Ecotourism Impacts on the Livelihood of Local Communities in Central Buton Island of Indonesia

Abstract

Ecotourism provides scope for non-consumptive use of natural resources by involving the people living in and around natural areas.  It has been viewed as a tool of poverty eradication in many countries in the world. Central Buton Island is located in South-East Sulawesi in Indonesia. The major threats to these reserves are selective logging, illegal hunting for meat and trade, pet trades on monkeys and birds, and conversion of forestlands for agricultural production. The present study identifies the ecotourism development impacts on the livelihood of local communities. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection in order to obtain factual information about the actual benefits of ecotourism to livelihood and to understand the social circumstances in the study areas.  This study has shown that ecotourism can contribute to people’s livelihood by providing an array of economic benefits through income and employment. This result demonstrates that ecotourism jobs generate more income than traditional occupations in the region. Ecotourism operations in the area have also achieved remarkable success in natural resource conservation. These achievements include the discovery and naming of numerous species in science, exposing the scientific value of the forest in the regions, attracting global funding, and drawing the attention of the central government to the area. It is important to plan and manage ecotourism projects effectively through community participation, training, and government involvement in improving the livelihood of people in the study areas.