Leafing through travel brochures, exploring by internet, chatting with friends, many a Californian entertains thoughts of adventure in distant places: watching vast caribou herds streaming by in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, perhaps, or taking a leisurely boat ride down the Amazon River, or trekking in Bhutan, with a stop at a community festival that celebrates the arrival of black-necked cranes from Tibet, after an arduous journey across the Himalayas.

Yet too few people know of the opportunities to explore natural places, led by expert guides, right here at home—also ecotourism opportunities, if not identified as such. Although the term has been stretched to become a marketing tool for a variety of enterprises, genuine ecotourism abides by three basic principles: it contributes to the protection of natural and cultural resources, it shares economic benefits with local communities, and it is sustainable.

Along the coast and around San Francisco Bay, a growing number of communities, conservation organizations, and small entrepreneurs offer nature explorations that meet the criteria for true ecotourism. Another term that might be applied to this sort of journeying is conservation tourism, with a subcategory for restoration tourism.

One can take guided walks to view wildflowers or birds, canoe rides on sloughs and up coastal rivers, hikes to beautiful open spaces that people are trying to protect or along creeks and wetlands undergoing restoration. There are also wildlife festivals, organized by entire communities, that often last for several days and offer dozens of special events in natural places, all led by expert guides. Coastwalk lists an array of hikes for this summer, in all 15 coastal counties. The Sierra Club is in the midst of its Great Coastal Places campaign, and local chapters offer many walks to the public free of charge.

Except for the wildlife festivals, which tend to get broader publicity, most of these offerings attract mainly local people who are already on the mailing lists of the sponsoring organizations or are especially interested in conservation. Yet they are exactly the kind of thing that ecotourists seek: they support conservation and local culture, contribute to the welfare of local communities, and provide income for local people. Were they listed in travel brochures as California ecotourism offerings, they would likely attract huge numbers of visitors from all over wishing to experience some of the state’s natural beauty. And many more local people would come if they recognized how enjoyable such excursions can be.

Especially heartening are the walks along creeks and wetlands that have been severely degraded but are now being restored by various local “Friends of…” groups, with the help of landowners, civic organizations, schools, resource agencies, and local governments.

In this issue of Coast & Ocean we describe various opportunities for nature tourism along the coast. (See also Coast & Ocean, Summer 1997.) In the next two issues, we will bring you more. We focus particularly on places where restoration work can be viewed, and where the results of environmental protection laws are visible.

One of the success stories made possible by the Endangered Species Act, for example, was enjoyed this March by participants in Crescent City’s Aleutian Goose Festival. This migratory species, once on the brink of extinction, is now in such a healthy state that it has been delisted: a cause for celebration for this economically depressed community, where some 40,000 geese come to rest and feed each spring en route from their wintering grounds in the San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge, near Modesto, to their Arctic breeding grounds. A month later, in Arcata, another big festival, Godwit Days, celebrated a bird that thrives in the Arcata Marsh, a wetland that has been protected and restored in a pioneering effort that began more than 30 years ago.

Or consider the Los Angeles River. This is no longer a natural place. Yet what could be more inspiring than the refusal of Angelenos to resign themselves to the loss of nature along their concrete-encased river? River activists lead walks through the little parks that have been built along the river, and to sites of parks-to-be. They have amazed many people and taught them much about their city and its communities.

It’s been happening for close to three decades now along the entire coast as well as inland, in California and elsewhere: creeks, watersheds, and natural places ravaged by what some still call “progress” are being coaxed back to life and health. Environmental restoration has grown into a field of endeavor backed by science, art, and commitment. It is providing jobs and income, improving quality of life in local communities, and redefining “progress.” The International Year of Ecotourism is an invitation to take a look.

This year, 2002, is the International Year of Ecotourism, so designated by the United Nations General Assembly to encourage the kind of travel and visitor-serving development that requires protection rather than consumption of the wonders of the natural and human world.