INDIGENOUS TOURISM: AN ALTERNATIVE FOR CONSERVATION OF MONTES AZULES BIOSPHERE RESERVE

Abstract

Historically, indigenous communities in Latin America, have inhabited spaces that currently have great economic value due to their variety of natural resources. Under the discourse of sustainability, governments seek to preserve them under the figures of Protected Natural Areas, mainly the Biosphere Reserves. In that sense, indigenous populations have been inserted into tourism activity, under the discourse of sustainability because it coincides with their worldview of coexistence with nature. In some cases, tourism has participated as predation by external actors, but it also has become a new threat to the territory. This document aims to determine whether the strategy of incorporating the Lacandones, inhabitants of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve into tourism, is convenient for the conservation of natural environments and the improvement of the living standards of local populations; to the extent that has been the continue to be a dominant global discourse around which the introduction of tourism in indigenous communities close to protected natural areas.