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!
The International Ecotourism Society
Far off communities have taken the heart of ecotourism by the roots and found ways to open up lands for conservation and exploration that had previously been unattainable.
A Popular Question: What Are the Components in Ecotourism? Even countries such as Nepal are offering helicopter treks to view summits of various mountains instead of climbing the mountainous landscapes. People would travel from all over the country to rest on the bans of the river and bask in the sun, fish or spend a little time swimming. It is ecotourism projects such as this that help maintain the often fragile balance of nature that is essential to the survival of mankind as well as the plant kingdoms, and also many species of wildlife in the world today. 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.
These people seem to forget that everyone needs the environment to survive.
For the issue of what the problems are with ecotourism, even in the developed world with reasonably honest governments and court systems, precious resources are often endangered by perfectly legal threats. Also, the internet and library sources along with governments documents were used to gather data for the study ecotourism. With changes becoming evident in the lives and values as well as habits of different people in many countries around the world, new strategies and polices are being devised to promote ecotourism and the accompanying new natural attractions.
The force of economic prosperity is such that other concerns such as poverty alleviation, conservation as well as cultural heritage may have to take a back seat.
As well this is one of the types of ecotourism which truly maintains and respects the local culture and heritage. The fact that there is great ecotourism potential is seen in the fact that today ecotourism is the biggest industry in the world with, it is believed, by the time the twenty-first century closes, there should have been approximately six hundred thirty million tourist arrivals with income accrued from ecotourism touching five hundred fifteen billion dollars. Similar ecotourism examples can be seen in the Thai beach resorts known to be environmentally friendly, and also the jungle lodges in Kenya that together account for approximately fifteen percent of the global market for ecotourism, according to The International Ecotourism Society (TIES). |
