ABSTRACT
Tropical rainforests in developing countries and in northeastern Australia are a key drawcard for nature tourism. Some 50 million Indigenous people from about 1,000 tribal groups also still live in tropical rainforests in the equatorial belt of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Amazon (Martin, 2001). With the global expansion of tourism, the growing threat of rainforest logging and the assertion of Indigenous land rights, tropical rainforest areas in the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and Africa are now a key focus for Indigenous ecotourism projects that aim to conserve rainforest areas and generate income (Wesche and Drumm, 1999; Stronza, 2005; Stronza and Gordillo, 2008; Zeppel, 2006). (For further discussion on this issue, see Chapters 11, 12 and 14 of this book.) Many Indigenous groups now operate rainforest tourism ventures, including ecolodges (see Chapter 15 of this book), village stays, forest walks and wildlife viewing (Zeppel, 2006), providing an alternative income that supports conservation. Since the mid-1990s, over 20 canopy walkways have also been built in tropical rainforests. This chapter examines three rainforest canopy walkways on Indigenous lands, including the Falealupo Canopy Walkway on Savaii Island in Samoa, the Iwokrama Canopy Walkway in Guyana, South America and the Mamu Canopy Walkway in North Queensland, Australia. In tropical developing countries, the preservation of community-owned rainforest and the development of rainforest tourism as an alternative to logging are funded by conservation NGOs and international aid agencies. In Australia, however, the Queensland state government funded the AUD$10 million Mamu Canopy Walkway, developed with the agreement of Mamu Aboriginal people as traditional owners. The links between rainforest research, conservation and tourism are explored in these case studies of rainforest canopy walkways on Indigenous lands.
