Green Turtle Lodge: The Importance of ECO-Tourism

Travelers flock to the idyllic beach setting of Green Turtle Lodge in the Western Region, situated close to the fishing village of Akwidaa, and just 10km from the twin towns of Dixcove and Busua.

Nearly five years old, the resort is built on a palm-lined beach, and has gained a reputation for providing comfortable accommodation and delicious food.

Tom and Jo Miles, the young English couple who own Green Turtle Lodge, visited numerous beaches along the coast of Ghana, before choosing the isolated Akwidaa beach as the perfect setting for their ambitious conservation project. Green Turtle Lodge is certainly impressive in its surroundings, but it gains an additional draw from its commitment to Eco-Tourism.

The International Eco-tourism Society defines the key principle of Eco-Tourism - Environment and Community Orientated Tourism - as 'Responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment and improve the well-being of local people'.

Abiding by this ideology, Green Turtle Lodge is dedicated to minimizing the impact of tourism upon the local community. As the owners, Tom and Jo Miles, explained to me, all buildings have been constructed using local and sustainable materials, while the self-composting toilets allow waste matter to decompose naturally.

Each of the beach chalets is powered by solar panels, while shower water is used to water the surrounding plants. In the evenings, lanterns provide a natural light source for guests. Each of these measures helps to preserve valuable resources and reduce the impact of tourism upon the surrounding environment.

Green Turtle Lodge also works hard to benefit the local community, hiring people from the nearby villages to work for a fair wage. Members of the nearby villages work in a number of roles, some of which are based at the Lodge, while others involve taking guests on guided walks to the nearby towns, or on a canoe trip through the mangrove swamps.

Tom Miles told me that they employed four people to work solely on turtle conservation as another means of creating jobs for the local people, as well as educating them about their surrounding environment.

He added, "Green Turtle Lodge is dedicated to helping preserve the endangered turtle population. We try to teach local people about the importance of protecting the species in order to prevent fisherman from poaching the endangered species and selling their meat".

Tom and Jo Miles have also created a Community Fund which profits from the resort are donated to. Part of the payment which guests make when they take a tour will go into this fund, which is controlled by a local committee who decide how the money should be spent.

Tom told me, "Most recently, we have been able to build toilet blocks in a local village, which help to improve sanitation, and we have also donated five hundred mosquito nets. But alongside these donations, we are keen to provide the local people with jobs.

This is more beneficial than a one-off donation. We want tourism to have a positive impact on the surrounding community, and we hope that providing people with an income will achieve this goal".

The website for Ghana Tourism observes that Ghana has been one of the forerunners in the development of community-based tourism, which aims to build a strong three-way bond among conservationists, tourists, and the local communities.

It cites the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary in the Brong Ahafo Region, established in 1995, as "the flagship for more than two dozen other community-based tourism projects countrywide".

With 80-90 percent of Ghana's original forests lost, national parks such as Kakum and Mole are vital in working to conserve numerous species of plant and wildlife and in employing local people to work on site, educating both tourists and locals about the importance of respecting the environment.

At Kakum, revenues from admission fees are split between the Ghana Wildlife Society, the agency that manages the Park, and the Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust. As a consciousness of the importance of preserving the plant and wildlife of Ghana has developed, this new brand of tourism has developed as a product.

But what makes Green Turtle Lodge stand out in comparison to these national Parks is its success as both a holiday resort and an environmental project. Certainly, the conservation project of the Lodge is on a far smaller scale than that of Kakum or Mole, yet it plays a vital part in strengthening the relationship between tourists and members of the local communities, and encourages them to exist in harmony with the environment.

Moreover, Green Turtle Lodge is not the creation of an NGO or a government incentive. Instead, it is a product of the work of two dedicated individuals and their desire to make a difference, on however small a scale.