Guyana's New Eco Tours Are Giving Indigenous People a Say

South America's Guyana, one of the most densely forested areas in the world, has piqued the interest of U.S. adventure seekers with its remote expedition appeal. 

At a time when local populations are getting a larger and long-awaited say around the world in charting tourism plans, rising demand for Guyana's hard-to-reach natural attractions is offering Indigenous communities the ability to choose the adventure-trekking path of ecotourism to build the economy. The alternative: a deforested, oil-slicked road to unsustainable hell.

In essence, ecotourism sees tourists opt for nature-based experiences, preferably in small groups, with the intention to observe and appreciate nature, along with the traditional cultures who live in that particular area.

In Guyana, a country rich in gold and oil, its Indigenous people have looked to eco tours as business models to stem any negative impact on its environment.

With tourism only generating some $215 million a year or less than 3 percent of Guyana's total gross domestic product in 2021 (2 percent shy of its pre-pandemic level), it certainly pales in comparison to the more profitable commodities of oil and agriculture, with its unwanted side-effect of deforestation.

The discovery of oil off Guyana's coast in recent years has turned the small Caribbean country into an emerging oil powerhouse, with an estimated 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil discovered so far. The International Monetary Fund says it is one of the highest levels per capita worldwide.  

But the troubled waters of neighboring Venezuela, largely a blueprint of how not to approach sustainability, swayed Indigenous c