Sandy Cunningham, co-owner of EcoNew Mexico, LLC. The later has the state contract to administer the ecotourism program for the Tourism Department.
Wilde said taking visitors into the wilderness with llama pack animals is a platform for the conservation work he loves, according to the New Mexico Business Weekly.
That’s what the ecotourism program is all about, said Cunningham, adding that it’s also about economic development for rural areas everywhere.
Gov. Bill Richardson approved a $250,000 appropriation last year to launch the ecotourism program in 2010. It is the first statewide ecotourism program in the country, said Jennifer Hobson, deputy secretary of tourism.
“We’re way ahead of the curve,” she said. “Europeans see this and they go crazy.”
Beginning in 1990s, ecotourism has been growing 20 to 34 per year. By 2004, it was growing three times faster than the tourism industry as a whole, according to the International Ecotourism Society.
By Kieron Keady
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