Unspoiled nature is in most cases the main tourist attraction. Scenery and beaches, the animal and plant kingdom and the air and water quality must be protected and continually improved if they are to be successfully used for tourism. In turn, tourism may provide the means for nature conservation, environmental protection and the rehabilitation of environmental damage. In several cases, this has been achieved through GIZ (former GTZ) advisory services.

Today, the park management costs in the Pendjari nature reserve, Benin, are financed through tourism, as are development measures in the periphery. The nature reserve in the Dzanga-Sangha National Park, Central African Republic, has been stabilised in cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund, through jobs and income generated by tourism. In Ethiopia, cooperative forest management is financed by trekking offers, and in the Issyk-Kul biosphere reserve, Kyrgyzstan, locals and providers of services are being trained to create attractive tourism offers through the integration of cultural traditions, scenery and nature.

The GIZ (former GTZ) FODESTUR project in Central America has developed national tourism strategies and regional quality standards which take the environment and nature conservation  into account. In Africa, GIZ has successfully prompted Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe to coordinate their steps to protect and at the same time utilise the national park in the Limpopo transboundary nature reserve complex  for tourism. GIZ has also successfully promoted the integration of nature conservation and tourism development into measures for the protection of the Amazon forests in the Andean countries.

When developing social and ecological standards, results are not to be expected in the short term. At present, GIZ is holding talks with Tourism Watch, with the national association of German travel agencies and operators (Bundesverband deutscher Reisebüros und Reiseveranstalter, DRV), with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Rainforest Alliance & Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council (STSC). The DRV has invited GIZ to give a lecture on "Social standards in tourism" at the next meeting of their environmental committee. At the Round Table on Codes of Conduct, GIZ will discuss the same topic with actors from German industry and tourism experts.