The Transgabonais railway is one of the world’s costliest railways.

Learning Objectives To define what is meant by eco-tourism and mass commercial tourism To describe the advantages and disadvantages of eco-tourism and commercial tourism for the environment and on people To understand that eco-tourism maybe an approach to achieving sustainable development in the rainforest Competences C4 – understand that other people’s different identities, beliefs and customs should be respected Co2 – listen carefully to others Co4 – learn and use new vocabulary.

The President of Gabon has decided to invest in eco-tourism and has designated 11% of the land as National Parks but they could have easily thought about mass commercial tourism. Which one would have been best for the country?

Eco-tourism – form of tourism in which the protection of the environment and the way of life of the local people is considered to be important

Mass commerical tourism – is large scale and puts the needs of the tourists first. Often consists of large complexes like the ones below.

·         Draw a table with three columns labelled – eco-tourism, both, mass commercial tourism ·         Working in pairs discuss each of the statements on the Most likely to …… sheet. You need to decide whether they apply to eco-tourism, mass commercial tourism or both. The statements can be discussed in any order. You will be asked to explain your decision at the end of the activity

Class discussion - Is eco-tourism best for the country of Gabon Class discussion - Is eco-tourism best for the country of Gabon? Consider the advantages and disadvantages of eco-tourism over mass commercial tourism within the rainforests.

Assessment Using the information you have gained from the video clip and the worksheet you need to produce a comparative piece of writing between mass commercial and eco-tourism in Gabon