Ecotourism, like biodegradable plastics, lead-free petrol and ethical investments, evolved out of a growing market for a guilt-free green lifestyle. Now ELT is helping form the backbone of this burgeoning travel industry in some of the more remote regions of the world.

Landlocked Laos in south east Asia boasts a stagnant, aid-driven economy, a communist government, desperate rural poverty and an all too apparent deluge of opium-soaked backpackers. The Ministry of trade and Unesco have joined forces, with cash from the New Zealand government and the International Finance Corporation, to set up a unique series of projects that aim to "develop sustainable cultural and ecotourism models [and] preserve the region's environment and cultural heritage within an economically viable framework." Nam Ha province in northern Laos is the first of 20 designated National Biodiversity Conservation Areas (NBCA), encompassing a total of 12.5% of the land mass of Laos that, it is hoped, will eventually make up a system of national parks. EFL training is integral to the whole plan. In 2000, Unesco sent two American EFL teachers to Luong Namtha in Nam Ha Province to start English language training and guide training for the staff of an ecotourism project. Not only is English an alien tongue, but often so too is the national language (Lao).

"At this time, community-based ecotourism in the Lao PDR is in its earliest stages, and local community members are still learning Lao in some cases," says Steven Schipani, chief technical adviser to the project. The people of Nam Ha are mostly from the Akha, Hmong, Khmu and Lantaen ethnic minorities: each speak their own tonal language mixed with smatterings of "market Chinese" and Lao.

Some might argue that the very fact ethnic minority tribes in Laos are formally learning English rather than Lao in an effort to help transform the local economy makes the whole notion of protecting the environment and the culture of its people a nonsense. However, as Mr Schipani points out, language acquisition does not necessarily mean linguistic pollution. "It allows them to communicate with many foreigners and opens up a lot of economic opportunities. [They] like to study and are very interested in learning English."

The language element is conducted in three-month modules as part of tour guide training and is also provided for civil servants who work in tourism-related sectors. The acquisition of English has in part thrown a lifeline to these communities that they have willingly grabbed. The villagers themselves can see a direct link between learning English and sustainable income from the ecotourism project.

"Obviously people's lives will change as they become more and more integrated into a market economy. The question is how this integration occurs," says Dr Heather Peters, Unesco consultant to the project. "Host communities are not employed by the project. This is community-based ecotourism, and it is the local communities themselves who manage and run the activities."

This philosophy has won it plaudits, and the project was awarded the 2001 United Nations Development Award for "the outstanding contribution the project team has made towards poverty alleviation". With any project of this nature compromises must be made for the greater good - the greater good in this case being poverty alleviation.

"Ideally, tourism should be economically viable, environmentally appropriate and socio-culturally acceptable," says Dr Geoffrey Wall, a tourism research specialist from the University of Waterloo, Canada. "The reality is that trade-offs will need to be sought and, ideally, mechanisms be put in place to ensure that informed participatory decisions are made. This is not easy to do."

The linguistic changes to the local economy in which English now plays a key role are an inevitable result of any kind of tourism. As Dr Wall says: "Clearly, people working in the tourism industry are more marketable if they have language skills. Even people with limited education pick up tourism phrases very rapidly."

According to an initial survey of visitors, they enjoyed the interaction with villagers, but noted that there was a need for better-trained local guides. As EFL trainer Paul Eshoo says, the language input is not easy for the teacher or the student.

"The language necessary for being a guide consists of uncommon vocabulary specific to describing hill tribes, natural resource conservation, natural history and other topics. I am constantly challenged to give names and explanations for things that I don't ordinarily see in my own country."

Since January 2000 more than 80 local participants from Luang Namtha's villagers have received intensive English language instruction. The training focused on enhancing their ability to communicate with international tourists. Trainees included owners and employees from local guesthouses and restaurants, provincial tourism officers, border and airport police and other Luang Namtha authorities. As this is the first project of its kind in Laos, the team is putting together an eco-guide training manual in English and Lao so that training can be replicated in other regions.

Mr Eshoo hopes that duplicate projects will mirror some of his own classroom successes. "One of my favourite students is a man who spent a few years living in the forest during the war, hunting and living off forest products. Learning English in the classroom was difficult for him in the beginning. But he stuck with it and now is leading treks without the assistance of another guide. It blows my mind to see that kind of progress after only one year."

·Nam Ha Ecotourism Project PO Box 7, Luang Namtha Lao PDR Tel/Fax: (856-86) 312-150.

©2003 Graham Holliday

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