The Namche Conference: May 24-26, 2003 People, Park, and Mountain Ecotourism Participants and Presentations: William Forbes

William Forbes Department of Geography, University of North Texas; email: wforbes@unt.edu Abstract Ecotourism in the northern Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico Tourism in the northern Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico presents issues typical to mountain tourism: marketing of remote sites, preservation of cultural integrity, increased cash economy in subsistence lifestyles, and new environmental impacts that are difficult to predict. This presentation will give an overview of tourism in the region and focus on the Nuevo Casas Grandes area, about 100km from the US border. It will briefly discuss how impacts can be mitigated and benefits enhanced through selection of hosts, avoidance of specific sites, collection of fees for habitat restoration and marketing, and cooperation with existing heritage tourism. References: Forbes, W., T. S. Haas. 2000. Leopold’s Legacy in the Rio Gavilan: Revisiting an Altered Mexican Wilderness. Wild Earth, Spring issue, pp. 61-67. Forbes, W. 1998. Curry County Sustainable Nature-Based Tourism Project. In, Sustainable Tourism: A Geographic Perspective. Hall, C. M., A. Lew. Essex, UK: Addison, Wesley, and Longman. Salopek, P. 2000. Sierra Madre Pilgrimage. National Geographic, June issue.

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