MEET ecotourism products must satisfy a minimum criteria of sustainability and quality to be included in the MEET Catalogue. This criteria is measured and monitored against a specific set of indicators. The process is also supported by MEET tools such as the Ecological Footprint Calculator - used to measure environmental impact. MEET members commit to this monitoring on a continuous basis to ensure continued improvement of the products. MEET is currently expanding the criteria to also measure socio-economic, conservation, governance impact of ecotourism products.
The MEET Ecological Footprint Calculator, developed during Interreg-Med DestiMED project, provides the necessary tool for protected areas and others involved to measure the ecological footprint of their ecotourism product.
Furthermore, to support the use of this tool, MEET recently developed an online training module on using the calcultor. to This online training module is avaialble on www.consevationtraining.org.
- Ensure those involved understand the value of this measuring and monitoring from the start, as it can seem like a big undertaking initiaitlly.