What is eco tourism describe the impact of ecotourism on environment and ecology?
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Susanna grew up in small-town Alaska where the changing climate was always on her mind. Through traveling, she gained an interest in the power of sustainable and regenerative travel. She has an MSc in environmental science; her thesis focused on building tourism models to benefit biodiversity. She focuses on the intersection of sustainable travel and environmental science. When she's not outside playing, you'll find her drinking whiskey with her cat and partner while trying to get to level 99 in life. Related PostsThis site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Ecotourism may be damaging the environments and wildlife it is supposed to protect, according to research. A report in New Scientist magazine warns that the massive growth of the ecotourism industry may be harming wildlife through stress, disturbance of daily routines, and even increased transmission of disease. While properly regulated ecotourism can be a good thing, many projects are "unaudited, unaccredited and merely hint they are based on environmentally friendly policies and operations".Ecotourism may be damaging the environments and wildlife it is supposed to protect, according to research. A report in New Scientist magazine warns that the massive growth of the ecotourism industry may be harming wildlife through stress, disturbance of daily routines, and even increased transmission of disease. While properly regulated ecotourism can be a good thing, many projects are "unaudited, unaccredited and merely hint they are based on environmentally friendly policies and operations". Ecotourism is growing at 10-30% each year, and now accounts for around one in five tourists worldwide. It has been promoted by the tourism industry, governments and international organizations, with 2002 having been designated as the International Year of Ecotourism by the UN. Ecotourism is often promoted as a sustainable form of tourism that, rather than harmfully impacting the environment, helps to conserve it by providing funds for conservation and by enabling local people to benefit economically from wildlife. The rate of growth of the industry is highlighted by the case of whale-watching, which has become a billion-dollar industry that in 1998 attracted nearly nine million people a year in 87 nations and territories, compared with less than half a million 20 years earlier. But a growing body of scientific research has found that the disturbance tourism brings can affect wildlife behaviour and biology with potentially serious effects. Whale watchingWhales and dolphins bring in much-needed tourist income to rural areas, and in some remote coastal areas of Scotland for example can provide up to 12% of local income, with most operators local people in small operations (Woods-Ballard et al, 2003). But as shown by research in New Zealand (Lusseau, 2003), socializing and resting behaviours in dolphins are disrupted by interactions with boats to an extent that causes concern. The amount of time spent resting and socializing was substantially decreased by tourist boats, and dolphins were significantly more likely to be travelling after an interaction with a boat. In a study of sperm whales, blow interval decreased in the presence of a research vessel and/or whale watching boats (Richter et al., 2003). Whale watching boats and aircraft, individually or together, caused increases in the time whales spent at the surface and in the frequency and amount of heading changes. While both of these studies concluded that the present level of boat interactions could be sustained by the whale and dolphin populations, it was recommended that the current level of activity should not be increased. Wildlife tourismA number of studies have shown that animal behaviour is affected by the proximity of tourists. In Kenya, the activity pattern of female cheetahs is affected by tourism, and this can be harmful to the animals if e.g. the ability to hunt or to flee from enemies is thereby reduced (Roos, 2002). An analysis by Weaver (2002) suggests that negative impacts of ecotourism on wildlife, albeit inadvertent, can include the introduction of exotic species, wildlife stress induced by observation, and vulnerability to social unrest. The New Scientist article reports that forthcoming research papers in Biological Conservation detail reduced weight in yellow-eyed penguin chicks in the Otago peninsula in New Zealand in areas frequently visited by tourists compared with unvisited areas. In hoatzins, a bird found in the Amazon rainforest, 50% of nests in restricted areas had at least one fledgling compared with only 15% in tourist zones in research by the Frankfurt Zoological Society. Elsewhere, the number of tourists visiting Fraser Island in Australia has lead to increased reports of dingo attacks, and a death from an attack in 2001 was followed by a government-ordered cull of dingoes (Burns and Howard, 2003). It is suggested that if attacks are a consequence of humans feeding wildlife and resulting wildlife habituation, then strategies for managing tourists are necessary for this example of wildlife tourism to be successful and sustainable. And in Africa, while the International Gorilla Conservation Programme recognizes that gorillas and tourism are now inextricably linked, with tourism providing the funds needed for conservation, gorillas are closely related enough to humans to suffer many of the same diseases. With first-time exposure to an illness or virus that is relatively innocuous to humans being able to devastate an entire gorilla population, very strict rules have had to be put in place to minimize the health risks. Economic benefitsThe paradox of the ecotourism industry is that, while it can damage the environment and wildlife if not carefully controlled, the economic benefits it brings provide an incentive for governments and local populations to protect ecosystems and animals that may otherwise be destroyed. In a study of breeding colonies of wading birds in the Brazilian Pantanal, although there is good evidence of detrimental effects of tourism on breeding behaviour and success, tourism nevertheless provides an economic incentive for conservation which potentially outweighs the importance of consumptive use of the colony by collections of eggs and chicks for human consumption (Bouton and Frederick, 2003). And the value of the non-consumptive utilization of cetaceans (i.e. whale-watching) to rural, coastal communities in West Scotland is three times greater than the value of the consumptive utilization of cetaceans (i.e. commercial whaling) for rural, coastal communities in Norway (Parsons et al., 2003). In Costa Rica, which has strongly targetted the ecotourism market and achieved strong growth in revenues and tourist numbers as a result, the percentage of protected areas in the country is now the highest in the world. When ecotourism is carefully managed, it can workbe a positive agent for change on the environment. In the Galapogos Islands it brings in money for conservation and preservation of species such as marine iguanas. "Ecotourism is one of the main factors keeping the Galapogos safe" says ecologist Martin Wikelski of Princeton University, New Jersey. Receipts from ecotourism in many areas can counter demands to use the natural resources involved for more extractive economic purposes, and provide incentive to protect natural habitats. And research has shown an increased awareness among visitors after ecotourism holidays of the need for conservation, and a willingness to pay for it. But nature-based tourism needs to be developed cautiously, hand in hand with research, to ensure that it protects the welfare of the animals that the industry depends on. Without the wildlife, there would be no ecotourism. Links: International Year of Ecotourism International Union for the Conservation of Nature Bouton, S. N.; Frederick, P. C. Stakeholders' perceptions of a wading bird colony as a community resource in the Brazilian Pantanal. Conservation Biology, 2003, Vol.17, No.1, pp.297-306 Burns, G. L.; Howard, P. When wildlife tourism goes wrong: a case study of stakeholder and management issues regarding Dingoes on Fraser Island, Australia. Tourism Management, 2003, Vol.24, No.6, pp.699-712 Lusseau, D. Effects of tour boats on the behavior of bottlenose dolphins: using Markov chains to model anthropogenic impacts. Conservation Biology, 2003, Vol.17, No.6, pp.1785-1793 Parsons, E. C. M.; Warburton, C. A.; Woods-Ballard, A.; Hughes, A.; Johnston, P. The value of conserving whales: the impacts of cetacean-related tourism on the economy of rural West Scotland. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 2003, Vol. 13, No. 5, pp. 397-415 Richter, C. F.; Dawson, S. M.; Slooten, E. Sperm whale watching off Kaikoura, New Zealand: effects of current activities on surfacing and vocalisation patterns. Science for Conservation, 2003, No. 219, pp. 78 Roos, A. K. The impact of tourism on cheetah in Masai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya. Minor Field Studies - International Office, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2002, No.218, 19 pp Weaver, D. B. The evolving concept of ecotourism and its potential impacts. International Journal of Sustainable Development, 2002, Vol.5, No.3, pp.251-264 Woods-Ballard, A. J.; Parsons, E. C. M.; Hughes, A. J.; Velander, K. A.; Ladle, R. J.; Warburton, C. A. The sustainability of whale-watching in Scotland. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2003, Vol.11, No.1, pp.40-55 What is eco tourism describe the impacts of eco tourism on environment and ecology?Ecotourism is defined as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education” (TIES, 2015). It can utilize the wide range of natural and cultural ecosystem services provided by mangroves to improve local livelihoods.
What is eco tourism and explain?The World Tourism Organisation defines ecotourism as: all nature-based forms of tourism in which the main motivation of the tourists is the observation and appreciation of nature as well as the traditional cultures prevailing in natural areas. an experience/activity that contains educational and interpretation features.
What are the main environmental impacts of tourism?TOURISM'S THREE MAIN IMPACT AREAS
It can put enormous pressure on an area and lead to impacts such as soil erosion, increased pollution, discharges into the sea, natural habitat loss, increased pressure on endangered species and heightened vulnerability to forest fires.
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