The nonprofit group Ethical Traveler has announced its 2012 list of the Top 10 Ethical Destinations. Every year Ethical Traveler conducts a study of developing nations, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. The research team first identifies the best tourism destinations in the developing world. Next, using publicly available data, countries are rated in the areas of environmental protection, social welfare, and human rights. The 10 countries were chosen from a list of 30 finalists. This year's winners include: Argentina, The Bahamas, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, Latvia, Mauritius, Palau, Serbia, and Uruguay. New on the list for 2012 were Serbia, Palau and the Bahamas. Ethical Traveler noted some surprises in 2012. According to Ethical Traveler executive director Jeff Greenwald, “The steady trend we’re seeing toward green practices and support for sustainable tourism—by governments and travelers alike—is a fantastic development, and shows a real coming-of-age in the international tourism community.”
Greenwald adds, “One thing that was interesting this year—and unfortunate—was that some otherwise excellent countries in Latin America and Africa didn’t make the list because of their draconian anti-gay laws.” Report co-author Natalie Lefevre says, “I hope that the countries that didn’t make it onto 2012 year’s list will feel motivated to work harder on their environmental, social and human rights records, so they might be reconsidered in 2013.”
In evaluating each country’s level of responsible environmental protection, Ethical Traveler looked at clear indicators of environmental health, preservation of resources, and cultivation of beneficial, sustainable practices. The main resource was the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) Environmental Performance Index (EPI), a joint initiative between the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network. The index uses indicators focused on reducing environmental stresses on human health and promoting ecosystem vitality and sound natural resource management, allowing Ethical Traveler to measure the countries against 25 separate indicators of environmental responsibility.
Latin America countries continue to be top scorers in environmental protection. Costa Rica scored exceedingly high in the Environmental Policy Index (EPI), the only developing country—and indeed one of only three countries in the world—to make it into the top “100-85″ scorer category. Chile also scored high, particularly in sustainable fishery and forestry. Dominica is working on an impressive renewable energy policy, with plans to be carbon-negative by 2020.
Click here for more information on the Ethical Traveler study.
