How Not to Save the Environment: Environmental Damage Caused by Bad Ecotourism
The environment is precious to all forms of life, because without the environment, nothing would survive. Over the years more and more damage has been done to the environment by humanity. For example, gas emissions from cars and trucks have damaged the ozone layers. So, various groups have decided to educate people about the environment by creating ecotourism events. However, are these groups aware of the environmental damage that is caused by bad ecotourism?
How Environmental Damage is Caused by Bad Ecotourism
Perhaps the idea of ecotourism was formed with good intentions, but the fact is that there is much environmental damage that is caused by bad ecotourism. Sometimes, getting up-close with nature is something that really does not benefit the situation.
A very common example of how environmental damage is caused by bad ecotourism is camping. National parks often allow people to camp in tents in certain areas, but some of these people do not respect their surroundings. A family might have gone camping and littered, having not found a wastebasket anywhere nearby. This litter might be ingested by an animal and cause harm, not to mention damaging the delicate ecosystem of the forest.
Something else that many people like to do while they are camping is carve their names into trees. These people think that the tree does not feel any of it, but in fact the tree can. Unless the tree is visibly dead, it is very much alive, and this action scars the tree. This is not to mention people, while camping, cutting branches for firewood.
Another example of environmental damage caused by bad ecotourism is what happens at many beaches. While private beaches that charge a fee require people to be clean and considerate of their surroundings, public beaches have no private funding, so people often end up littering. An unfortunate example of this is when people bring drinks that come in plastic rings. Animals such as seagulls try to eat the left over plastic, and end up choking to death. Thus, if you decide to go to a public beach, do not litter!
Something that is also considered an example of environmental damage caused by bad ecotourism is when tourists decide they want to bring home a natural souvenir. Perhaps it is a plant, or some other example of flora and fauna. Regardless, this is a bad idea, because the plant is only accustomed to a specific climate. Also, the plant might be a source of food for animals. If tourists started taking things like this, it would cause a chainlike effect in the environment. So, the next time you decide to participate in an ecotourism effect, be sure that you respect the environment!
International Eco Tourism Society
Thus, one can easily see that there are major differences between mass tourism and eco-tourism and mass tourism is normally associated with high volumes, large scale, fast pace as well as hedonism, while ecotourism is small scale, nature centric as well as conservation oriented.
You are sure to find the ecotourism information that you are looking for with the proper research. Ideally, ecotourism policies would indicate that the entire fee go to the preservation of the environment. Why is ecotourism important?
In the late 1980s ecotourism was more of a novelty than anything, with entrepreneurs taking a leap in what they saw as an opportunity to make some cash.
Hopefully, such a study of ecotourism should help understand the alternative approaches for support of ecotourism and lead to development of new policies. However, in practice the term is used by tour operators to market their products and relates to any form of tourism that is associated with nature. Nobody is going to deny that accountability and transparency in ecotourism will lead to economic development and also promote growth that are features that can readily be seen in a capitalist and also a democratic society and which is indicative of good governance.
The goal is to have ecotourism be as positive as possible overall.
Such a case study of ecotourism has a number of different purposes that include assessing the awareness as well as understanding of local peoples regarding ecotourism, assessing how has ecotourism contributed to the local population and finding out if the locals are indeed sensitized on ecotourism as well as the environment. In fact, introducing children to ecotourism may prove a valuable investment in their future. What is the International Ecotourism Society? |
