Curry County Oregon

Eco-Education
First, what is eco-education? Curry County has its own definition.

Curry County has a diverse habitat, ranging from deep ocean waters to rugged mountain tops. We have delicate watersheds, endangered species, wildlife and an economy based on natural resources, such as logging and fishing. Our citizens are protective of our natural assets, working hard to maintain a balance between good economic practices and environmental preservation.

Eco-education involves natural science, social sciences, and applied sciences. Encouraging the use of 'best practices' for our environment lessens imact and creates sustainable development. Best Practice is used to designate highest quality, excellence, or superior practices by any business in our area.

Definitions for eco-education topics:

Adventure Tourism
It is a nature tourism that involves a degree of risk taking.

Cultural Tourism
Cultural Tourism is travel for the purpose of learning about cultures or aspects of cultures.

Conservation Enterprises
Income generating activities that focus on conserving natural resources and ecosystems.

Ecosystem
A dynamic complex of plant, animal, fungal and microorganism communities and their associated non-living environment interacting as an ecological unit.

Ecotourism
Responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and sustains the livelihood of local people.
Ecotourism Product
A combination of resources, activities, and services, which are sold and managed through professional tour operators.

Ecotourism Resources
Natural and cultural features that attract visitors, such as landscapes, endemic or rare flora and fauna, cultural festivals, and historical monuments.

Ecotourism Services
Tourism services such as transportation, food, lodging, guiding and interpretation services which cause minimal damage to the biological and cultural environments and promote a better understanding of the natural and cultural history of an area.

Ecolabeling
A scheme in which a product, company, service, or destination may be awarded an ecological label on the basis of its “acceptable” level of environmental impact. The acceptable level of environmental impact may be determined by consideration of a single environmental hurdle or after undertaking an assessment of its overall impacts. Ecolabeling sometimes refers to the natural environment only; sometimes it takes into account social and cultural environments as well. An ecoquality label marks the state of the environmental quality, such as water quality for beaches or quality of wildlife in national parks.

Ecotourism “lite”
Ecotourism “lite” involves a business adapting sensible but small, cosmetic, and often cost-saving practices that are typically marketed as major innovations.

Geotourism
Tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place--its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.

Stakeholders
Individuals who have a vested interest in development, including community members; environmental, social, and community NGOs; natural resource, planning, and government officials; hotel owners, tour operators, guides, transportation providers, and representatives from other related services in the private sector.

Sustainable Development
Development that meets the needs and aspirations of the current generation without compromising the ability to meet those of future generations.

Sustainable Tourism
Sustainable Tourism is, according to the World Tourism Organization, “envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems”.

Leakages
Leakages are funds that do not reach the destination country. This occurs primarily when the tourism operators through which packages are purchased do not involved local businesses. In these cases, very few of the funds generated by the tour operators stays within the community being visited remaining instead in the home country of the tour operator.