At the Elf Authentic Adventure's inaugural race in the Philippines two years ago, Race Director Gerard Fusil stood on the back of a flatbed truck with a megaphone, addressing a protesting crowd concerned that his race course was taking huge numbers of people into the sensitive rainforest. Flyers by local NGO (non-governmental organization) groups were handed out, some with machine gun insignias as the letterhead.

It was a pivotal moment for Fusil and he had a rather tough PR sell — after all, his title sponsor was Elf, a multinational oil company. And in fact, the course did enter the rainforest, albeit with the blessing of the Philippine government. Some Philippine students were even concerned that Fusil and Elf were there under a guise to look for oil. The smooth Fusil managed to use his charm to assuage the protesters, and the race went on without incident.

Among the detractors of adventure racing are those who suggest the sport is environmentally unfriendly; that the sport has a negative environmental impact on the places visited. A fair contention to debate, and one that raises many other interesting philosophical questions. Here's the rub: what's eco about the Eco-Challenge?

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Before we go performing flagellation on adventure racing, decrying the blight of multinational sponsors with vested interest in the areas visited, we should ask a more fundamental question: what forms of tourism, or travel for that matter, do not have some impact, positive or negative? Native flora and fauna are displaced in Hawaii so that they can build beautiful championship golf courses; the roads leading into and out of national parks become virtual parking lots during peak months, with black smoke spewing from the Winnebago exhaust pipes; tacky curios shops line the formerly quaint streets of Mexican villages; cruise ships jettison thousands of tons of feces and garbage into the deep blue sea.

Any of us who travel are part of the problem. We want the pristine, the untouched, the untrammeled, and magazines like Outside and Men's Journal tell us where to sign up, and just how much our synthetic, prepaid adventure will cost us. And once we go, and write stories about "untouched paradise," publish them in major journals or on the Internet — how "untouched" will they remain?

It's true that events the size of the Eco-Challenge, or the Raid Gauloises, present some impact considerations. At last year's Eco-Challenge in Argentina, there were 55 teams of four, a couple hundred race organizers and volunteers, and about 200 journalists on the course at any given time. All of these people create trash and human waste, and the vehicles they travel in produce fossil-fuel byproducts. On a certain level, it's a consumptive sport. But consumptive compared to motocross, Indy cars, or swamp buggy racing? Consider what the Baja 500 or Paris-Dakar rally do to the desert.

We have to take the whole sport in a broader context. For one thing, we must consider that the host nations of big races weigh these usage realities carefully, and figure that they are worth the price. Positive television coverage equals higher profile equals more visitors in the future equals more money into the economy — and greater awareness about sensitive environments. That's why tourism departments and international governments welcome such races openly. The Eco-Challenge is generally sanctioned by the highest government officials in the land, the opening ceremonies attended by heads of state and other dignitaries.

Every Eco-Challenge includes an environmental project, and while some people consider these hokey, they do create positive awareness and interaction with the local population. In Argentina, saplings were planted on a fire-burned hillside just outside of Villa Cerro Cathedral, the race headquarters. In Morocco, a littered beach was cleaned up. Such projects integrate the visitors with the local community, and often friendships are formed, and positive examples set. Fusil's Authentic Adventure requires a community exchange project which may be environmental in scope.

"The eco-element of the event involves the community of the host nation. Environmental impact studies are done before and after the race. Professionals in the region are brought in to consult, and event production has its own clean up crew. The Eco-Challenge has an excellent track record with the environment, and with race clean up," Karen Eck, event media manager for Eco-Challenge, says.

But this is all PR stuff really. Obviously, the exposure is worth it to the host nations economically, or they wouldn't allow the races to take place. And, in point of fact, frequently the visitors (race organization, media, and racers) are more environmentally sensitive than the native people of the host nations. Recent trips to Morocco and the Philippines uphold this contention.

Now, the question of impact by the racers themselves is another matter. Sure, you're going to have the odd misplaced PowerBar wrapper or GU container. But racers, taken as a group, are environmentalists. They love nature, the outdoors, and celebrate that love by choosing a sport that takes place in beautiful, unspoiled places. Also, as a demographic, adventure racers are highly educated and from industrialized countries, which adds up to an environmentally conscious group. And if the racers aren't environmentally conscious, race rules include carrying out trash, with severe time penalties for littering.

David Kelly, a wily race veteran with multiple expeditions under his belt, had this to say about adventure racers: "Racers have really learned a lot by seeing landscapes in ways few people ever get to experience them. I personally have a deep affection for the places I've been, and I want to take care of them."

Of the media and organization involvement, Kelly adds: "My hope is that by exposing some 250 million viewers to a place, and having them see it in a pristine way, there will be a raised awareness of the beauty and the importance of keeping such places pristine. In a place like Borneo, deforestation through logging and road building are real environmental problems, not adventure racers. On the whole, we are relatively low impact, paddling along the surface of the water, riding mountain bikes on single track and fire roads, and walking in the jungle. Sure, a few ferns are going to be ruffled, but jungles are pretty resilient when it comes to footprints. What they aren't resilient to are bulldozers."

So one has to measure the potential awareness gained through a positive TV representation of a place versus the few negatives. Would there be less impact if adventure races didn't take place at all? Certainly. But that wouldn't be any fun, and based on the sport's growing popularity worldwide, isn't likely to happen. So, education, awareness, and conscious effort by all involved are the keys to maintaining a healthy, environmentally friendly sport.

— Buddy Levy, MountainZone.com Correspondent