Ecotourism is a new concept in tourism. It is a purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the cultural and natural history of environment, taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem, while producing economic opportunities that make conservation of natural resources beneficial to local people.

In short, ecotourism can be conceptualised as

Any tourism programme that is:

(a) nature based,
(b) ecologically sustainable,
(c) where education and interpretation is a major component and
(d) where local people are benefited

Fundamentally, ecotourisim means making as little environmental impact as possible and at the same time helping to sustain the indigenous populace, thereby encouraging the preservation of wildlife and habitats when visiting a place. This is responsible form of tourism and tourism development, which encourages going back to natural products in every aspect of life. It is also the key to sustainable ecological development.

Awareness of the Environment
Today the "Green Laws" of conservation are making people aware of how man and the environment can live symbiotically for more time to come and ecotourisim is the only way maximize the economic, environmental and social benefits of tourism. Everyone is a stakeholder in the process and we clearly need to avoid our past shortcomings and negative impact that they have had.

In India too the movement is gathering momentum with more and more travel and travel related organisation's are addressing the needs of the eco-tourists and promoting eco-tourism in the country. Some basic do's and don'ts of eco-tourism that we promote in the country are listed below: