Can Ecotourism and Forest Product Certification Provide an Economic Alternative to Oil Palm Development?
Approximate calculations indicate that Malinau would have to host 50 000–150 000 tourists each year to generate the household income that the oil palm scenarios produce (assuming tourists stay on average 10 days and spend US$30/day that goes to Malinau households). Malinau has much to offer tourists with its vast intact forest and cultural diversity, but despite 19 years of lobbying by a conservation NGO, Kayan Mentarang National Park registers fewer than 40 tourists a year (Iskandar, pers. comm. 2007). Ecotourism will not be able to compete with oil palm, at least in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, even under the oil palm scenarios, most of the district will remain forested so ecotourism development is not excluded from these scenarios. Fair trade labels and natural product labels for forest products can increase prices, but not to the extent that would be required if forest products were to compete with plantations as a source of income for districts and households. To compete,
