This chapter places ecotourism within its broadly historical context, in order

to chart the major philosophic and social currents that have contributed to its

development. We approach this chapter’s question by looking closely at the

human-nature relationship and the interaction between them for, as we have

seen in Chapter 1, ecotourism by definition relies on the natural environ-

ment as its basic resource. This, however, tells us little for the logging,

mining, pastoral and fishing industries all rely on the environment in

fundamental ways. However, differentiating specific activities is crucial in

determining the relationship between human activity and the environment,

especially in understanding the specific values that such activities embody

and this will help us to understand the shift in value of nature that

ecotourism embodies.