The basic goal of the volume is to compile the most up to date research
on the effect of ecotourism on Indonesia's primates. The tremendous
diversity of primates in Indonesia, in conjunction with the conservation
issues facing the primates of this region, have created a crisis whereby
many of Indonesia's primates are threatened with extinction.
Conservationists have developed the concept of "sustainable ecotourism"
to fund conservation activities. National parks agencies worldwide
receive as much as 84% of their funding from ecotourism. While
ecotourism funds the majority of conservation activities, there have
been very few studies that explore the effects of ecotourism on the
habitat and species that they are designed to protect. It is the
burgeoning use of "ecotourism" throughout Indonesia that has created a
need for this volume where the successes and pitfalls at various sites
can be identified and compared.