Ecotourism Tour Guide 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 10 lessons:

1 Ecotourism Basics

• What is Ecotourism
• What is Negative Ecotourism?
• Education and Ecotourism
• Ecoutourist: A Profile
• Administrative Concerns: Value for Money, Permits, Public Liability Insurance
• Controlling participants in ecotour activities
• Guidelines for Wilderness Safety: Dos and Don'ts
• Water Activities
• Wild Animals
• Exposure to Weather and Natural Forces
• Interptretive Collection
• Plants
• Animal/Bird/Insect Sampling Options
• Some Different Ways You Might Find Specimins
• Collection Sheet Example

2 Interpretation Services in Ecotourism

• Interpretation as a Key Element of Ecotourism
• Techniques of Interpretation in Parks: Personal Services, Non-Personal Services, Factors Influencing the Type of Interpretative Technique
• Sign Design: 1 Administrative Signs 2 Interpretive Signs
• Advantages of Signs
• Disadvantages of Signs
• Good Presentation Skills
• Terminology
• Clarification
• Topics and Themes
• Researching Material
• How to Remember Your Material
• Involving Your Audience
• Where Do You Go?
• Accessibility
• Routes
• What Makes a Good Route?
• What Makes a Good Stopping Point?
• How Far and How Long?
• Safety and Comfort
• Making Walk Accessible to All
• Walks for the Visually Impaired
• Environmental Trails: Why Trailing?

3 Ecology and Conservation

• Ecology: Commonly Used Terms
• The Ecosystem
• Ecological Concepts
• The Web of Life
• Habitat and Niche
• Humans in the Environment
• Land Environments
• Types of Plant Associations
• Examples of Plant Associations
• Conservation
• The Goals of Conservation
• Natural Resources
• Renewable Resources
• Non-renewable Resources

4 Plant and Animal Classification and Identification

• Classification of Organisms
• Classification of Animals
• Classification of Plants
• Viruses - The Odd One Out?
• Using Keys to Identify Organisms
• An Easy Key to Plant Groups
• Key to Lamiaceae
• Other Ways of Identifying
• Set Reading
• Australian Animals Case Study: e.g. Australian Ecotourism: Kangaroos, Wallaroos, Wallabies, Wombat, Emus etc.

5 Geology/Geomorphology

• Introduction
• Tourism and Geology
• The Basics of Continental Drift
• Glaciers
• Earthquakes
• Earthquake Occurrence
• Volcanoes: e.g. Krakatoa, Mt St Helens, Mount Vesuvius, Mount Fuji
• Geology Basics: Minerals and Rocks, Classification of the Main Rock Forming Minerals
• Types of Rock: Igneous rocks, Sedimentary, Metamorphic
• Weathering and Erosion
• Mechanical Weathering
• Chemical Weathering
• Soils: Factors Affecting Soil Development, Parent Material, Time, Climate, Life forms, Slope, Soil Profile, Soil Classification and Description

6 Interpreting Aquatic Environments

• Marine Environments
• Freshwater Environments
• Fish
• Shells
• Crustaceans
• Aquatic Environmnets
• Aquatic Animals
• Sponges
• Corals
• Jellyfish
• Flatworms
• Molluscs
• Insects
• Sea urchins
• Star fish
• Chordates (Reptiles, Amphibians, Birds, Mammals)
• Aquatic Plants
• Common Aquatic Plants Found in Ponds: Oxygenating Plants, Deep Water Aquatic Plants, Shallow Water Aquatic Plants
• Freshwater Ferns

7 Interpreting Land Environments

• Interpreting Processes
• Forces that might have shaped a local environment: Weathering, Mass Wasting, Erosion, Glaciers, Streams
• Rainforests
• Savannas
• Alpine Environments
• Deserts: Plant and Animal Adaptations to the Desert
• Archaelogical Sites: e.g. Egypt – Abu Simbel, South America – Machu Picchu
• Disaster Zones: e.g. Japan – Hiroshima
• Interpretation and Changing Attitudes
• Communicating Attitudes and Values

8 Planning an Ecotour

• Introduction
• Destination
• Guidelines for Ecotourists
• Safety
• Transportation
• Accommodation
• Leadership Concepts For Ecotour Guides
• Qualities of a Professional Recreational Leader
• Leadership Communication
• Leadership Responsibilities
• What is Recreation?
• The Environment: Quality of the Environment, Recreational impacts on the environment

9 Ecotour Displays

• Zoo Design Concepts: Walk Through Enclosure, Open Range Exhibits, Nocturnal and Diurnal Displays, Systematic Theme, Zoogeographic Theme, Bioclimatic Theme
• Other Options

10 Leading an Ecotour

• Preliminary Research
• Open and Closed Plant Communities
• Semi-natural vegetation
• Dominant Species
• Competition
• Environmental Stress
• Succession of Plant Communities
• Edge effects
• Preliminary Visit
• Assessing Risks
• Advertising
• Initial Preparation of the Tour Group: Preparing For Responsible Behaviour
• Preparing Material
• Types of Audiences
• What You Need to Know About Your Audience
• What Can They Do?
• Why Do They Want to Come?
• When Do You Do It?
• Introductory Talk