What is Eco Tourism?
Eco tourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people. According to the International Ecotourism Society, the definition of ecotourism is tourism that follows these principles: minimize impact; build environmental and cultural awareness and respect; provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts; provide direct financial benefits for conservation; provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people; raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate.
In his latest "Adventures With Purpose" special, renowned adventure travel author, Richard Bangs, treks through the remote state of Assam in India — a region of rushing rivers, strapping monsoons, vast expanses of unspoiled land and a staggering array of wildlife.
In the shadow of the Himalayas and along the misty banks of the Brahmaputra River glides a grey blur that almost became a ghost—the one-horned rhinoceros—a rare species that a hundred-years-ago nearly vanished from the earth.
What kept these rare rhinos from falling into extinction? What does their story reveal about the world and about saving precious wildlife? Richard sets off to discover what this elusive rhino represents to the people of Assam — and to the world.
