Growing Wildlife-Based Tourism Sustainably: A New Report and Q&A

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • While wildlife and biodiversity are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, poaching, and a lack of funding for protection, nature-based tourism is on the rise and could help provide solutions for these issues.
  • The publication Supporting Sustainable Livelihoods through Wildlife Tourism highlights successful wildlife tourism programs in seven countries in Africa and Asia that can be used as models to promote conservation and boost economies.
  • World Bank lead economist Richard Damania answers questions on the drivers, innovations and challenges for wildlife tourism, and why the World Bank Group and governments should support sustainable tourism strategies.

Wildlife tourism is a powerful tool countries can leverage to grow and diversify their economies while protecting their biodiversity and meeting several Sustainable Development Goals. It is also a way to engage tourists in wildlife conservation and inject money into local communities living closest to wildlife. Success stories and lessons learned from nature-based tourism are emerging from across the globe.

“Here is a way of squaring the circle: provide jobs and save the environment,” said World Bank lead economist Richard Damania, who has extensive experience in understanding the link between tourism and the economy . In 2016, travel and tourism contributed $7.6 trillion, or 10.2%, to total GDP, and the industry provided jobs to one in 10 people, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council .

While nature-based tourism, which includes wildlife tourism, has been expanding rapidly in the last decade or so due to increased demand and opportunities, wildlife and biodiversity are increasingly threatened by habitat loss, poaching, and a lack of funding for protection.

Which is why more than ever countries need to look to concrete examples of well-planned, sustainably-run tourism operations that have led to increased investments in protected areas and reserves, a reduction in poaching, an increase in the non-consumptive value of wildlife through viewing , and opportunities for rural communities to improve their livelihoods through tourism-related jobs, revenue-sharing arrangements, and co-management of natural resources.

A recently-released publication— Supporting Sustainable Livelihoods through Wildlife Tourism —developed by the World Bank Group and the Global Wildlife Program , funded by the Global Environment Facility , showcases sustainable wildlife tourism models that can be applied to developing countries, and offers solutions and case studies to bring insight into this sector as a mechanism for inclusive poverty reduction and global conservation.

The Global Wildlife Program spoke with Damania to learn more about the growth, challenges, and innovations in wildlife-based tourism.

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Why should the World Bank support conservation endeavors, and how does wildlife tourism help support our mission?

Enlightened self-interest is one obvious reason why we need to promote wildlife tourism.  It provides the most obvious way to reconcile the interests of nature with the imperative for development and growth. Tourism simultaneously creates jobs while, when done well, protects natural habitats.

Prudence and precaution are another reason why investments in nature-based tourism ought to be promoted. The science of “ planetary boundaries ” warns us that many fragile natural environments and ecosystems are reaching their limits and in some cases, the hypothesized safe boundaries have been crossed. Further damage will imply that we lose important ecosystem services such as watershed and soil protection with damaging consequences for development.

But, in my mind, perhaps the most important reason is humanity’s moral and ethical imperative as stewards of global ecosystems. Simply because humanity has the ability to destroy or convert ecosystems and drive species to extinction does not make it ethically justifiable. There needs to be an ethical balance and that is where ecotourism comes in. We need jobs and economic growth, but here is a way to get jobs and growth in ways that meet our moral and ethical obligation.

What have been the drivers behind a burgeoning nature-based/wildlife-based tourism sector?  

I think there are two things that drive it: as habitats diminish there is more scarcity and their value goes up. Everyone wants to see the last remaining habitats of wild gorillas for instance, or the few remaining wild tigers in India. In sum scarcity confers economic value. 

Another force driving demand is the internet and rising lifestyles—you can learn about animals and habitats you might not have known existed, and more people have the ability to visit them. So, you have supply diminishing on one hand, and demand rising on the other hand which creates an opportunity for economic progress together with conservation.

What is your advice to governments and others who are developing or expanding on a nature or wildlife-based tourism strategy?

Tourism benefits need to be shared better . There is a lack of balance with too many tourists in some places, and none elsewhere. Some destinations face gross overcrowding, such as South Africa’s Krueger National Park or the Masai Mara in Kenya where you have tourists looking at other tourists, instead of at lions. We need to be able to distribute the demand for tourists more equally. The Bank has a role to play in developing the right kind of tourism infrastructure.

Those living closest to nature and wildlife must also benefit .   The local inhabitants that live in the national parks or at their periphery are usually extremely poor. Having tourism operations that can benefit them is extremely important for social corporate reasons, but also for sustainability reasons. If the benefits of tourism flow to the local communities, they will value the parks much more.

We also need to be mindful of   wildlife corridors . We know that dispersion and migration are fundamental biological determinants of species survival. Closed systems where animals cannot move to breed are not sustainable in the long run. As we break off the corridors because of infrastructure and increasing human populations we are putting the ecosystems on life support.

There are some who believe we can manage these closed ecosystems, but it takes an immense amount of self assurance in science to suggest this with confidence, and it is unclear that one can manage ecosystems that we do not adequately understand. A measure of caution and humility is needed when we are stretching the bounds of what is known to science.

What are some of the innovative partnerships that are helping the wildlife-based tourism businesses in developing countries? 

One very successful model that has combined wildlife conservation and management and community benefits and welfare is the  Ruaha Carnivore Project  in Tanzania, part of Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unite ( WildCRU ). They use a payment for ecosystem services (PES) scheme and do all the right things.

Another example are the community conservancies in Namibia. The community manages the land for wildlife and there are a variety of profit sharing commercial tourism arrangements—although not everything always works fairly or perfectly. Incentives matter deeply and communities need to be guided and need technical assistance in setting up commercial arrangements.

The Bank needs to understand these better and find ways of scaling those up. The IFC has a very good role to play here as well. 

To learn more and to explore numerous examples of community involvement in wildlife tourism from Botswana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Uganda, read the report  Supporting Sustainable Livelihoods through Wildlife Tourism   or find a one-page fact sheet here .

The Global Wildlife Program (GWP) is led by the World Bank and funded by a $131 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The program is working with 19 countries across Africa and Asia to promote wildlife conservation and sustainable development by combatting illicit trafficking in wildlife, and investing in wildlife-based tourism. 

  • Full Report: Supporting Sustainable Livelihoods through Wildlife Tourism
  • Fact Sheet on Key Messages
  • Report: Twenty Reasons Sustainable Tourism Counts for Development
  • Report: Women and Tourism: Designing for Inclusion
  • Blog: Africa can Benefit from Nature-based Tourism in a Sustainable Manner
  • Feature: Ramping up Nature-Based Tourism to Protect Biodiversity and Boost Livelihoods
  • Website: Global Wildlife Program
  • Website: Environment
  • Website: Competitiveness
  • Global Environment Facility

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Corporate Biodiversity Management for Sustainable Growth pp 95–112 Cite as

Ecotourism: An Innovative Approach to Biodiversity Conservation and Community Development

  • Seema Bhatt 4  
  • First Online: 12 May 2020

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Part of the Environment & Policy book series (ENPO,volume 59)

The traditional conservation approach of designating Protected Areas (PAs) for biodiversity conservation has come under severe criticism in the last few decades. This conservation paradigm worked well where there were no nature-resource dependent communities, but it has done inordinate harm where such communities existed. The challenge has been to seek innovative approaches to conservation, while also taking into consideration community development. Ecotourism has emerged as one such approach. Ecotourism or simply ‘responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people’, is a concept that has grown considerably in the last few decades. It offers possibilities of improving livelihood security in and around ecologically sensitive areas. The benefits of ecotourism can provide necessary incentives to local people for conservation. This paper describes two examples from India where local communities, as a result of being involved in ecotourism, have become partners in conservation, and have benefited from the same. One example is from Ladakh, where community-based homestays have helped reduce the hostility of people towards the snow leopard. The other is from Kachchh, where a similar initiative has helped support conservation of the Banni grasslands. Based on these experiences, the chapter discusses some enabling mechanisms to ensure that ecotourism becomes a viable business.

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Bhatt, S. (2020). Ecotourism: An Innovative Approach to Biodiversity Conservation and Community Development. In: Sharma, R., Watve, A., Pandey, A. (eds) Corporate Biodiversity Management for Sustainable Growth. Environment & Policy, vol 59. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42703-0_7

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Description

This Solimar International toolkit includes two different publications developed with support of USAID aimed at linking tourism and conservation in a sustainable way including six conservation models that link sustainable tourism, biodiversity conservation, and community development and a framework for responding rapidly to crises originating for tourism and visitation.

“ Solimar International ;   Undated;   Tourism and Conservation – Sustainable Models and Strategies;   BTRP-ID:  2476″

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Solimar’s Six Models that Link Tourism to Conservation, Part I

Written by SolimarInt on September 26, 2018 . Posted in Uncategorized .

Solimar’s Six Models that Link Tourism to Conservation, Part I

One of the ways that tourism benefits destinations is by augmenting conservation efforts. After conducting an analysis of both internal and partner projects, Solimar has identified six principal sustainable tourism models that link tourism to conservation:

1. Improve Tourism Operations and Guidelines:

This model emphasizes limiting or reversing the negative consequences on nature that can result from tourism. There are three principal strategies for improving tourism operations and guidelines to promote conservation efforts:

a. Promote Sustainable Tourism Guidelines with Visitors

By promoting a ‘code of conduct’, destinations can ensure that visitors, for example, do not leave trash, pick endangered flora, or use flash photography where it might be harmful or startling to wildlife. It is important that these codes of conduct are communicated effectively through signage, pamphlets, interpretive guides, or even on websites and social media so visitors have an understanding of conservation before they arrive. Myanmar, new to hosting significant numbers of tourists, provides a great example of a visitor code of conduct with their ‘ do’s and don’ts ‘ campaign.

b. Promote Sustainable Tourism Guidelines within the Travel Industry

By promoting effective guidelines within the travel industry, local businesses and organizations can work together to limit their impact on the natural environment. Agreeing upon certain standards, preferably before a destination attracts large numbers of tourists, can maintain the natural beauty of an area before it’s too late. For example, businesses and organizations can work together to establish best practices for responsible seafood harvesting, responsible souvenir gathering, and responsible boating practices. Solimar International worked extensively with businesses and organizations in Bocas del Toro , Panama to guide the establishment of acceptable practices related to natural conservation.

c. Promote Sustainable Tourism Guidelines within Protected Areas

Promoting conservation efforts within protected areas requires significant interaction from a wide range of stakeholders, both public and private. Example guidelines to follow may include limiting camping to select areas within a park or limiting the number of fish to be taken from rivers or lakes each day. Once a plan has been formulated, effective promotion is imperative to the success of the plan.

2. Increase Tourism Awareness and Constituencies:

This model moves beyond simple education about tourism impacts to emphasize the active role that both visitors and residents can play in conservation efforts. This model incorporates three principal strategies to augment conservation efforts:

a. Increase Awareness and Conservation Support of Local Residents

It is important that conservation efforts begin with locals, as residents are as much of a conservation threat as tourists. Lack of awareness, lack of economic alternatives, and long-standing traditions are often reasons locals engage in damaging practices such as unsustainable extraction of resources. Ways to increase awareness and reverse damaging actions include teaching environmental education classes with local groups or organizing a local festival to celebrate the very resource being damaged. In Latin America, sea turtle educational classes and festivals have been organized to raise awareness about the importance of sea turtle conservation and the damaging effects of poaching their eggs.

b. Increase Awareness and Conservation Support of Visitors

Guides are vital to informing visitors about threats to conservation and explaining to the visitors how they can help whether that be through a donation or “ adoption ” programs. Programs such as these can help visitors develop an attachment to an area, increasing the likelihood of a donation, and also to spread the word about the importance of conservation when they go home.

c. Link Benefits of Sustainable Tourism to the Community as a Whole

As local residents see benefits from sustainable tourism increase, the likelihood of long-term sustainable practices increases, too. Direct beneficiaries include tour guides, hotel managers, and chefs while indirect beneficiaries include family members of direct beneficiaries as well as operators of ancillary services such as construction companies or grocery stores. Non-employment-based ways the tourism industry can benefit communities includes the organization of local clean-up events, improving sanitary services, or hosting volunteers.

3. Increase Income Diversification

If local residents realize sustainable tourism presents a livelihood, they are more likely to behave according to sustainable tourism principles. Two main strategies for assisting conservation evolve according to this model:

a. Target Resource Extractors with Sustainable Tourism Employment

It may seem counterintuitive, but poachers can become optimal tour guides. Poachers often know a lot about a particular animal and can share stories and knowledge on a unique level. “Reformed” poachers often provide a unique human interest story as tourists are very interested in how and why their behavior changed. Resource extractors are much more likely to change if tourism provides an increased wage through tips, salary, or a year-end profit sharing program.

b. Developing Tourism Products that Directly Mitigate a Conservation Threat

An optimal situation occurs when new products, jobs, and revenues develop and directly support conservation efforts. Local residents can create arts and crafts out of old newspaper, cans, bottles or other upcycling methods and sell them to visitors, eliminating solid waste and creating revenue simultaneously. Artificial coral reef creation has been effective in attracting divers and photographers away from susceptible natural coral reefs, where damage from tourists is common.

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council provides a framework for destinations seeking to develop a sustainable tourism strategy. Many of their guidelines apply to the conservation-related ideas discussed in this post. For a more detailed look at these tourism conservation models, be sure to download Solimar’s Tourism and Conservation Toolkit . Check back soon for Part of 2 Solimar’s Six Models that Link Tourism to Conservation.

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  • 1 Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United States
  • 2 Center for Sustainable Tourism, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United States
  • 3 African Leadership University, School of Wildlife Conservation, Pamplemousses, Mauritius

Editorial on the Research Topic Ecotourism models: identifying contributions to conservation and community

Research Topic

This Research Topic looked at research on frameworks, models, applications, and practices which highlight conservation and community strategies for ecotourism. The models presented attempted to address the complexities of ecotourism implementation and included looking at models that lead to financial benefits, direct and indirect, for communities and conservation, provide positive experiences for visitors and hosts, minimized physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts on fauna and flora and which recognize the rights and spiritual beliefs of indigenous and local peoples, working in partnership with them. The topic also covered the challenges in terms of implementation and management and new ways of conceptualizing ecotourism amidst the challenges presented by climate change, pandemics, and the degradation of natural resources ( Spenceley, 2021 ). Several principles behind ecotourism have been touted by non-profit organizations (see for example, the Global Ecotourism Network (GEN) (2023) , which have been based on successful implementation and design.

• Produce direct financial benefits for conservation.

• Generate financial benefits for both local people and private industry.

• Deliver memorable interpretative experiences to visitors that help raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate.

• Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.

• Design, construct and operate low-impact facilities.

• Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts on fauna and flora.

• Recognize the rights and spiritual beliefs of indigenous and local peoples and work in partnership to create empowerment.

Source: Global Ecotourism Network (GEN) (2023) , Ecotourism Principles.

The articles in this Research Topic, cover some of the important aspects of the promise of ecotourism, and implementation techniques to engage ecotourism as a conservation strategy in a strategic way.

Connecting tourism activities and conservation outcomes

Two articles related to this theme and demonstrated that the tourist can be a valuable vessel to ensure conservation efforts are supported and possibly enhanced. While ecotourism has been touted as a highly effective conservation strategy, Skibins et al. discovered that there are differences in how visitors relate to and identify with wildlife. This study provides practitioners and park managers with ideas to improve conservation outcomes and enhance the visitor experience. Increasing strategies that improve visitor connection to wildlife, nature, and our dependence on healthy ecosystems is increasingly necessary to garner further support and resources for conservation. This study demonstrated one strategy to support the visitor experience, yet also demonstrates that there are often subtle mechanisms, strategies, and communication efforts that are feasible and cultivate positive conservation outcomes.

Related, Kredens and Vogt conducted a netnographic study which examined tourists who visited wildlife tourism attractions (WTAs) by looking at their post-visit photos and captions on Instagram to evaluate the strength of their connection to wildlife and conservation. With the advent of social media and the propensity of visitors to share experiences often in real time, it remains critical to understand the meaning of their visits and better how to implement strategies that again, increase support for conservation. For managers, practitioners, who provide Wildlife Tourism Attractions (WTAs), Kredens and Vogt found tourists were sensitive to conservation and welfare practices associated with these types of attractions. Their results suggest that WTAs with good or excellent conservation and welfare practices were found to lead to more highly involved tourists, ultimately benefitting community investment, animal welfare, and conservation efforts via the flow of tourist dollars and spread of information on social media, the tourist changing their behavior, or all the aforementioned. Conversely, WTAs with negative conservation and welfare practices were found not to foster the same level of tourist involvement as their counterparts, often leading to more anthropocentric Instagram posts that do not spread conservation messaging or imply appropriate tourist-animal interactions. The implications from this research suggest that WTA management practices should move toward a model focusing on conservation-themed interpretation, education, and positive animal welfare for the improvement of conservation efforts within wildlife and eco-tourism. We would also argue that perhaps conservation groups connect with WTAs to find mutually beneficial strategies to ensure a positive result for efforts in a country or region. While it may seem somewhat obvious, their findings not only identify and support the impact of poorly managed WTAs, hopefully these findings are provided to WTAs to build capacity and understanding on the importance of animal welfare and conservation broadly within their associated community. Yet, WTAs are truly at a crossroad, as Keulartz (2015) , so aptly identified. Further examination of the conservation benefits as well as animal rights issues now are at the forefront of these areas and will require research programs that venture well beyond care and wellbeing. Yet these studies open the possibility for increasing the positive impact of visitor experiences, while simultaneously increasing conservation support. It is also evident, there is much work to be done, and we can utilize the power of the visitor experience to effect positive change.

Benefit-sharing from tourism

Two contributions were relative to benefit sharing concepts. Benefit-sharing is defined here as “ a commitment to channel some returns, whether monetary or non-monetary, back to the range of designated participants: affected communities, source communities or source nations” ( P2P, 2019 ). It has been shown ( Snyman and Bricker, 2021 ) that where there is benefit-sharing communities tend to have more positive attitudes toward tourism, Snyman et al. reviewed the Rwanda Tourism Revenue Sharing programme over the last 15 years, including primary and secondary data, which included interviewing more than 300 community members living around three national parks. Their results suggest a lack of awareness concerning the Tourism Revenue Sharing Policy, with respect to project selection, and community involvement. Decades of ecotourism research have suggested the importance of community involvement and empowerment for successful conservation outcomes. This study not only provides recommendations specific to the Rwanda context, but also demonstrates the potential widespread application of developing strategies that enhance livelihoods and create a resilient community development structure. This recommendation includes support considering significant disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Community revenue sharing schemes have an opportunity to build in emergency funds and plan for future crises that may or may not occur.

It is also clear that transparency and clear understanding of any revenue or benefit sharing scheme by community members is crucial when it comes to increased and sustained support for conservation (see Hesling et al., 2021 for more on governance related to benefit-sharing). This includes clarity around selection criteria, steps in the selection process, definitions of terms, and knowledge of and selection committee members. And creating a straightforward, simplified, and transparent process can increase understanding, fairness, and continued support for achieving conservation goals. Building capacity and skills to enhance community involvement was emphasized in their recommendations. And lastly their results signify the importance of continued monitoring and evaluation of any benefit-sharing scheme, to be able to adapt and pivot to continuously meet and improve the support for communities, ultimately improving the viability of conservation efforts long term.

Stewardship at the local level, or perhaps developing a conservation ethic at the local level is enhanced with the delivery of benefits, beyond the intrinsic benefits of protecting wildlife and their associated habitat (see Snyman and Bricker, 2019 ). Muntifering et al. similarly looked at whether tourism could be used as a wildlife conservation strategy where tourism benefits are assumed to ‘trickle down' to rural communities. In their study, there was a clear and direct relationship between demonstrated revenue sharing benefits for communities and levels of stewardship. As noted above, it is assumed that providing local benefits to communities not only increases support for conservation, but it can also assist in discouraging illegal wildlife activities. Researchers acknowledge that within their case study of Namibia, their findings do not suggest cause and effect, rather contributing factors to complex issues surrounding illegal wildlife related crimes. Again, there is significant support for community engagement and empowerment to achieve stewardship that improves conditions for wildlife, in this case, the black rhino.

The contributions within this Research Topic provide support for the principles of ecotourism, with a particular focus on enhancing stewardship and support for conservation. There is an intricate web of stakeholders and strategic nuances in any conservation program. These articles highlight the complex nature of garnering support for conservation, be it communities or visitors. It is therefore important to continue to pursue strategies, policies, good governance, and diverse communication strategies that enhance local engagement and empowerment, and transparency. In addition, articles presented in this Research Topic address strategies to enhance visitor engagement and have implications improving local initiatives, stewardship and messaging and the quality of care when it comes to conservation and wildlife related attractions.

Author contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the authors of this Research Topic for their work and all those working toward conserving ecosystems and their inhabitants throughout the planet.

Conflict of interest

KB and SS declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Global Ecotourism Network (GEN) (2023). Available online at: https://www.globalecotourismnetwork.org/definition-and-key-concepts/ (accessed June 1, 2023).

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Hesling, J., Groote, P., and Vanclay, F. (2021). “Strengthening governance processes to improve benefit-sharing from tourism in protected areas by using stakeholder analysis,” in Living on the Edge: Benefit-Sharing From Protected Area Tourism , eds S. Snyman and K. Bricker (London and New York: Routledge), 69–83.

Keulartz, J. (2015). Captivity for conservation? Zoos at a crossroads. J. Agric. Environ Ethics 28, 335–351. doi: 10.1007/s10806-015-9537-z

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Snyman, S., and Bricker, K., (eds.). (2021). Living on the Edge: Benefit-Sharing From Protected Area Tourism. London: Routledge.

Snyman, S., and Bricker, K. S. (2019). Living on the edge: benefit-sharing from protected area tourism. J. Sustain. Tour. 27, 705–719. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2019.1615496

Spenceley, A., (ed.). (2021). Handbook for Sustainable Tourism Practitioners: The Essential Toolbox . New York, NY: Edward Elgar Publishers.

Keywords: benefit sharing, conservation, wildlife, wildlife tourism attractions, ecotourism

Citation: Bricker KS and Snyman SS (2023) Editorial: Ecotourism models: identifying contributions to conservation and community. Front. Sustain. Tour. 2:1232666. doi: 10.3389/frsut.2023.1232666

Received: 31 May 2023; Accepted: 20 June 2023; Published: 04 July 2023.

Edited and reviewed by: C. Michael Hall , University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Copyright © 2023 Bricker and Snyman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Kelly S. Bricker, kelly.bricker@asu.edu ; Susan (Sue) Snyman, ssnyman@alueducation.com

This article is part of the Research Topic

Ecotourism Models: Identifying Contributions to Conservation and Community

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Why Conservation Tourism Matters

First, they fell in love with each other—then with the fauna of Africa.

National Geographic explorers-in-residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert have spent the past three decades captivating audiences with their rare footage and photographs of big cats.

Now, they’re taking aim at a different kind of challenge: conservation tourism. By occupying land that might otherwise be poaching grounds, the husband-and-wife team’s Great Plains Conservation safari camps in Botswana and Kenya give lions, leopards, elephants, and other wildlife a chance at survival. At least for now.

Here’s a look at what motivates these wildlife heroes, and what they’re planning next:

Q: why conservation  .

A: Our connection to Africa travels beyond tourism, beyond the photography we make. We cannot be at peace if we let species go extinct. Ultimately, conservation is about securing land.

How can tourism help?  

One conversation can lead to a massive change.

A year ago, we sat across the table from a Chinese guest. He asked us to describe the problem with African wildlife in a sentence. Our answer: “We use, abuse, shoot, and eat wildlife.”

“Who are the culprits?” he asked. “Mostly the Chinese,” we said.

After debating this topic, we have formed a lasting friendship and a commitment to make a film together for the Chinese market. He’s also funding a feature film, starring Christian Slater, about rhino horn laundering in China.

What’s next?  

This year we will move 100 rhinos from the highest poaching zone (South Africa) to the lowest (Botswana) while also distributing DNA—diversifying our rhinos’ asset portfolio, so to speak.

The initiative, called Rhinos Without Borders , is the largest move of rhinos in history. And we will keep going.

Can you imagine an Africa without animals?

Landscapes are simply space unless they are filled with life.

Extinctions are the beginning of the end—missing pieces in a mosaic that erode us, and the land itself.

Katie Knorovsky   (on Twitter @TravKatieK ) is an editor at large at National Geographic Traveler . This piece first appeared in the magazine’s April   2015 issue.  

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  • Published: 17 March 2023

Natural world heritage conservation and tourism: a review

  • Zhenzhen Zhang 1 , 2 ,
  • Kangning Xiong 1 , 2 &
  • Denghong Huang 1 , 2  

Heritage Science volume  11 , Article number:  55 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

3928 Accesses

8 Citations

Metrics details

The trade-off and synergy between heritage conservation and tourism has become the focus of natural world heritage research. To gain a better understanding of the global researches on natural World Heritage conservation and tourism, we comprehensively reviewed relevant peer-reviewed research literature based on Web of Science (WOS) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). We find that (1) the theoretical research of natural heritage conservation and tourism has gone through a process from emphasizing the protection of heritage value to pursuing the synergy of heritage protection and tourism development; (2) the main research methods include investigation research methods, indirect research methods and experimental research methods; (3) "3S" technology (remote sensing, geographic information system, global positioning system), three-dimensional laser scanning technology, virtual reality (VR) technology, augmented reality (AR) technology, holographic projection technology and other modern technological means are applied to the protection and tourism development of natural properties; (4) the common coordinated development models include ecological science tourism, community participation in tourism, ecological compensation model, world heritage—buffer zone—surrounding areas coordinated protection model and so on. We analyzed the research progresses through (1) the theories proposed in the literature, (2) the main methods applied to address the issues on natural heritage conservation and tourism, (3) the technologies applied in the researches and (4) the coordinated models of heritage conservation and tourism. Furthermore, we put forward the following research prospects: (1) systematically explore the conservation methods and theories based on world heritage criteria; (2) formulate corresponding conservation systems and ecological restoration standards for different types of world heritage; (3) give full play to the complementary advantages of various research methods and reveal the mutual feedback mechanism between tourism and heritage conservation; (4) develop ecological restoration technology based on biodiversity restoration, establish radial ecological corridor, and expand the benign ecological environment of the properties to wider periphery; (5) build ecological compensation development models based on the perspective of heritage tourism and value realization of world heritage.

Introduction

Natural world heritage sites are natural landscapes recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and inscribed on the World Heritage List, with Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) such as containing aesthetic importance, representing major stages of earth's history, representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes, containing the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity [ 1 ]. As the type of protected area with the highest and most representative OUV in the world [ 2 , 3 ], how to pass on the value of the world heritage through heritage display and solve the livelihood problem of the residents is a problem worthy of study.

For many years after the birth of Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention) in 1972, conservation was the sole goal of World Heritage, but as time passed, World Heritage gradually established its status as an important tourist destination, and UNESCO’s policy on World Heritage also no longer limited to conservation, but also sustainable tourism [ 4 ]. The purpose of heritage conservation is to preserve their OUV and pass them on intact to the next generation [ 5 ]. The ideal goal of heritage tourism is to awaken people’s attention and respect for cultural history and natural landscapes through tourism activities [ 6 ]. Therefore, heritage tourism is the best way to give full play to the functions of natural World Heritage, which can promote scientific research, social supervision and financial support for heritage conservation, and is also a sustainable way for the social and economic development of natural heritage sites [ 7 ]. However, the unreasonable utilization of tourism resources will lead to the imbalance of resource supply and demand [ 8 ]. In its World Heritage Outlook report, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) pointed out that tourism impact has always been in the top three threats [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. How to coordinate the relationship between World Heritage conservation and tourism development has always been a hot issue of academic and government attention [ 12 , 13 ].

Currently, international organizations and scholars have carried out a series of fruitful studies, covering the impact of tourism activities on heritage conservation, community residents’ perception of heritage tourism, and changes in the landscape pattern. Among them, the community and tourists are the focus of related research. Natural World Heritage sites are often very fragile. To maintain a certain balance between social ecosystems and natural ecosystems, it is important not only to minimize human disturbance, but also to make tourists aware of the need to protect the OUV and to participate in the conservation and promotion of heritage value [ 14 ]. The sustainability of community livelihoods is the premise of World Heritage conservation, and ecotourism is an important form of enriching the livelihoods of community residents in heritage sites [ 15 ]. Locally-driven responsible and sustainable tourism management in and around World Heritage properties can complement other sources of growth, so as to promote economic diversification between tourism and non-tourism activities. This will strengthen social and economic resilience in a way that also helps protect the OUV of properties [ 16 ]. In addition, some scholars have also paid attention to the impact of tourism activities on the biodiversity [ 17 ], water [ 18 ], geology and landform [ 19 , 20 ] of natural World Heritage sites.

Meanwhile, scholars have systematically sorted out and summarized the concept, research methods, authenticity and integrity, heritage management, stakeholders, knowledge systems and development trends of heritage tourism from the theoretical level [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. It is worth noting that the research on tourism and conservation of natural World Heritage is a field in which natural ecosystems and social ecosystems are highly intertwined, involving tourism, aesthetics, geomorphology, ecology, geography and other disciplines. There are research bottlenecks in terms of theory, method, technology, model and so on. The existing articles indicate that the studies on the conservation and tourism of natural World Heritage start from the theoretical perspective, and most of them are macro-heritage studies, rarely distinguishing between cultural heritage and natural heritage. The research methods are mainly based on questionnaire survey and interview with tourists and community residents, lacking the application of experimental monitoring methods. The comprehensive understanding of related research has not been fully formed in the academic circles.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of natural heritage protection and tourism since the World Heritage Convention came into being half a century ago, we reviewed the relevant research progress of theories, methods, technologies and models from the perspective of the systematic chain from theoretical understanding to practical application, and proposed future research directions based on the research progress. The theory about natural World Heritage conservation and tourism is the understanding of objective things and their laws, and the related theory research will help us understand the law of this study field. The generation and development of the methods depends on our theoretical understanding of related researches. Through the analysis of the methods, it will help to promote our theoretical understanding, and also better guide us to use technical means to improve the heritage protection and tourism sustainability in natural sites. Conducting the analysis of related technologies can effectively promote us to adjust the methods of recognizing natural World Heritage conservation and tourism in practice, thus promoting the development of theory. Meanwhile, technology is a practical means to accelerate the promotion of heritage protection and sustainable tourism. The analysis of related models in this study is the summary of different development paths and practical experiences, reflecting the development models of natural sites in different scenarios. It is expected to provide references for more natural World Heritage sites in the cooperation between heritage protection and tourism.

Materials and methods

The acquisition of journal papers was conducted based on the available databases including Web of Science (WOS) ( https://www.webofscience.com ) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) ( https://www.cnki.net/ ). To obtain higher quality and more representative articles, we restricted the databases of paper sources during retrieval. In WOS, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) were taken as the retrieval databases. In CNKI, Science Citation Index (SCI), the Engineering Index (EI), Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI), Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD) source journals were taken as retrieval databases. Acknowledging that the literature on both heritage conservation and tourism in natural World Heritage sites is sparse and our desire to get a wider review, we also included different synonyms. The search item was “them”. The first search terms was set as “natural heritage”, the second search term was set as “tourism”, and the third terms were set as “conservation” or “protection” or “preservation”. The deadline set for our retrieval was December 31, 2022 (Fig.  1 ).

figure 1

The process of the literature search and screening

Firstly, based on the search conditions above, 610 and 144 articles were found in WOS and CNKI, respectively. Then, we set two inclusion criteria: (1) the research them must include both heritage tourism and conservation; (2) the research object must be natural World Heritage site(s) or mixed site(s). Articles without heritage protection or heritage tourism are discarded. Researches about cultural World Heritage, built heritage, intangible cultural heritage, national parks, geoparks, natural reserves or other contents without natural World Heritage are also considered irrelevant and excluded. We decide whether an article meets our inclusion criteria by reading the title, abstract, keywords, and even the full text of the article. After screening based on our inclusion criteria and deduplication, 115 and 85 related articles were obtained from WOS and CNKI, respectively. In term of languages, the final obtained articles include Chinese (85 articles), Croatian (1 articles), English (101 articles), Portuguese (2 articles), Russian (1 articles), Spanish (9 articles), Ukrainian (1 articles).

It is worth noting that the number of search results and the final screening results varied greatly, especially in WOS. This may be because when subject is used as the search term in WOS, any one or more of the titles, abstracts, author keywords and keywords plus contain natural, heritage, conservation or protection or preservation and tourism articles will be retrieved. As a result, there are some documents that are not related to the research topic, such as cultural heritage, protected areas, national parks, natural resources, in the search results.

Research progress

The theoretical research on natural heritage protection and tourism has gone through a process from emphasizing heritage value protection to pursuing synergy between heritage conservation and tourism development.

The theoretical exploration of World Heritage protection started from Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (Operational Guidelines). It states that cultural properties must meet the conditions of authenticity, and all properties nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List shall satisfy the conditions of integrity [ 1 ]. But some scholars believe that the two principles of authenticity and integrity should not be separated and both natural properties and cultural properties should meet these two principles [ 26 ]. Since the number of natural properties is much higher than that of cultural properties, related researches on two principles are mostly focused on cultural properties, while little on natural properties. As an important tool for conservation of properties and then enhance their integrity, as well as create linkages between properties and the wider area that surrounds them [ 27 ], buffer zones are also a vital theory to analysis the relationship between heritage protection and sustainable development [ 28 ].

With the advancement of researches, scholars have gradually realized that the value display and community development are important ways for the sustainable protection and management of world heritage [ 29 ]. Heritage corridor is the product of the joint development and interaction of American greenway movement, scenic road construction and regional heritage conservation concepts [ 30 ]. This theory takes into account the balance of linear heritage protection, community economic development and natural ecosystems. It is suitable for linear heritage such as the Silk Road, but not for nonlinear heritage. To explore the synergy theory of heritage protection and tourism applicable to a wider range, scholars have carried out research from different perspectives such as natural ecosystems, tourists, and community residents. Moreover, as one of the core theories of tourism geography, tourism man-land relationship theory focuses on the interaction between human tourism activities and geographical environment[ 31 ]. It is also an important guiding ideology for the study of sustainable development of natural heritage[ 32 ]. Wen [ 33 ] proposed to use ecological theory and experience economy theory to stimulate tourists’ cognition of heritage value, thereby promoting the coordinated development of protection and tourism in karst world natural heritage sites. In addition, the introduction of symbiosis theory [ 34 ], sustainable livelihood framework [ 35 ], life cycle assessment theory [ 36 ] and other theories have further enriched researches on world heritage conservation and sustainable tourism.

Based on the data sources, the main research methods used in researches on natural world heritage conservation and tourism can be divided into three categories: investigation research methods, indirect research methods, and experimental research methods. Among them, investigation research methods refer to methods that get data from questionnaires [ 37 ], interviews [ 38 ], field observations [ 39 ] and other similar ways; indirect research methods refer to methods that get data from websites [ 40 ], articles[ 41 , 42 ], yearbooks [ 43 ], institutions [ 44 ] and other similar ways; experimental research methods refer to methods that get data through computer experiments such as remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) [ 45 ], or ground sample monitoring like sample plot [ 46 ] and online tracer test [ 18 ], or other similar methods. As the most commonly used method for related studies, the first two types of methods are mostly used in humanities research, such as stakeholder attitudes towards heritage conservation and tourism and their influencing factors. The third type of method is mostly used in natural research, such as the impact of heritage tourism on soil, vegetation, and water ecology in heritage sites. Table 1 shows some representative specific methods, data sources, core content and references of these methods.

The vast majority of relevant studies obtain data through questionnaires and interviews with stakeholders such as tourists and residents, as well as in-direct data from websites, reports, institutions and so on. Few scholars obtain data through monitoring experiments or geographic information technology in natural heritage sites. Long-term experimental monitoring research is even more blank. No studies have been found that combined experimental monitoring methods with questionnaire interviews or geographic information technology. This brings great difficulty to the collaborative research and management of natural heritage tourism and protection.

Investigation and research methods used in related researches include in-depth interviews and fieldwork, landscape sensitivity assessment, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), Delphi method, structural equation modelling (SEM), travel cost method, contingent valuation method, perception survey, open-ended interviews, principal component analysis (PCA), system dynamics model, what is not there (WINT) analysis and convergent parallel mixed method. The advantages of these methods are: (1) quantitative analysis of each element can enhance the persuasiveness of the analysis results; (2) it is helpful to find potential relationships between different variables through model analysis; (3) access to deep insights and emotional reflections. The disadvantages are: (1) bias in interpretation of results by investigators and respondents; (2) the acquired data is highly subjective, especially in questionnaires and interviews. These methods are suitable for researches on attitudes, willingness and choices of stakeholders, such as local community and visitors.

Indirect research methods used in related researches include SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, carbon footprint, literature review and expert interview, AHP, fuzzy mathematical methods, official evaluations analysis, panel data analysis, propensity score matching, static model of tourism environment capacity, grounded theory, literature review and website analysis. The advantages of these methods are: (1) simple and easy to operate; (2) easy to obtain the required data; (3) low research cost. But the data of these methods often face problems of poor data correlation, poor timeliness and low reliability. These methods are suitable for theoretical analysis researches and researches with low requirements on data timeliness and resolution.

Experimental study methods used in related researches mainly include two categories: geographic information technology and experimental monitoring. Specifically, these methods contain remote sensing, GIS, global static partial equilibrium model, landscape pattern index, high-resolution online tracer test, and investigation method of sample plot. Geographic information technology can quickly obtain spatiotemporal data of large-scale study areas, which is suitable for monitoring and research of natural heritage sites. But it needs to be combined with ground monitoring survey data to increase the precision of its analysis results. The results obtained by the ground monitoring method are the most objective and accurate among all methods, but usually require higher professional knowledge of operators, and are time-consuming and costly.

Technologies

Compared with cultural World Heritage sites, natural properties are often more difficult to display and manage, with large area and complex natural and man-made influencing factors. The introduction of 3S technology (remote sensing, geography information systems, global positioning systems), 3D laser scanning technology, virtual reality (VR) technology, augmented reality (AR) technology, holographic projection technology, computer digital technology and other modern technical means is conductive to the digital construction, post-disaster landscape restoration and ecological restoration, and efficient manage of natural World Heritage sites.

Spatial information technology with 3S technology as the core has become the main technical means of current resource and environmental investigation and analysis [ 78 ]. The conservation and tourism researches on aesthetic value (criterion vii) and geological and landform value (criterion viii) conservation and tourism of natural World Heritage sites mostly use this technology. Zhou et al. [ 79 ] revealed the relationship between the tourism development process and the landscape pattern of the natural property based on multi-period remote sensing images. Xiao et al. [ 80 ] carried out an evaluation of the impact of tourism project construction on the aesthetic value of heritage landscapes based on GIS perspective analysis. Furthermore, remote sensing images are also widely used to measure and interpret the changes of the geological hazards area and the scale of disaster[ 81 ], as well as vegetation' reconstruction [ 82 , 83 ]. The use of 3S technology can effectively monitor the changes in the ecological environment, and is an important technical means for the conservation of natural properties. Researches using this method are relatively mature, but most of them focuses on the ecological change of a single property and the impacts analysis of infrastructure construction, urbanization and other human activities. There are few coupling studies on tourism and heritage ecological changes, and the horizontal comparative study between heritage sites is still blank.

3D laser scanning technology has the characteristics of fast scanning speed, strong initiative, high precision and low cost, which provides a new technical means for cave measurement [ 84 ]. Zhou et al. [ 85 ] discussed the morphological characteristics and control factors of Miao Chamber, which was included on the World Heritage Tentative List of China in 2019, based on terrestrial laser. Using 3D laser scanning technology to carry out cave measurement and imaging, mapping and analysis can effectively promote the popularization of the scientific value of cave heritage sites and the improvement of tourism quality.

Through technical means such as VR, AR and holographic projection technology, tourism products and tourism experiences can be extended to the field of virtual tourism [ 86 ], and the interactive experience of heritage tourism can be enhanced. In addition, the application of computer digitization technology has further promoted the efficient management of heritage tourism. Shilin Karst strengthens the informatization of geological heritage conservation and tourism management through the construction of smart platforms such as video surveillance, call center system, and GIS system [ 87 ]. Chen [ 88 ] built the tourism management system of the natural World Heritage site based on ASP.NET, WWW information service site technology, Browser/Server model, and SQL database system. Digital construction and smart tourism under the premise of protecting heritage value are the general trend of heritage tourism development and an effective management model.

Based on different research perspectives, scholars have proposed the ecological popular science tourism development model, the community participation tourism model, the ecological compensation model, the World Heritage-buffer zone-peripheral area coordinated protection model and other collaborative model of natural World Heritage conservation and tourism.

Wen [ 33 ] constructed an ecological popular science tourism development model based on the landscape spatial structure and morphological characteristics of the natural World Heritage site from the perspective of tourists. This model not only emphasizes the realization and acquisition of ecological popular science tourism, but also focuses on the management of various elements of the tourism, so as to facilitate its continuous development, rather than being limited to the existing ecological popular science tourism activities. But the specific implementation paths of this model still need further study.

Yang [ 89 ] proposed the natural heritage protection model of “feeding farmers through travel” from the perspective of the community. This type of model can effectively improve the income, conservation willingness, sense of belonging and education level of community residents, and is applicable to all World Heritage sites. However, in practice, this model often has problems such as lack of participation in decision-making, economic benefit distribution that is out of sync with the economic development of heritage sites, and the lack of effective guarantees for economic participation [ 90 ].

To solve these problems, Duan and Li [ 73 ] proposed to use the ecological compensation model to coordinate the protection of heritage values and the protection of indigenous interests. Their research method is to use the global static partial equilibrium model of Costanza et al. [ 91 ] to obtain landscape change information by interpreting remote sensing images, and to assess the ecological assets and depletion of natural ecosystems. On this basis, Fu [ 92 ] proposed a multi-ecological compensation mechanism for karst natural heritage sites by combining interviews with community residents and questionnaires on tourists, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders.

The conservation of World Heritage is inextricably linked to its buffer zone and wider peripheral areas, especially in karst-type natural World Heritage Sites. Due to the special above-ground-underground dual structure and complex hydrological system of the karst areas, the coordination and protection of the buffer zone and its surrounding areas is crucial to the sustainable development of the karst sites. Xiong et al. [ 93 ] constructed the World Heritage-buffer zone-peripheral area coordinated protection model (Table 2 ). This model organically combines World Heritage conservation, the prevention and control of rocky desertification with the development of surrounding communities, and promotes the sustainable development of natural World Heritage sites in karst areas.

Future research directions

Systematically explore the conservation methods and theories based on world heritage criteria.

Aiming at the problem of fragmented analysis and problem-oriented research in the studies of World Heritage conservation, it is an urgent need to systematically explore heritage conservation methods and theories based on World Heritage criteria. The World Heritage Budapest Declaration adopted by the World Heritage Committee in 2002 pointed out that an appropriate and reasonable balance should be sought between heritage conservation, sustainability and development [ 94 ]. Scholars’ understanding of World Heritage conservation and tourism has gone through three stages: conflict theory, reconciliation theory and synergy theory [ 95 ]. However, due to the huge disparity in the number of cultural heritage sites and natural heritage sites, scholars’ research on heritage conservation mostly focuses on cultural heritage, and less on natural heritage. Most of the related studies are fragmented analysis or problem-oriented research, or regard natural properties just as a special study area like other protected areas, with little characteristics of the World Heritage. The systematic theories and methods for heritage conservation has not yet formed. With the increasing number of world heritage sites and the trend of human and natural life community, researches on the theories and methods based on World Heritage criteria and classified conservation of heritage values are imminent.

Formulate corresponding conservation systems and ecological restoration standards for different types of properties

Aiming at the problem of unclear objects of heritage protection and restoration degree of World Heritage, the protection systems and ecological restoration standards of different World Heritage types need to be discussed. Since the birth of World Heritage Convention in 1972, World Heritage has a history of fifty years. However, what exactly are the World Heritage site to protect, how to protect them, and to what extent to restore the damage that has occurred, how to restore? These problems still plague scholars and heritage managers in actual researches and conservation management practices. UNESCO World Heritage Center and scholars agree that the core element of World Heritage is OUV, which includes three aspects: satisfying World Heritage criteria, authenticity/integrity, and protection and management. We must protect the carrier that embodies the OUV of World Heritage sites. But what elements are contained in each World Heritage criterion or the OUV carrier of each type of World Heritage has become a broad issue that has not been discussed. Scholars tend to study the protection of things that can be seen and felt in the short term, such as water quality, vegetation coverage and vegetation types, species diversity, protection of buildings and rock paintings, post-earthquake recovery, cave microorganisms and so on. Little attention has been paid to things whose changes can only be perceived over a long period of geological history, such as the preservation of landform values. In addition, the extent to which OUV should be protected and restored after being destroyed are also unclear, which hinders the researches on heritage conservation and the effectiveness of practice in solving practical problems.

Give full play to the complementary advantages of various research methods and reveal the mutual feedback mechanism between tourism and heritage conservation

The main research methods used in related researches are investigation research methods, indirect research methods, and experimental study methods. Related researches mostly use the first two types of methods. The vast majority of relevant studies obtain data through questionnaires and interviews with stakeholders such as tourists and residents. However, natural World Heritage sites are protected areas dominated by natural ecosystems, and the importance of experimental study methods, such as experimental monitoring and geographic information technology, in the mutual feedback research on heritage value conservation and tourism cannot be ignored. While these methods are rarely used in current research. Long-term series of experimental monitoring studies or studies that combine these types of methods are even more blank. Each kind of method has its own advantages and disadvantages. In future researches, the three kinds of methods should be combined, together with the heritage database constructed by long-term experimental monitoring, to deeply analyze the mutual feedback mechanism between heritage conservation and tourism.

Develop ecological restoration technology based on biodiversity restoration

In response to the problem of land degradation around the natural properties, ecological corridors need to be built through species diversity restoration to expand the benign outward influence of heritage ecology. There are many land degradation phenomena around natural World Heritage sites. On the one hand, due to the requirements for protection and management attributes when applying for the title of World Heritage, areas with better natural environment are often included in the scope of World Heritage when the boundary is delimited. While the buffer zone and its surrounding ecological environment are poor or disturbed by human activities. On the other hand, due to the requirements of the World Heritage Convention on the protection and management, environmental protection in World Heritage sites is generally given great attention, while the ecological environment of the buffer zone is often neglected, weakening the buffering effect of the buffer zones. Unreasonable tourism activities, infrastructure construction and urbanization in the buffer zones have accelerated the pace of land degradation. Vegetation is the most basic part of a terrestrial ecosystem, and all other organisms depend on it [ 96 ]. Species diversity is the manifestation of biodiversity at the species level, which can represent the structural complexity of biological communities, and reflects the structure type, organization level, development stage, degree of stability and habitat level of the community [ 97 , 98 ]. It is one of the key contents for future research to develop a series of ecological restoration technologies based on biodiversity restoration. It can be realized by building the radial ecological corridor connecting the World Heritage sites, buffer zones and their periphery, and driving the restoration of species diversity through vegetation restoration, so as to expand the benign ecological environment of the properties to wider periphery.

Build ecological compensation development models based on the perspective of heritage tourism and value realization of world heritage

Most of the World Heritage sites are important tourist attractions due to their high-grade tourism resources and outstanding scientific value. However, how to achieve these outstanding values has not yet been answered. In addition, stakeholders have different impacts on the ecological environment due to different ways of participating in tourism. Different travel models and behaviors of tourists, and different ways of providing tourism-related services (such as homestays, picking, hiking, rafting) will have different contribution values to the ecological degradation of tourist destinations. Ecological compensation can enhance the conservation awareness and protection behavior of tourism stakeholders, thereby promoting ecological protection and ecological restoration. As one of the effective ways to balance social benefits, economic benefits and environmental benefits, it has been widely valued by scholars and managers since it was proposed [ 99 ]. In the past, scholars have studied the ecological compensation mechanism, impact factors, and compensation methods of forest resources, wetland resources, grassland resources and so on. Some scholars paid attention to ecological compensation from the perspective of community residents and farmers' livelihoods. However, few attentions have been paid to targeted ecological compensation studies in natural World Heritage sites [ 100 , 101 ]. Thus, aiming at the problem of ecological degradation caused by the unbalanced distribution of benefits from tourism and unclear paths to realize the heritage values, researches on ecological compensation mechanism based on tourism perspective and value realization path of World Heritage are needed.

Conclusions

This literature review summarized the research progress of natural world heritage conservation and tourism from the perspectives of theory, method, technology and model, and proposed future research directions.

Our findings indicate that the UNESCO World Heritage Center and IUCN are the main force of the theory research, and put forward important theories such as authenticity, integrity, buffer zone, and sustainable tourism of heritage sites. Scholars have also introduced heritage corridor theory, ecological theory, experience economy theory, actor network theory, symmetry theory, sustainable livelihood framework, life cycle assessment theory, carbon footprint and so on into related researches from the perspective of social science. In future researches, we should pay more attention to the particularity of world heritage, and focus on theoretical and methodological research based on different world heritage value standards.

We also found that the vast majority of current research uses social science research methods, especially questionnaires and in-depth interviews. In addition, mathematical modeling methods are also common methods in related research. Only a few scholars use experimental monitoring or geographic information technology methods to carry out research from the perspective of natural science. No studies have been found that combine these types of methods. In future research, attention should be paid to the combination of long-term experimental monitoring data of natural heritage sites with social science and geographic information technology to build a natural heritage monitoring database to promote in-depth research and scientific management of natural heritage.

In terms of technology, scholars have used modern technical means including 3S technology, 3D laser scanning technology, virtual reality technology, augmented reality technology, holographic projection technology, and computer digital technology to promote the digital construction, smart tourism and post-disaster landscape restoration and ecological restoration in heritage sites. In future researches, ecological restoration technologies based on biodiversity restoration should also be paid attention to. And radial ecological corridors should be constructed to connect properties, buffer zones and their periphery, so as to expand the benign ecological environment of the natural properties to the buffer zones and wider peripheral areas.

Regarding the coordinated model of natural world heritage conservation and tourism, scholars have proposed models such as ecological popular science tourism development, community participation in heritage tourism, ecological compensation, and coordinated protection of property, buffer zone and peripheral areas. The core starting points are stakeholders' participation in heritage tourism, distribution of heritage tourism income and heritage zoning.

Furthermore, we put forward the following research prospects: (1) systematically explore the conservation methods and theories based on world heritage criteria; (2) formulate corresponding conservation systems and ecological restoration standards for different types of world heritage; (3) give full play to the complementary advantages of various research methods and reveal the mutual feedback mechanism between tourism and heritage conservation; (4) develop ecological restoration technology based on biodiversity restoration, establish radial ecological corridor, and expand the benign ecological environment of the properties to wider periphery; (5) build ecological compensation development models based on the perspective of heritage tourism and value realization of world heritage.

However, this study still has some limitations. Firstly, the research theme of world natural heritage protection and tourism involves the interdisciplinary integration of ecology, environmental science, tourism and other disciplines. Although we used some synonyms to cover more publications in this field, the retrieval results may still be incomplete due to the complexity and limitations of literature database and search methods. The search results of related articles in this study are subject to uncertainty but have little influence on the exploration of research progress and future research directions of natural World Heritage conservation and tourism in terms of the overall direction of research development. Monographs, newspapers, patents, technical reports and other types of literature, as well as articles in other literature databases may further clarify our findings. Finally, there is a certain degree of subjectivity in articles inclusion and subject analysis.

Availability of data and materials

The data presented in this study are openly available in [China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)] at [ https://www.cnki.net/ ] and Web of Science (WOS) at [ https://www.webofscience.com ].

Abbreviations

Web of Science

China National Knowledge Infrastructure

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Outstanding Universal Value

International Union for Conservation of Nature

Science Citation Index Expanded

Social Sciences Citation Index

Emerging Sources Citation Index

Science Citation Index

The Engineering Index

Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index

Chinese Science Citation Database

Remote Sensing

Geographic Information System

Analytic hierarchy process

Structural equation modelling

Principal component analysis

What is not there

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats

China Entrepreneur Investment Club

National aeronautics and space administration

Remote sensing, geography information systems, global positioning systems

Three Dimensions

Virtual reality

Augmented reality

UNESCO WHC. Operational guidelines for the implementation of the world heritage convention. http://whc.unesco.org/en/guidelines/ . 2021–07–31.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Guizhou normal university. We would also like to thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for their helpful and productive comments on the manuscript.

This research was funded by the Philosophy and Social Science Planning Key Project of Guizhou Province (Grant No. 21GZZB43), the Key Project of Science and Technology Program of Guizhou Province (Grant No. 5411 2017 Qiankehe Pingtai Rencai) and the China Overseas Expertise Introduction Program for Discipline Innovation (Grant No. D17016).

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All authors are contributed to the manuscript. Conceptualization, ZZ and XK; methodology, ZZ; validation, ZZ; formal analysis, ZZ; data curation, ZZ; writing—original draft preparation, ZZ; writing—review and editing, ZZ, XK and HD; visualization, ZZ and HD; project administration, XK; funding acquisition, XK. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Zhang, Z., Xiong, K. & Huang, D. Natural world heritage conservation and tourism: a review. Herit Sci 11 , 55 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-023-00896-6

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tourism conservation model

Creating conservation communities and empowering biocultural leaders committed to renewing and growing our unity with nature.

The Panama Sustainable Tourism Model

An open-source template towards regenerating our planet’s ethno- and biodiversity.

By David Meerman Scott and Dario Jhangimal

Cover photo: @Panama.Naturaleza

Perhaps one of the most valuable tips a Panamanian guide has ever received was nothing more than a signed photo. “To Chief Antonio,” wrote Astronaut Jim Irwin on a picture of him standing on the moon next to the Apollo 15 lunar roving vehicle. “Thanks for preparing us for this trip.” It was among several thank you notes that the late Indigenous Emberá Chief Antonio Zarco received from the likes of astronauts Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, and countless other graduates of a jungle survival program that he led for many years for the US Air Force and NASA .

tourism conservation model

“As we set out two and a half years ago to scale up and transform Panama’s tourism and hospitality industry, the life-changing experiences of the US astronauts, in contact with the biocultural heritage of the Emberá, were foremost on our minds,” said Iván X. Eskildsen , Minister of Tourism for the Republic of Panama . “As a nation with a 500-year history dominated by a focus on inter oceanic commerce, at that time Panama was far from making it onto any of the 10 Hottest Destinations lists. We were too late to even consider entering the beds-and-beach-amenities race. So we decided, let’s focus on our natural strengths.”  

tourism conservation model

Panama is a crossroads of extraordinary biological and cultural diversity linking the American continents and bridging two great oceans rich in significant world history. The country is home to 100 years of top-level scientific field work led by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). The STRI presence includes 12 Research Facilities, including Barro Colorado in Panama, considered the most intensively studied tropical forest in the world.

tourism conservation model

“Our first step, with the enthusiastic support of President Laurentino Cortizo Cohen , was to update the Tourism-Conservation-Research (TCR) model implemented in 1999 by Dr. Hana Ayala ,” said Minister Eskildsen. “We fully embraced her pioneering vision of focusing on tourism as an economic catalyst for the conservation of our natural and cultural heritage , through scientific research. We set out to achieve nothing less than a paradigm shift for a broader and more inclusive tourism model, one that showcases the extraordinary ethnodiversity and biodiversity of the country. Thanks to outstanding infrastructure and ease of access for tourism throughout the Panamanian isthmus, we could offer compelling business opportunities while aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

tourism conservation model

While traditional tourism models that focus on sun and beach, shopping, casinos, and hotel resorts will continue in Panama, this solid alternative is an inclusive and appealing proposal for the “discerning traveler,” estimated to exceed 500 million travelers worldwide, and considered one of the fastest growing segments in the tourism industry. The discerning traveler is seeking transformative and regenerative travel experiences over amenities. They are drawn to travel with a purpose , getting involved in improving the lives of local people and communities.  

tourism conservation model

By generating sustainable income to vulnerable communities, the Panama model allows for the ongoing management of forest and marine environments, which generates non-carbon benefits and mitigates the effects of climate change as outlined in Article 5 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris Agreement.

GIS mapping MVP

This newly updated model fosters intercultural exchange; both the host community and the traveler are enriched by the experience. This effect is maximized by encouraging visitors to respect the communities’ heritage as well as the surrounding nature. It strengthens indigenous groups and local communities’ sense of identity and value through economic participation, and also aims to bring science closer to ancestral knowledge through tourism . This can be accomplished as science considers the importance of the biocultural heritage of the indigenous people. 

Comprising less than 5% of the world’s population, indigenous people protect 80% of global biodiversity . Biocultural heritage is important to preserve the last wild place on Earth, the carbon sinks that, in a delicate balance, still absorb enough carbon to compensate for the contaminating way of life of industrialized countries. 

tourism conservation model

“Our ambition is to implement this tourism economic model as an open-source template that contributes to the regeneration of our planet’s ethno- and biodiversity ,” said Minister Eskildsen. “Because of Panama’s unique characteristics, we believe it is the ideal location to promote and lead this effort.” 

Panama ‘s tourism model is now being recognized internationally. Because of the work empowering local communities, the country was chosen as the top global destination in the 2021 Newsweek Future of Travel Awards . The Panama model has also been highlighted in the United Nations World Tourism Organization Future of Tourism World Summit, and the Panama Sustainable Tourism Master Plan was identified by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as an innovative vision of how to face sustainable tourism for the future. 

tourism conservation model

Panama has recently achieved the ambitious 30×30 ocean protection goal by expanding the marine protected area of Cordillera de Coiba, and a new law in Panama grants nature the “right to exist,” in a groundbreaking policy that goes into effect in 2023.

Recently, in February 2022, in the Republic of Panama, tourism leaders from different parts of the world signed the Declaration: “ Transformation towards the Future of Tourism “, a commitment for public and private sector leaders to work together and seize the opportunity, placing sustainability and inclusion at the center of the restart and recovery of tourism. 

From the declaration, a Panamanian initiative based on the “Panama Sustainable Tourism Model,” we can conclude that the future of the planet is in the collaboration of all members of the civilized world, and that tourism has the potential to bring ancestral wisdom of local and indigenous communities closer to the most advanced scientific and economic knowledge, generating valuable economic development for these communities  and priceless experiences for the traveler . The benefits of that approach can be put into service for the long-term management of integrated ecosystems. At the same time, the Declaration also makes clear the signatories’ commitment to advance the “transformation towards a carbon-neutral and more socially resilient tourism economy.”

“Thanks, Chief Zarco, for preparing us for this trip.”

About the authors

tourism conservation model

David Meerman Scott ’s latest books—WSJ bestseller:

· Fanocracy: Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans

· The New Rules of Marketing  and  PR (7th edition)

· Standout Virtual Events: How to create an experience that your audience will love.   

He is a member of the Geoversity Foundation Global Advisory Board and has traveled to Panama each year for the past decade to help draw attention to climate change.

Dario Jhangimal

Dario Jhangimal Advisor to the Minister of Tourism Government of Panama

He became an advisor to the Minister of Tourism in 2019 and he is focused on the implementation of creative strategies to economically empower local communities to preserve their cultural identities, ecosystems, and the environment through tourism. This award-winning innovative model fosters tourism as an economic driver that addresses the preservation and regeneration of the delicate and life-giving ecosystems while combating poverty and inequalities—positively contributing to climate change.

  • “ A Hero’s Journey into Panama’s Future of Biocultural Renewal “, by Nathan Gray, June 8, 2021, Stanford University’s The Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere (MAHB) Blog
  • “ Building a Culture of Reverence: Insights from the Jungle to Deep Space ”, by Dr. Michael A. Schmidt, July 22, 2021, Stanford University’s The Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere (MAHB) Blog
  • Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI)

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Costa Rica’s Keys to Success as a Sustainable Tourism Pioneer

How the country went from a deforestation crisis to becoming a global leader in sustainability

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In 2019, Costa Rica was named “ Champion of the Earth '' by the United Nations for its direct role in protecting nature and fighting climate change. The country, which is home to just over 5 million residents, was already known as a world leader in sustainability for putting environmental concerns at the forefront of its political and economic policies.

Over 98% of Costa Rica’s energy has come from renewable sources since 2014 (in 2017, the country ran a full 300 days solely on renewable power) and 70% of all public transport is expected to turn electric by 2035. Through a combination of protected areas, ecosystem services programs, and ecotourism, Costa Rica has successfully restored its forest cover from 26% in 1983 to over 52% in 2021 — proving to the rest of the world that reversing deforestation is possible with the right approach.

Where Is Costa Rica?

Costa Rica is located in Central America, between Nicaragua and Panama. It is known both for its stable, democratic government (the country hasn’t had an army since 1948) and for its incredible natural beauty. A whopping 25% of its territory is comprised of protected lands , ranging from tropical rainforests and rugged mountain ranges, to stunning coastlines and volcanic landscapes.

What Sets Costa Rica Apart?

Central America and the rest of the tropics are full of rich biodiversity and thriving tourism industries, so what exactly sets Costa Rica's approach to sustainable tourism apart?

“Our sustainable tourism model has allowed us to seek and attract niche groups of travelers that recognize our differences and the quality of experiences in the country,” Costa Rica’s Tourism Minister Gustavo Segura Sancho tells Treehugger. “The key to success has been to target a demand that can adapt to the conditions the country has to offer.”

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The country contains more than 6% of the world’s biodiversity despite covering only about 0.03% of the surface of the globe. Housing so much biological variety doesn’t just make Costa Rica a dream location for nature lovers, it also makes the country especially vulnerable to climate change.

“Despite being a small developing country, Costa Rica has decades of sustainable tourism efforts underway,” says Segura Sancho. “Our work involves the efforts of individuals and organizations throughout Costa Rica’s public and private sector and demonstrates a unified commitment to protecting not only our environment and economy, but that of the world.”

Sustainable Destination Development

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The country’s tourism model was developed with three primary factors in mind: sustainability, innovation, and inclusiveness. Costa Rica's tourist attractions focus on activities that respect the environment and offer travelers opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to conservation and cultural heritage.

The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) developed a country-wide Certification for Sustainable Tourism back in 1997, which provides tourism companies with guidelines to manage their business sustainably. The certification program educates local companies on the appropriate use of natural and cultural resources, and provides visitors with an official "CST mark" to identify sustainable tourism operators, accommodations, and attractions. As of 2021, over 400 companies in Costa Rica are sustainably certified, and the program has even been recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and the United Nations World Tourism Organization .

Focusing on long-term sustainability within the tourism industry involved a few risks, for example by making the country a bit more expensive to visit. In the years since the tourism model’s development, surveys have shown that 63% of United States travelers are more likely to consider destinations making an effort to conserve and protect natural resources, while 75% are more likely to consider sustainable destinations. And a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that, by the year 2000, protected natural areas in Costa Rica reduced poverty in neighboring communities by 16% by encouraging ecotourism. It would appear that the country’s decades-long investment in sustainable tourism was a good one.

Sustainable Destinations in Costa Rica: Arenal and Monteverde

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Established in 1991, Arenal Volcano National Park protects 29,850 acres and at least 131 species of mammals, including monkeys, sloths , coatis , and jaguars , along with the 5,757-foot Arenal Volcano.

An example of sustainable management in the community, locally owned Arenal Observatory Lodge maintains 270 acres of natural forest and 400 acres of reforestation areas. The hotel donates food waste to local farms as feed for animals, uses biodegradable cleaning products, and contributes to several nonprofit community projects.

Just a few hours away, you’ll find an estimated 50% of Costa Rica’s biodiversity in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve . The preserve is run by the Tropical Science Center, a historic non-government environmental organization that has pioneered conservation efforts, research, ecotourism, and sustainable development initiatives throughout the country.

Manuel Antonio National Park

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A relatively small stretch of Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast home to iguanas, toucans, and monkeys , Manuel Antonio was one of the country’s most visited national parks. In an effort to curb pollution and other consequences of overtourism, the park now limits the daily number of visitors to 600 on weekdays, 800 on weekends and holidays, and completely closes the park once a week. The park was awarded the ICT Elite Certificate of Sustainable Tourism in 2021.

Tortuguero National Park

Located on Costa Rica's north Caribbean coast, Tortuguero boasts the largest green turtle nesting site in the Western Hemisphere. Working alongside the Sea Turtle Conservancy , one of the world's oldest international nonprofits focusing on sea turtles, community stakeholders helped fund the Tortuguero Visitor Center in 1959 to help share information with visitors and locals about threats to sea turtles and their ecosystems. The park protects 46,900 acres and focuses on sea turtle research, also offering a Junior Research Assistant Program for local high school students and educational workshops for younger students.

When's the Best Time to Visit Costa Rica?

Most tourists visit Costa Rica during its high season from November to April to enjoy the sunny, dry weather. However, this time of year can also result in higher costs and overcrowding (which can be harder on the environment). Booking a trip during the shoulder season or low season from May to November also has its advantages, from cheaper accommodations and flights to greener surroundings. Plus, off season is typically when locals who rely on the tourism industry struggle the most, so supporting the economy during this time is a major perk. Keep in mind that Costa Rica has a variety of microclimates, so it's best to consider your specific travel destinations and priorities when researching weather.

The Four Pillars of Sustainable Tourism

By definition, sustainable tourism should not only consider its current economic, social, and environmental impacts, but its future effects as well. This is often achieved by protecting natural environments and wildlife while managing tourism activities, providing culturally authentic experiences for visitors, and creating economic benefits for the local community. According to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council , the four pillars of sustainable tourism include sustainable management, socioeconomic impacts, cultural impacts, and environmental impacts. Costa Rica is a shining example of a destination that prioritizes all four of these aspects successfully.

Sustainable Management

Part of the reason why the ICT’s Certification for Sustainable Tourism standards program has become so successful is because of the multiple certification levels it offers. The tiers inspire tourism attractions and tour operators to work harder in strengthening their sustainability practices in order to work their way up. It has become a model for other countries setting sights on sustainability within their own tourism industries.

In order to diversify the tourism industry, the Costa Rica tourism authority also launched an Integral Management of Tourism Destinations program in 2018, with the goal of helping in the development of 32 tourism centers around the country.

Socioeconomic Impacts

Using a Social Progress Index (SPI), the ICT measures the wellbeing of tourism communities across the country. The SPI considers factors like quality of life, basic human needs, level of opportunities, and social welfare rather than gross domestic product (GDP) or other economic variables, something Segura Sancho says will ensure that tourism remains a positive force for development. “Through the SPI tool, the ICT has discovered the positive effects that our sustainable tourism model has had on local communities, including access to higher education, job opportunities, air quality and waste management, quality of life, improvements in safety and community support networks, women's empowerment, among many others.”

The program also leaves room for plenty of innovation, like the establishment of one of the country’s newest national parks on San Lucas Island . Once containing a wildlife refuge and a former prison building housing some of Costa Rica’s worst criminals, the 1.8-square-mile island is now a cultural heritage and hiking site. Tourists can visit the island to enjoy the vibrant wildlife and take tours hosted by local guides, a feature that has greatly contributed to the area’s socioeconomic development. The ICT also supports the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism — an initiative of the World Tourism Organization.

Environmental Impacts

Along with the Certification for Sustainable Tourism, the ICT has also implemented several other programs to encourage and enforce environmental sustainability across the tourism sector. The Ecologic Blue Flag Program , for example, evaluates Costa Rica’s beaches on criteria like ocean water quality, waste disposal, sanitary facilities, environmental education, and community involvement in beach maintenance. Only beaches that succeed in maintaining 90% of the strict criteria receive a distinction and an official Blue Flag to display on the beach. The ICT also advocates for coastal planning and supports programs for small businesses and destination management.

Cultural Impacts

Community tourism, which gives visitors a chance to support indigenous communities, meet local people, and experience authentic cultural heritage, is a growing movement in Costa Rica. Especially in the capital city of San Jose, there are numerous opportunities for tourists to learn about Costa Rica’s architecture, artwork, history, and food. San Jose tourists can purchase a discounted single ticket to visit three of the country’s most popular museums , all within walking distance from each other: the National Museum of Costa Rica, the Museum of the Central Bank of Costa Rica, and the Jade and Pre-Columbian Gold Museum. The ICT also provides resources and maps for self-guided walking tours of the country’s main cities and information on where to find traditional Costa Rican cuisine .

A Commitment to the Environment

In early 2021, the Costa Rica National Forest Financing Fund (Fonafifo) and the ICT launched a carbon footprint calculator to help visitors determine their trip’s carbon footprint and contribute to corresponding carbon offsets. Donations to this program are used to strengthen forest conservation efforts in Costa Rica.

Among other long-term targets, Costa Rica’s National Decarbonization Plan puts the country on track to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 , in line with the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Although 98% of the country’s electricity already comes from renewable sources, the plan aims to power 100% of the country’s public transport with electricity by 2050. President Carlos Alvarado Quesada’s Administration plans to work with individuals from both the public and private sectors, scientists, and other industry experts to make this vision a reality.

Establishing parks and refuges in Costa Rica — which now numbers 30 national parks, 51 wildlife refuges, and nine biological reserves — has generated responsible tourism and funded conservation efforts in parts of the country that otherwise may have gone overlooked by visitors. Although a full 25% of Costa Rica is officially zoned as protected territory, local appreciation for nature encompasses the entire country.

“Sustainability has long been embedded in the culture and traditions of Costa Rica,” Segura Sancho explains. “From an early age, children are taught to protect the country’s forests and wildlife, and to appreciate the diverse landscapes and natural beauty that the country has to offer. This inherent love of our surroundings means we want to conserve its many species of animals, insects, trees and birds for decades to come.”

" Renewable Energy - Costa Rica ." International Trade Administration.

" Environment ." Embassy Of Costa Rica In Washington DC.

" Why ‘Going Green’ Pays Off: Sustainable Practices Drive Destination Choice For A Majority Of Travelers, New Research Unveils ." Sustainable Travel International , 2016.

Ferraro, P. J., and M. M. Hanauer. " Quantifying Causal Mechanisms To Determine How Protected Areas Affect Poverty Through Changes In Ecosystem Services And Infrastructure ." Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences , vol. 111, no. 11, 2014, pp. 4332-4337., doi:10.1073/pnas.1307712111

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Impact of tourism development upon environmental sustainability: a suggested framework for sustainable ecotourism

Qadar bakhsh baloch.

1 Abasyn University, Peshawar, Pakistan

Syed Naseeb Shah

Nadeem iqbal.

2 Air University School of Management, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Muhammad Sheeraz

3 Department of Commerce, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

Muhammad Asadullah

4 IBA, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan

Sourath Mahar

5 University of Sialkot, Sialkot, Pakistan

Asia Umar Khan

6 Islamia College University Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan

Associated Data

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available on request.

The empirical research investigated the relationship between tourism development and environmental suitability to propose a framework for sustainable ecotourism. The framework suggested a balance between business and environmental interests in maintaining an ecological system with the moderating help of government support and policy interventions. The study population encompasses tourism stakeholders, including tourists, representatives from local communities, members of civil administration, hoteliers, and tour operators serving the areas. A total of 650 questionnaires were distributed to respondents, along with a brief description of key study variables to develop a better understanding. After verifying the instrument’s reliability and validity, data analysis was conducted via hierarchical regression. The study findings revealed that a substantial number of people perceive socio-economic benefits, including employment and business openings, infrastructure development from tourism development, and growth. However, the state of the natural and environmental capital was found to be gradually degrading. Alongside the social environment, social vulnerability is reported due to the overutilization of land, intrusion from external cultures, and pollution in air and water due to traffic congestion, accumulation of solid waste, sewage, and carbon emissions. The study suggested a model framework for the development of sustained ecotourism, including supportive government policy interventions to ensure effective conservation of environmental and natural resources without compromising the economic viability and social well-beings of the locals. Furthermore, the variables and the constructs researched can be replicated to other destinations to seek valuable inputs for sustainable destination management elsewhere.

Introduction

Tourism is a vibrant force that stimulates travel to explore nature, adventures, wonders, and societies, discover cultures, meet people, interact with values, and experience new traditions and events. Tourism development attracts tourists to a particular destination to develop and sustain a tourism industry. Moreover, environmental sustainability is the future-based conscious effort aimed at conserving socio-cultural heritage and preserving natural resources to protect environmental ecosystems through supporting people’s health and economic well-being. Environment sustainability can be reflected in clean and green natural landscaping, thriving biodiversity, virgin sea beaches, long stretches of desert steppes, socio-cultural values, and archeological heritage that epitomize tourists’ degree of motivation and willingness of the local community to welcome the visitors. In this context, tourism growth and environmental sustainability are considered interdependent constructs; therefore, the increase in tourism development and tourists’ arrivals directly affects the quality of sustained and green tourism (Azam et al. 2018 ; Hassan et al.  2020 ; Sun et al. 2021 ).

According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), tourism is one of the fastest-growing industries, contributing more than 10% to the global GDP (UNWTO 2017; Mikayilov et al. 2019 ). Twenty-five million international tourists in 1950 grew to 166 million in 1970, reaching 1.442 billion in 2018 and projected to be 1.8 billion by 2030. Mobilizing such a substantial human tourist’s mass is most likely to trickle environmental pollution along with its positive effects on employment, wealth creation, and the economy. The local pollution at tourist destinations may include air emissions, noise, solid waste, littering, sewage, oil and chemicals, architectural/visual pollution, heating, car use, and many more. In addition, an uncontrolled, overcrowded, and ill-planned tourist population has substantial adverse effects on the quality of the environment. It results in the over-consumption of natural resources, degradation of service quality, and an exponential increase in wastage and pollution. Furthermore, tourism arrivals beyond capacity bring problems rather than a blessing, such as leaving behind soil erosion, attrition of natural resources, accumulation of waste and air pollution, and endangering biodiversity, decomposition of socio-cultural habitats, and virginity of land and sea (Kostić et al. 2016 ; Shaheen et al. 2019 ; Andlib and Salcedo-Castro  2021 ).

Tourism growth and environmental pollution have been witnessed around the globe in different regions. The ASEAN countries referred to as heaven for air pollution, climate change, and global warming are experiencing economic tourism and pollution (Azam et al. 2018 ; Guzel and Okumus 2020 ). In China, more than fifty-eight major Chinese tourism destinations are inviting immediate policy measures to mitigate air pollution and improve environmental sustainability (Zhang et al. 2020 ). Similarly, Singapore, being a top-visited country, is facing negative ecological footprints and calling for a trade-off between tourism development and environmental sustainability (Khoi et al. 2021 ). The prior studies established that international tourism and the tourism-led growth surge tourists’ arrival, energy consumption, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, and air pollution resultantly cause climate change (Aslan et al. 2021 ). South Asian countries, more specifically Sri Lanka and Pakistan, are on the verge of tourism growth and environmental pollution compared to other countries (Chishti et al. 2020 ; Tiwari et al. 2021 ).

Pakistan is acknowledged in the tourism world because of its magnificent mountains with the densest concentration of high peaks in the world, scenic beauty of Neelum Valley, Murree, Chitral, and swat Valleys’, Kaghan, Naran, Hunza, Gilgit Baltistan (Baloch 2007 ), sacred shrines of Sikhism, archeological sites of the Gandhara and Indus Valley civilizations such as Mohenjo-Daro, Taxila including pre-Islamic Kalasha community (Baloch and Rehman 2015 ). In addition, Pakistan’s hospitable and multicultural society offers rich traditions, customs, and festivals for the tourists to explore, commemorate, cherish, and enjoy. Pakistan’s geographical and socio-cultural environment represents its resource and an opportunity (Baloch and Rehman 2015 ); therefore, Pakistan is looking to capitalize on it as a promising source of the foreign reserve to compensate for its mounting trade deficit (Baloch et al. 2020 ).

Tourism expansion has been established as a very deleterious ecological cost vis-à-vis the socio-economic benefits it passes to the host communities (Pulido-Fernández et al. 2019 ; Simo-Kengne 2022 ). In this context, the research is motivated to investigate the relationships between Pakistan’s tourism development activities and environmental sustainability. Drawing from the arguments of Pulido-Fernández et al. ( 2019 ) and Simo-Kengne ( 2022 ), it is feared that Pakistan’s ongoing determination to tourism development is likely to cause environmental degradation in two ways. Firstly, the tourism infrastructure developmental process would consume natural resources in the form of air and water pollution, loss of nature, and biodiversity. Secondly, the proliferation of tourism-related energy-consuming activities harms the environment by adding CO 2  emissions (Andlib and Saceldo-Castro 2021 ; Chien et al. 2021a ). Therefore, to tape this tourism-rich potential without compromising the sustainability of the natural and socio-cultural environment in the area, there is a dire need to develop Pakistan’s tourism areas into environment-friendly destinations.

Against the backdrop of a widening level of trade deficit, Pakistan’s rich tourism potential is being perceived as an immediate alternative for earning revenue to compensate for the current account gap. However, the developing large-scale tourism industry is considered a threat to deforestation, and air and water pollution, endangering biodiversity trading on resilient ecological credentials. The research study attempts to find an all-inclusive and comprehensive answer to the socio-ecological environmental concerns of tourism development and growth. Therefore, the research investigates the relationship between tourism development and its environmental sustainability to suggest a model framework for the development and growth of Sustainable Ecotourism in Pakistan along with its most visited destinations.

Literature review

Tourism development and growth.

Tourism is considered a force of sound as it benefits travelers and communities in urban and suburban areas. Tourism development is the process of forming and sustaining a business for a particular or mix of segments of tourists’ as per their motivation in a particular area or at a specific destination. Primarily, tourism development refers to the all-encompassing process of planning, pursuing, and executing strategies to establish, develop, promote, and encourage tourism in a particular area or destination (Mandić et al. 2018 ; Ratnasari et al. 2020 ). A tourism destination may serve as a single motivation for a group of tourists or a mix of purposes, i.e., natural tourism, socio-cultural or religious tourism, adventure or business tourism, or a combination of two or more. Andlib and Salcedo-Castro ( 2021 ), drawing from an analysis approach, contended that tourism destinations in Pakistan offer a mix of promising and negative consequences concerning their socio-economic and environmental impressions on the host community. The promising socio-economic impacts for the local community are perceived in the form of employment and business opportunities, improved standard of living, and infrastructural development in the area. The adverse environmental outcomes include overcrowding, traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, environmental degradation, and encroachment of landscaping for the local community and the tourists. An extensive review of the literature exercise suggests the following benefits that the local community and the tourists accrue from the tour are as follows:

  • Generate revenue and monetary support for people and the community through local arts and culture commercialization.
  • Improve local resource infrastructure and quality of life, including employment generation and access to improved civic facilities.
  • Help to create awareness and understanding of different ethnic cultures, social values, and traditions, connecting them and preserving cultures.
  • Rehabilitate and conserve socio-cultural and historical heritage, including archeological and natural sites.
  • Establishment of natural parks, protracted areas, and scenic beauty spots.
  • Conservation of nature, biodiversity, and endangered species with control over animal poaching.
  • Improved water and air quality through afforestation, littering control, land and soil conservation, and recycling of used water and waste.

Tourism and hospitality business incorporates various business activities such as travel and transportation through the air or other modes of travel, lodging, messing, restaurants, and tourism destinations (Szpilko 2017 ; Bakhriddinovna and Qizi 2020 ). A tourist’s tourism experience is aimed at leisure, experiencing adventure, learning the culture or history of a particular area or ethnic entity, traveling for business or health, education, or religious purposes. The chain of activities adds value to the Tourism experience. Every activity contributes toward economic stimulation, job creation, revenue generation, and tourism development encompassing infrastructure for all activities involved in the tourism process. Tourism growth expresses the number of arrivals and the time of their stay/trips over a period of time. Tourism growth is measured through the interplay between tourists’ arrivals, tourism receipts, and travel time duration (Song et al. 2010 ; Arifin et al. 2019 ). The following factors drive the degree and level of tourism development and growth:

  • Environmental factors include scenic beauty, green spaces, snowy mountains, towering peaks, good climate and weather, the interconnectivity of destination, quality of infrastructure, etc.
  • Socio-economic factors: the distinctiveness of community, uniqueness of culture and social values, hospitality and adaptability, accessibility, accommodation, facilities and amenities, cost-effectiveness, price index, and enabling business environment.
  • Historical, cultural, and religious factors include historical and cultural heritage, religious sites, and cultural values and experiences.

The tourism development process and its different dynamics revolve around the nature of tourism planned for a particular destination or area, which can be specified as ecotourism, sustainable tourism, green tourism or regenerative tourism, etc. Ecotourism is “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education” (Cheia, 2013 ; TIES, 2015). According to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), ecotourism involves “ Environmentally responsible travel to natural areas, to enjoy and appreciate nature (and accompanying cultural features, both past, and present) that promote conservation, have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local peoples ”. Moreover, Blangy and Wood ( 1993 ) defined it as “ responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people ” (p. 32). The concept of ecotourism is grounded upon a well-defined set of principles including “environmental conservation and education, cultural preservation and experience, and economic benefits” (Cobbinah 2015 ; De Grosbois and Fennell 2021 ).

Ecotourism minimizes tourism’s impact on the tourism resources of a specific destination, including lessening physical, social, interactive, and psychosomatic impacts. Ecotourism is also about demonstrating a positive and responsible attitude from the tourists and hosts toward protecting and preserving all components of the environmental ecosystem. Ecotourism reflects a purpose-oriented mindset, responsible for creating and delivering value for the destination with a high degree of kindliness for local environmental, political, or social issues. Ecotourism generally differs from mass tourism because of its following features (Liang et al. 2018 ; Ding and Cao 2019 ; Confente and Scarpi 2021 ):

  • Conscientious behavior focuses on the low impact on the environment.
  • Sensitivity and warmth for local cultures, values, and biodiversity.
  • Supporting the sustenance of efforts for the conservation of local resources.
  • Sharing and delivering tourism benefits to the local communities.
  • Local participation as a tourism stakeholder in the decision-making process.
  • Educating the tourist and locals about the sensitivity and care of the environment because tourism without proper arrangement can endanger the ecosystems and indigenous cultures and lead to significant ecological degradation.

Sustainability aims to recognize all impacts of tourism, minimize the adverse impacts, and maximize the encouraging ones. Sustainable tourism involves sustainable practices to maintain viable support for the ecology of the tourism environment in and around the destination. Sustainable tourism is natural resource-based tourism that resembles ecotourism and focuses on creating travel openings with marginal impact and encouraging learning about nature having a low impact, conservation, and valuable consideration for the local community’s well-being (Fennell 2001 & 2020 ; Butowski 2021 ). On the other hand, ecotourism inspires tourists to learn and care about the environment and effectively participate in the conservation of nature and cultural activities. Therefore, ecotourism is inclusive of sustainable tourism, whereas the focus of sustainable tourism includes the following responsibilities:

  • Caring, protecting, and conserving the environment, natural capital, biodiversity, and wildlife.
  • Delivering socio-economic welfare for the people living in and around tourists' destinations.
  • Identifying, rehabilitating, conserving, and promoting cultural and historical heritage for visitors learning experiences.
  • Bringing tourists and local groups together for shared benefits.
  • Creating wide-ranging and reachable opportunities for tourists.

Environment and sustainability of ecosystem

The term “environment” is all-inclusive of all the natural, organic living, inorganic, and non-natural things. The environment also denotes the interface among all breathing species with the natural resources and other constituents of the environment. Humans’ activities are mainly responsible for environmental damage as people and nations have contemplated modifying the environment to suit their expediencies. Deforestation, overpopulation, exhaustion of natural capital, and accumulation of solid waste and sewage are the major human activities that result in polluted air and water, acid rain, amplified carbon dioxide levels, depletion of the ozone, climate change, global warming, extermination of species, etc. A clean, green, and hygienic fit environment has clean air, clean water, clean energy, and moderate temperature for the healthy living of humans, animals, and biodiversity as nature is destined for them by their creatures. Maintaining and sustaining a clean environment is indispensable for human and biodiversity existence, fostering growth and development for conducting business and creating wealth. The environment can be sustained through conservation, preservation, and appropriate management to provide clean air, water, and food safe from toxic contamination, waste, and sewage disposal, saving endangered species and land conservation.

The globalization process, known for building socio-economic partnerships across countries, is also charged with encouraging environmental degradation through the over-consumption of natural resources and energy consumption, deforestation, land erosion, and weakening (Adebayo and Kirikkaleli 2021 ; Sun et al. 2021 ). Chien et al. ( 2021b ), while studying the causality of environmental degradation in Pakistan, empirically confirmed the existence of a significant connection between CO 2  emissions and GDP growth, renewable energy, technological innovation, and globalization. However, Chien et al. ( 2021a ) suggested using solar energy as a source of economic intervention to control CO 2  emissions and improve environmental quality in China. The danger of air pollution is hard to escape as microscopic air pollutants pierce through the human respiratory and cardiovascular system, injuring the lungs, heart, and brain. Ill-planned and uncontrolled human activities negatively affect ecosystems, causing climate change, ocean acidification, melting glaciers, habitation loss, eutrophication, air pollution, contaminants, and extinction of endangered species ( Albrich et al. 2020 ) .

Humans have a more significant effect on their physical environment in numerous ways, such as pollution, contamination, overpopulation, deforestation, burning fossil fuels and driving to soil erosion, polluting air and water quality, climate change, etc. UNO Agenda for 2030 “Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs) mirrors the common premise that a healthy environment and human health are interlaced as integral to the satisfaction of fundamental human rights, i.e., right to life, well-being, food, water and sanitation, quality of life and biodiversity to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages (SDG3)—which includes air quality that is dependent upon terrestrial ecosystems (SDG15), oceans (SDG14), cities (SDG11), water, cleanliness, and hygiene (SDG6) (Swain 2018 ; Opoku 2019 ; Scharlemann et al. 2020 ). The UNEP stated that 58% of diarrhea cases in developing economies is due to the non-provision of clean water and inadequate sanitation facilities resulting in 3.5 million deaths globally (Desai 2016 ; Ekins and Gupta 2019 ).

Climate change overwhelmingly alters ecosystems’ ability to moderate life-threatening happenings, such as maintaining water quality, regulating water flows, unbalancing the temporal weather and maintaining glaciers, displacing or extinction biodiversity, wildfire, and drought (Zhu et al. 2019 ; Marengo et al. 2021 ). Research studies advocate that exposure to natural environments is correlated with mental health, and proximity to green space is associated with lowering stress and minimizing depression and anxiety (Noordzij et al. 2020 ; Slater et al. 2020 ; Callaghan et al. 2021 ). Furthermore, the Ecosystem is affected by pollution, over-exploitation of natural resources, climate change, invasive and displacing species, etc. Hence, providing clean air and water, hygienic places, and green spaces enriches the quality of life: condensed mortality, healthier value-added productivity, and is vital to maintaining mental health. On the other hand, climate change aggravates environment-related health hazards through adverse deviations to terrestrial ecology, oceans, biodiversity, and access to fresh and clean water.

Tourism development denotes all activities linked with creating and processing facilities providing services for the tourists on and around a destination. Infrastructure development is vital for developing a tourism destination to advance tourists’ living conditions and preserve natural and cultural heritage by constructing new tourist facilities, the destinations administrative and supporting echelons, including community living, etc. Development for tourism infrastructure and land use often burdens natural capital through over-consumption, leading to soil erosion, augmented pollution, loss of natural habitats, and endangered species. Development of tourism infrastructure and construction work has profound implications on environmental degradation, reduction in green spaces, deforestation, solid waste and sewage, overutilization of air and water, emission of CO 2 and other gases contributing to air and water pollution, climate change, loss and displacement of biodiversity, and the degradation of ecosystems. These negative consequences of tourism development result in many problems for the tourists and the indigenous people in the foreseeable future (Azam et al. 2018 ; Hoang et al. 2020 ).

A report published by UNEP titled “Infrastructure for climate action” has suggested governments introduce sustainable infrastructure as the prevailing one is responsible for causing 79% of all greenhouse gas emissions in struggling climate change, alleviation, and adaptation efforts. Sustainable infrastructure signifies that structures’ planning, construction, and functioning do not weaken the social, economic, and ecological systems (UNEP 2021 ; Krampe 2021 ). Sustainable infrastructure is the only solution that ensures societies, nature, and the environment flourish together. Therefore, Sustainable Ecotourism supports adapting pro-environment and nature-based climate change strategies that help resilient biodiversity and ecosystem to impact climate change. The proposed strategy is to focus on the conservation and restoration of ecosystems to combat climate hazards, fluctuating rainfalls, soil erosion, temperature variations, floods, and extreme wind storms (Niedziółka 2014 ; Setini 2021 )

Pakistan’s tourism infrastructure suffered a colossal amount of damage during the earthquake of October 8, 2005, which left widespread demolition and destruction to its human, economic assets, and infrastructure networks, especially in Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's tourism areas. The tourism-related infrastructure, including hotels, destination facilities of social service delivery and commerce, water channels, and communications networks, were either drained or virtually destroyed. The destruction in the aftermath of the earthquake was further added by the war against terror in tourism-hit areas, resulting in the redundancy of tourists and tourism facilities for a long time (Akbar et al. 2017 ; Zakaria and Ahmed 2019 ). The tourism revival activities during the post-earth quack, post-terrorism scenario, and COVID-19 period called for various entrepreneurial activities, including the construction of infrastructure, hotels, road networks, community living, etc. Development and reconstruction of the livelihood and hospitality infrastructure through entrepreneurship were undertaken intensively through a public-private partnership from national and international findings (Qamar and Baloch 2017 ; Sadiq 2021 ; Dogar et al. 2021 ).

The revival and reinvigoration of infrastructure in tourism areas were backed up by extensive deforestation, use of local green land, rebuilding of the road network, displacement of biodiversity, and overtaxing the consumption of water and other natural resources. The deforestation, extensive use of green land, and over-consumption of water and other natural resources have depleted the tourism value of the area on the one hand and degraded the environment on the other. However, it was the focused rehabilitation activities of earthquake and Pakistan’s Government’s socio-environment conservation strategy of the Billion Trees plantation program in the province, including dominating tourism areas. The afforestation and loss of green tops are being reclaimed through these efforts, and the tourism environment is soon expected to regenerate (Qamar and Baloch 2017 ; Rauf et al. 2019 ; Siddiqui and Siddiqui 2019 ).

Government support and policy interventions

Tourism generates wide-ranging benefits for the economy, community, and people. Tourism contributes to the economy through revenue generation and shares responsibility with the Government to alleviate poverty alleviation, create opportunities for job placements, protect environments, and conserve natural ecosystems and biodiversity. It is assumed that if the tourism industry is left to its own, it will most likely prefer its business interests over environments or biodiversity. Governments, custodians of the life and well-being of their subjects, are directly responsible for providing a clean environment, nature, and Ecosystem. Therefore, national and local governments are responsible for preparing and implementing tourism development plans and enforcing values and standards for tourism development in conformity with the prerequisites of environmental sustainability. Through institutional governance, governments help tourism development by providing financial and budgetary support, regulatory framework, land, physical resources, infrastructure, etc. Provision and facilitation for Sustainability of Ecotourism and conservation of environment and biodiversity are dependent upon Government-supported interventions as follows:

  • The regulatory framework for setting up tourism-related entrepreneurship and quality standards can support ecotourism and prevent environmental degradation on any account.
  • Provision of budgetary support for ecosystem conservation and regeneration of bio-diversity-related projects.
  • Plan, rehabilitate if needed, promote conservation and protection of socio-cultural, historic, antique, and natural endowments in coordination with other public and private agencies, and deal with the defaulters, if any.
  • Promoting and undertaking afforestation alongside land conservation and discouraging deforestation, soil erosion, accumulation of solid waste, littering, and any direct or indirect loss or threat to biodiversity.
  • Setting restrictions for over-tourism beyond capacity and quality standards for transportation, restaurants, hotels, food and drinking water, etc.
  • Placing enforcement mechanism necessary to ensure application of the regulatory framework and quality standards applicable along with all activities inclusive to the Ecotourism value chain.

Theoretical support and hypothesis development

According to the social disruption theory, rapidly expanding societies usually experience a period of widespread crisis and a loss of their conventional routines and attitudes. The crisis impacts people whose mental health, worldviews, behavioral patterns, and social networks may all be impacted (Çalişkan and Özer 2021 ). According to the social disruption theory, fast community change brought on by population growth will result in a variety of social issues that are signs of a generally disorganized community (Smith et al. 2001 ). Because some types of tourism communities experience rapid expansion accompanied by intensive development and rapid social change over a relatively short period of time, they seem to be great settings for studying various postulations of the social disruption theory.

Place change and social disruption theory are closely connected. According to this assumption, when a community undergoes fast expansion, it tends to experience a generalized crisis that might culminate in several social issues as changes spread throughout the community and among individuals (Rasoolimanesh et al. 2019 ). Place change can result from fundamental community restructuring due to economic development, new class divides, and migration of both long-term and temporary people (Nelson 2001 ). Social unrest, though, is not enduring. Instead, it is transitory; societies gradually adjust to these changes (Deery et al.  2012 ).

The standard of living may initially deteriorate, but due to the adaptability of people and communities, they will gradually reinvigorate and strengthen themselves accordingly. Furthermore, the social disruption proposition reinforces one of the challenges in analyzing the effects of tourism, particularly in emerging nations, since it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the effects of tourism and the overall ongoing development (Park and Stokowski 2009 ) (Fig. ​ (Fig.1 1 ).

  • Tourism development and growth significantly affect natural environment resources.
  • Tourism development and growth significantly affect environmental pollution.
  • Tourism development and growth significantly affect the physical ecosystem of the environment.
  • Tourism development and growth significantly affect the socio-cultural environment.
  • Tourism development and growth significantly affect the economic environment of people and the community.
  • Government policy and support significantly moderate the relationship between tourism development and growth and the environmental factors.

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Conceptual framework

Methodology

The study aimed to investigate the association of tourism development and its impact on environmental factors. Therefore, a survey method was employed to collect data by including all the relevant people in the locality. The study is based on stakeholders’ opinions from Pakistan’s most visited tourist areas, including Murree, Swat, Chitral, Naran, Kaghan, Neelum Valley, Malam Jabba, Ayubia, and Nathia Gali. A total of 650 stakeholders were contacted from the above-mentioned tourist destinations through survey. The distribution of the sample is mentioned in Table ​ Table1 1 .

Sample configuration

Field survey—2021

Using quantitative techniques, hierarchical linear regression analysis was employed to investigate the possible relationships between tourism growth and various dimensions of environmental sustainability. The results below reveal that tourism development translates into environmental deterioration, and the relationship between tourism and environmental sustainability is bidirectional.

Tourism growth and development were measured through a five-item scale. The environment was measured through 16 items combined scale with sub-dimensions; depletion of Natural Resources=3 items, Polluting Environment=3 items, Physical Effects on Ecosystem=4 items, Socio-Cultural Degradation=3 items, and Economic Environment=3-items. Similarly, our moderating variable, Government Interventions and Support, was measured using a 5-item scale. Table ​ Table2 2 below presents the details of the instruments.

Instrument reliability

Analysis and results

Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 26. It includes correlation, linear regression, and stepwise hierarchal regression analysis.

Table ​ Table3 3 above shows that our Tourism Growth and Development has significant and positive relationship with Polluting Environment ( r = 0.20**), Physical Effects on Ecosystem ( r = 0.19**), Depletion of Natural Resource ( r = 0.24**), Socio-Cultural Degradation ( r = 0.18**). However, Tourism Growth and Development has positive relationship with Economic Environment ( r = 0.29**) and Government Interventions and Support ( r = 0.13**).

Correlation matrix

* p  < 0.05; ** p  < 0.01

Results of linear regression analysis at Table ​ Table4 4 above depict that tourism growth and development predicts 4.1% variance in Depletion of Natural Resources ( β = 0.20, p <0.01), 3.9% variance in pollution ( β = 0.19, p <0.01), 6% variance in Physical Effects on Ecosystem ( β = 0.24, p <0.01), 3.6% variance in Socio-Cultural Degradation ( β = 0.18, p <0.01), and 8.8% variance in Economic Environment ( β = 0.29, p <0.01).

Regression analysis for H1–H5

** p  < 0.01

The study analyzes the applied two-step hierarchal regression. In the first step, Tourism Growth and Government Interventions were treated as independent variables, and their significant impact was measured. In the second step, the interaction term Tourism and Growth× Government Interventions was added, and its impact was measured. The results suggest that Government Interventions and Support moderate the relationship between Tourism Growth and the Environmental variables (Table ​ (Table5 5 ).

Moderation analysis

* p  < 0.05;** p  < 0.01

The study has reported unique findings regarding tourism and its environmental impacts. We found that tourism growth and development generate economic activity on the one hand. However, it has specific adverse environmental and socio-cultural outcomes on the other hand as well. Our study revealed that tourism growth and development predict a 4.1% variance in Depletion of Natural Resources ( β = 0.202*, p <0.01). This suggests that due to the expansion of tourism in the country, natural resources are continuously depleted to meet the needs of tourists. Studies also supported our findings and suggested that revival and reinvigoration of infrastructure in tourism areas were backed up by extensive deforestation, use of local green land, rebuilding of the road network, displacement of biodiversity, and overtaxing the consumption of water and other natural resources (Qamar and Baloch 2017 ; Sadiq 2021 ; Dogar et al. 2021 ). The prior studies are consistent with our hypothesis that “tourism development and growth significantly affect natural environment resources.”

We further found that tourism growth and development predict a 3.9% variance in pollution ( β = 0.198*, p <0.01), suggesting that tourism expansion may pollute the natural environment. Furthermore, recent national statistics depict that major human activities at local tourism destinations such as Kalam, Sawat, Muree, and Northern Areas have accumulated solid waste and sewage, resulting in polluted air and water. Further, research also suggests that the overflow of tourists to tourist destinations may adversely affect the environment due to human activities (Noordzij et al. 2020 ; Slater et al. 2020 ; Andlib and Salcedo-Castro  2021 ; Callaghan et al. 2021 ). Thus, it is safe to argue that the growth of tourism has a particularly detrimental effect on the environment. These findings also support our hypothesis, “Tourism development and growth significantly contribute to environmental pollution.”

The results reported that tourism growth and development predict a 6% variance in Physical Effects on the Ecosystem ( β = 0.245*, p <0.01). Studies have reported that deforestation and alteration in species’ natural environment for tourism facilities construction may adversely affect environmental health (Kuvan, 2010 ; Azam et al. 2018 ; Hoang et al. 2020 ; Andlib and Salcedo-Castro  2021 ). During post-terrorism and post-Covid-19 times in Pakistan, millions of local tourists moved to popular tourist destinations that required new infrastructure to accommodate these tourists. Consequently, colossal deforestation and other detrimental human activities have negatively affected ecosystem. These findings also support our hypothesis that tourism development and growth significantly affect the physical ecosystem of the environment.

The study reported a total of 3.6% variance in socio-cultural degradation ( β = 0.189*, p <0.01) due to tourism growth and development. These findings suggest that tourism’s growth and development may lead the inhabitants to imitate the foreign tourists regarding their living standards, which may endanger their traditional culture. Thus, our hypothesis that “tourism development and growth significantly affect the socio-cultural environment” is confirmed.

Further, it was found that tourism growth and development predict an 8.8% variance in the economic environment ( β = 0.297*, p <0.01). It is established from the literature that tourism growth and development generate economic activity in the country. Development projects such as the construction of infrastructure, hotels, and road networks generate economic activity to facilitate international and indigenous tourists, positively affecting the community’s living standard (Baloch et al. 2020 ). Thus, our hypothesis, “tourism development and growth significantly affect economic environment of people and community,” is confirmed.

Due to tourism growth and development, our study reported a 1.8% variance in Government Support and Interventions ( β = .133*, p <0.01). However, more recently, the Government of Pakistan has devised specific interventions that may help curb the adverse impacts of detrimental environmental factors. For example, developmental schemes such as the Billion Trees Plantation drive and Road-Infrastructure Network Development under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor initiative may prove moderators to curb the negative impacts of tourism growth on the environment (Qamar and Baloch 2017 ; Rauf et al. 2019 ; Siddiqui and Siddiqui 2019 ). Therefore, the hypothesis, Government policy and support, significantly moderates the relationship between tourism development and growth with the environment is confirmed based on these findings.

Suggested model for ecotourism framework

Through its detailed review of existing literature, prevailing tourism policies, and empirical inputs from the stakeholders’ perspectives, the study has identified a wide range of obstacles limiting the development and growth of ecotourism in Pakistan. The study suggests National Tourism Management authorities carefully invest in ecotourism destination’s planning and development in coordination with the environment development agency. The suggested model for ecotourism framework is initially meant for the tourism destinations specifically designated for ecotourism. However, selected points can also be extended to the quality management parameters set for the National Parks, Conservation and Protracted Areas, Museums, National or International event sites, etc. The national tourism authorities are to lay particular emphasis in their forthcoming National Tourism Policy on the development and promotion of Sustainable Ecotourism having, with focus on the following key areas:

  • Identify and classify four to five ecotourism destinations, including ecotourism-centered activities of value chains for priority development, which are administratively possible within budgetary constraints. However, the development plan shall consider the integral benefits of other developmental schemes such as the Billion Trees Plantation drive, Road-Infrastructure Network Development under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor initiative, International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) programs in the area.
  • While staying within the alignment of UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) calling for ‘environmental sustainability’ and the development vision of each designated destination, the Tourists Management System shall take into cognizance of issues like managing capacity of the place, quality parameters for the conservation of the environment, and allowable activities thereof.
  • Identify degenerated destinations of religious, socio-cultural, or historical significance for their rehabilitation under the Regenerated tourism program.
  • i. To deflect the tourist pressure upon these destinations, the potential tourists from nearby cities and metropolitan areas be provided with nearby alternative destinations for leisure tourism as stay-tourism sites.
  • ii. To prevent the environment from air pollution, the traffic load on the destination be curtailed through an effective traffic management strategy, provision of off-destination parking for combustion engine vehicles, and encouraging electric driven or hybrid vehicles for nearby parking.
  • iii. Provision of clean drinking water through public infiltration plants, public toilets, solid waste carriers, and recycling of sewage and used water is recommended in the most visited areas of the destination.
  • iv. Signposting at appropriate places, giving social messages encouraging to maintain cleanliness, avoid littering, ensure nature conservation, and humility toward biodiversity.
  • Develop all-inclusive, comprehensive execution plans to expedite the investments for the sustainable ecotourism, encouraging public–private cooperation, community involvement, and infrastructure mapping guaranteeing environmental conservation and safeguards.
  • Develop and place on the ground an all-inclusive program of capacity building for sustainable ecotourism, regenerative and green tourism services.
  • Develop and launch Pakistan tourism profile and Sustaining Ecotourism obligatory framework “to promote tourism on the one hand and nurture conscious ecological behavior among the potential tourists of the area”.
  • In order to fetch local ownership for the ecotourism center developments, all efforts shall be made to share the socio-economic benefits integral to the development scheme with the local population for community development.
  • As part of the destination management planning, identify complementary value chains and livelihood activities that could be developed as part of the overall ecotourism destination package.
  • i. Setting new quality standards facilitating the promotion of ecotourism and environmental sustainability through acts of various bodies operating in the Ecotourism value chain, such as:
  • Revision of Private hotels Management Act (1976) and Tourists Operators Act (1976) alongside introduction and promulgation of a new “Tourism Destination Management Act” incorporating new quality standards as of today.
  • Promulgating laws to make all new construction/development projects responsible from any agency in the area, incorporating quality standards needed for environmental sustainability, and promoting ecotourism.
  • Set measures for the preservation of the local biodiversity and preservation of endangered species, including seeking support from internationally active environment conservation agencies, declaring local hunting illegal, introducing licensing programs for hunting of certain selected animals/ birds on the payment of a handsome amount to be used for the welfare of the local community.
  • Create awareness programs against deforestation, land conservation, and biodiversity, and maintain cleanliness, inculcating a culture of respecting and enjoying nature instead of spoiling it.

Conclusion, implications, and limitations of the study

The study premise was based on the contention that sustenance of ecotourism focuses on the economic viability of the business interests alongside the conservation and preservation of natural ecosystems, including ethical fairness to the socio-cultural environment of the host community. Ecotourism is a phenomenon that contributes to environmental sustainability through well-planned and careful destination management capable of balancing conflicting interests of business growth and environmental sustainability. Tourism-environment paradox suggests that the sustainability and survival of both are dependent upon the flourishing mode of each other. Quality of environment and sustainability of bio-ecosystem stimulates tourists’ arrivals and over-tourism beyond capacity with irresponsible behavior from tourists negatively influencing the environment and harming the ecosystem of nature. Ecotourism is not inevitably sustainable unless it is economically sustainable and environmentally maintainable besides being socio-culturally acceptable. Socio-culturally intolerable ecotourism means the activity which does not benefit locals and their socio-cultural values. Hence, the study concludes that ecotourism has to positively interplay between economy, environment, and culture without compromising one over others. The pursuit of sustainable ecotourism is not an end in meeting the little comforts of the business interests but rather a means to end the sustainability issues created due to ill-conceived tourism development and unmanageable growth.

Practical implications

Drawing from the findings and conclusions of the research, the study extends the following practical implications for effectively managing the process of tourism development and environmental sustainability in line with the dictates of the philosophy behind ecotourism:

  • Paradoxically tourism necessitates ecological capitals as primary ingredients for the creation of tourism experiences on the one hand. However, it is also contingent upon the conservation and preservation of ecological integrity on the other. The study suggests that unbalancing this “resource paradox” results in the harshness and tenacity of adversarial climate change, natural calamities, environmental pollution, and endangered biodiversity.
  • The research findings and the suggested framework for ecotourism imply that sustainable ecotourism principles-based planning is mandatory for destination management to assure effective trade-off between the business interests’ sustainability of the environmental ecosystem.
  • Tourism development and growth shall be steered through ecotourism principles as its sustainable model offers enduring social, environmental and economic, ecological integrity, and social and cultural benefits for the local community. Therefore, ecotourism is a recipe for preventing environmental degradation and guarantees sustainability of ecosystems nature and its biodiversity. Hence, ecotourism shall stand central priority focus for strategic management to nurture quality experiences from sustainable tourism.
  • To revive back the sustainability of the environment, in the areas where over-tourism has degraded the environment, schemes for regenerated tourism shall be immediately launched to mitigate the negative footprints on the sustainability of destinations, including reinforcing protracted conservation sites, biodiversity, and recouping endangered species, afforestation drives, recycling of water and solid waste, refurnishing of landscaping, preservation, and rehabilitation of cultural heritage and refurbishing of depleted infrastructure accordingly. Furthermore, to regenerate and sustain the tourism infrastructure of the destinations experiencing over-tourism, capacity building measures like capacity, recycling of water and solid waste, preventive measures to control air and water pollution, traffic control management, and spread of entertainment facilities shall be the focus of the regeneration plans.
  • The study implies that government authorities and policymakers have a special role in placing their moderating intervention in terms of policy guidelines, regulatory framework, and budgetary support, provision of inter-organizational synergy in planning and implementation of ecotourism strategies, protection of environmental resource base and conservation of natural and biological ecosystem, sustenance of socio-cultural value of local community over and above their economic and social well-being/quality life for the long run.
  • The study also implies that public and private policymakers lay down threshold criteria for responsible travel and tourism standards for destination management and its related supply chain. The laid criterion would facilitate management in nurturing “responsible behavior” to plan, protect, conserve, preserve, and sustain natural and cultural resources and responsible socio-economic development without compromising the sustainability of the environment and long-term well-being of the hoist community. The deep-seated adherence to social responsibility protocols by the tourism supply chain network can significantly increase the capacity of tourism destinations and improve the conscious awareness of green consumers along the tourism supply chain. Furthermore, the consciously responsible behavior among stakeholders and legislatures can strike a needed balance between the business interests and environments in favor of sustainability of socio-cultural, economic, and natural capital.
  • The study elucidates that responsible behavior necessitates purpose-built eco-friendly infrastructure and policy parameters to support the sustainability of environments across destinations. The strategic planning aligned with the sustainability-focused objectives dictates the need for artistic, innovative, and talented people and quality intuitions in harnessing quality tourism services and responsible tourism behavior. Furthermore, the study encourages community involvement in the developmental process, enactment of structural policies, preservation of socio-cultural heritage, and conservation of natural biodiversity as it would foster emotional bondage between the people of the host community and the tourism undertakings. Therefore, community and value chain managers shall collaborate to maximize the perceived benefits of responsible tourism while developing cultural exchanges and planning opportunities for leisure and tourism.
  • Regulatory measures help offset negative impacts; for instance, controls on the number of tourist activities and movement of visitors within protected areas can limit impacts on the ecosystem and help maintain the integrity and vitality of the site. Limits should be established after an in-depth analysis of the maximum sustainable visitor capacity. Furthermore, the variables and the constructs researched can be replicated to other destinations to seek valuable inputs for sustainable destination management elsewhere.

Study limitation

Besides the functional, practical applications, the study has some limitations. Besides having integral disadvantages of cross-sectional research, the respondents selected for the study were visitors on peak days with the highest tourist arrivals, thereby having experiences of a higher degree of environmental pollution and natural disorder. Furthermore, the research is limited to stakeholders’ perspectives instead of any scientifically generated data or mathematical or econometric model.

Author contribution

QBB: conceptualization, methodology, writing—original draft. SNS: data curation and supervision. NI: visualization, editing, proofreading. MS: review and editing. MA: review and editing. SM: editing, data curation. AUK: review and editing.

Data availability

Declarations.

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. We also declare that we do not have human participants, data, or tissue.

We do not have any person’s data in any form.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Contributor Information

Qadar Bakhsh Baloch, Email: moc.liamg@bqhcolabrd .

Syed Naseeb Shah, Email: moc.liamtoh@hahs_beesan .

Nadeem Iqbal, Email: moc.oohay@1labqimeedanrd .

Muhammad Sheeraz, Email: [email protected] .

Muhammad Asadullah, Email: moc.liamg@apmdasa .

Sourath Mahar, Email: moc.oohay@mhtaros .

Asia Umar Khan, Email: kp.ude.pci@ramu-aisa .

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In A Lesser-Known Part of Patagonia, Tourism is Helping Keep the Coastline Wild

In coastal argentina, a new conservation model combines rewilding and tourism to protect an untouched and very special place..

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Glamping site by the water in Patagonia Azul

Rewilding Argentina is using low-impact glamping structures in Patagonia Azul, allowing guests full, comfortable immersion in nature.

Photo by Maike Friedrich / Courtesy of Rewilding Argentina

There are parts of the world whose beauty needs no introduction. They grab you instantly with their heart-stopping visuals: aquamarine waters, seemingly infinite canyons, or mountains that were always destined to end up as screensavers. Then there are places whose beauty sneaks up on you, where the contours and color palettes of the land and sky work a more subtle magic. Patagonia Azul is one of the latter. You don’t notice it at first, driving on a featureless road surrounded by enormous estancias. But by the time you reach the heart of this UNESCO region in Argentina’s southern Chubut province, and make your way to the top of a craggy hill overlooking wide, deserted bays, its spell has already started to take effect.

Maria Mendizabal knows what it’s like to be enchanted. She moved here a few years ago and was instantly smitten. “My first time I arrived here . . . I didn’t know the coast,” she says. “So we came here, and I started crying, really, and a whale jumped out. And I was like, are you kidding me, really? And that was my welcome to Patagonia Azul.”

Maria is a tourism development coordinator at Rewilding Argentina , a nonprofit founded in 2010 that works to preserve four locations across the country—in Patagonia, in two of the forested northern parts of the country, and right here. It’s an offshoot of Tompkins Conservation , which was founded by Kris and the late Doug Tompkins (of Patagonia and North Face, respectively) and is still run by Kris. (The pair’s decades-long conservation work in South America, including the creation of multiple national parks in Chile and Argentina, was recently documented by the National Geographic film Wild Life .)

Rewilding Argentina chose this part of the world, where the Patagonian steppe meets the Argentine Sea, for its latest project largely because of its incredible biodiversity. It’s home to an abundance of marine birds and mammals, including humpback whales and South American fur seals, as well as kelp forests and algae prairies. Some 40 percent of the world’s Magellanic penguins live in a huge colony at the Punta Tombo Natural Reserve .

A map of Rewilding Argentina's project area in Patagonia Azul

Rewilding Argentina has carefully developed a stretch of the Argentine coastline, adding camp sites and hiking trails, to encourage sustainable tourism.

Courtesy of Rewilding Argentina

However, despite some symbolic protection for the region—part of it is dedicated as the UNESCO Patagonia Azul Biosphere Reserve and part forms the Patagonia Austral Interjurisdictional Marine Coastal Park (PIMCPA)—it’s under threat from poaching, industrial fishing, and invasive species. Acronyms won’t save it. It’s also unknown by most of the world, let alone the rest of Argentina. As Maria says, “We have more than 60 islands here and Argentinians don’t know about it.”

That’s why Rewilding Argentina has been here since 2019, protecting the environment not only by restoring algae, monitoring seabirds, and eradicating exotic species but also by combining those efforts with a push for thoughtful tourism. The organization has been acquiring land, working with government officials on protecting that land, opening camping and glamping sites, and creating trails and other activities to reveal Patagonia Azul’s charms to a wider audience. And it’s been doing all of that in collaboration with local communities. It’s part of what Sofia Heinonen, the organization’s executive director, refers to in an annual report as “the economy of nature—in which neighboring rural communities generate income as a result of the restoration of complete and functional ecosystems.”

Brown sea lions surrounded by sea birds on Islas Blancas, near Camarones, on the Atlantic coast of Argentine Patagonia

Visitors to Patagonia Azul will be greated by thousands of sea birds and huge colonies of sea lions.

Photo by Beth Wald / Courtesy of Rewilding Argentina

Witnessing rewilding up close

In October, 2023, Maria and fellow members of both Rewilding Argentina and Tompkins Conservation picked me up at Comorodo Rivadavia airport, a couple of hours by plane south of Buenos Aires, to go exploring in Azul. It was a bespoke trip facilitated by tour operator Journeys With Purpose , which arranges excursions to pioneering conservation projects across the globe, led by the environmental leaders of those projects. (Forthcoming trips for 2024 are heading to Kenya, Palau, and Romania.)

Over several days, and fueled by copious amounts of shared maté tea, they showed me how this fragile area is being protected—and thoughtfully opened up to the wider world. We hiked, we toured campsites, we took to the ocean to explore the nearby uninhabited islands, and they took me to see examples of their work across the region. While I stayed at the conservationists’ lodgings, travelers following in my footsteps would likely glamp or stay in a hotel in the larger towns or cities.

On day one, we joined Rewilding Argentina’s conservation coordinator (and professional diver, sailor, and doctor of biological science) Lucas Beltramino for the view from the ocean. Our small inflatable dinghy was the only boat on the water the entire day. And in fact, Lucas says he can count the number of other boats he’s seen here on two hands. But we were far from alone. As we explored the bays and cliffs north of the village of Bahia Bustamente, we encountered huge sea lion colonies, zipped under flocks of petrels, and got a close-up of rock cormorants resting on their jagged perches. We didn’t see them, but whales and dolphins are abundant here too.

On the island of Isla Leones, we disembarked and carefully trekked through long grass past numerous penguins hiding in bushes to an abandoned lighthouse. Lucas tells me that the British and the French set up here for a while some 100 years ago, harvesting sea lions and penguins for their oil. They also introduced sheep to the mainland—which led to a deep-rooted culture of farming across the region causing desertification of the Patagonia steppe—and were among the whalers who plagued the area during the early 19th century.

Today, whaling has been transferred to the history books, but fishing (largely for hake and shrimp) still presents a big threat to the area’s valuable biodiversity. Maria told me about a time when all the fishing boats were consigned to the port at nearby Camarones by a storm and their sheer number became apparent. She looked out at all their lights as they waited for the weather to clear. The sight of so many boats shining through the rain was “beautiful, but sad to see,” she said.

We returned to Rewilding Argentina’s HQ as the sun painted the wispy clouds orange for an asado—an Argentinian barbecue—roasted over an open fire. Steak and malbec, of course, but also gin and tonics, bread spread with locally made pickled vegetables and seaweed, a homemade flan for dessert. In a snug dining room looking out over wide grassy plains at sunset, it was a cozy, convivial affair—the kind of immersive, shared experience that a Journeys With Purpose trip affords.

It also helped me learn more about the organization’s work, to ask questions and find out what exactly rewilding means to the people on the ground. Angeles Murgier, a former lawyer and member of the strategy and partnerships team, talked me through the four pillars of rewilding: protecting areas, restoring ecosystems, working with communities, and creating a restorative economy through tourism.

A few guanacos on the Patagonia coast near Camarones, with ocean in background

Guanacos roam the coast in Patagonia. They look much more at home than the sheep that were introduced.

The challenges of protecting Patagonia Azul

The discussions continued the following morning, when parks and communities coordinator Diana Friedrich gave a presentation about the work that’s been done here and the challenges and opportunities that remain. She talked passionately about the efforts to preserve this significant area since she arrived five years ago.

The current designations for the region “means nothing in Argentinian law” she said. So the team pairs hands-on conservation—conducting surveys of wildlife including petrels and whales, removing invasive species like rabbits, rats, armadillos, seaweed, and crabs—with advocacy, infrastructure, and work with local landowners, government, and residents.

One of the biggest threats to the area’s biodiversity is intensive fishing and bottom trawling. Diana’s team plans to use remote cameras to take photos of the seafloor. “The fishermen say it’s just mud but it’s not,” she said. “Many, many different species cover the seafloor—sponges, urchins, sea stars. It’s incredible.” The fishing industry is well established, and some believe that creating a marine park would cost jobs. “People think we’ll destroy the economy. Meanwhile they are destroying the ecosystem that sustains the economy,” she adds.

There are signs of hope. Government officials, including the minister of tourism and the province’s governor, have visited and seem keen to create protective laws. Diana’s team wants to expand the parks, train new staff, and bring the local community on board. “The most exciting thing for me is to show the locals the place,” she says. “Because this area doesn’t have access to the coast because it’s all private ranches. Some of them have never seen these places.”

Lucas Beltramino in field holding an antenna to conduct an experiment in Patagonia Azul

Lucas Beltramino studied sea bass and whales for his degree in biological science. He conducts the organization’s rewilding work in the Patagonia Azul region.

Photo by Matia Rebak / Courtesy of Rewilding Argentina

New tourism projects build from the ground up

Underpinning all of the rewilding and advocacy work is a focus on tourism: a new Ruta Azul (“Blue Route”) that allows visitors to visit slowly, thoughtfully, and enjoy hiking, boat trips, kayaking, cycling, and other activities. The idea is that this economy of nature will gradually replace the farming and trawling industries on which the area currently relies.

At Portal Isla Leones, the southern gateway to the region, we visited a new wild campsite for 30 people that’s been created within a wide natural canyon of the steppe. Most of the infrastructure is almost invisible to the naked eye; it blends in well with the tufts of grass dotted around a flat valley backed by rocky outcrops. There’s a small building for bathrooms, an arrivals center staffed by local people working for Rewilding Argentina, and a communal firepit, but the site, which is surrounded by a network of trails, is incredibly low impact.

It’s free to stay here, and residents of the surrounding towns and cities (and further afield) are encouraged to visit. Free weekly events, such as bird-watching, yoga, and snorkeling, are advertised on social media during the summer. The aim is to show people the beauty—and value—of the place so that they’re invested in its protection and to demonstrate to the community and decision makers that nature can be an asset. During my visit, guests at the sites were local fishermen and tourists from France, Germany, and Russia. As Maria put it, people “who came here for nature and nobody.”

Closer to the coast, we toured the future site of a small glamping retreat that Rewilding Argentina was constructing. Wooden platforms marked where half a dozen semi-permanent tents were set to offer comfortable accommodation with hot showers and activities (for a charge) in one of Maria’s favorite parts of the region. She was a little conflicted about it. It’s hard to see diggers and building materials in this deserted and pristine space. But they’ve since departed, and the glamping pitches (which are now open) are low impact and removable. And visitors are bringing income and work.

We drove up to another viewpoint atop a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean, and the sheer scale of this landscape took me by surprise again. There were no roads, buildings, humans, or developments in any direction—only endless empty landscapes, save for the odd group of guanacos prancing in the distance.

Two people snorkeling in Patagonia Azul

Rewilding Argentina hosts regular events to bring local residents to the region and into the water.

Partnering with local communities

Rewilding Argentina aims to involve communities with much of its work—through direct employment, education, and entrepreneurship empowerment. It created the Ocean Club with the aim of connecting children, young adults, and women with their coastal home. It also worked with residents from the nearby fishing village of Camarones (population: about 1,000) on a community garden focused on local, fresh food. A Youth For Nature program aims to inspire young people to start tourism enterprises, and the Festival of the Sea, now in its third year, celebrates the connection between community and ocean. There are regular community beach cleanups. The overall goal is to create a shared sense of ownership of—and appreciation for—this beguiling part of the world.

I saw much of this firsthand on the trip. I met Lautaro and Luqui at a newly constructed arrivals center, where visitors are greeted with maps and asked to sign a guest book. It was their first week on the job. Lautaro is from a ranching family. On a hike, we chanced upon a group of local children sketching under the wide canopy of a tree, another activity organized by Rewilding Argentina.

Our trip ended with a Saturday night on the town in Camarones. But this was nightlife, Patagonia Azul style. And it was the night before a general election to boot, so alcohol was verboten. The main bar was closed, and the restaurant we chose wasn’t serving booze. I ended up eating a fish curry with the team and popping out to the street for clandestine sips of beer purchased earlier from a local shop.

Despite the muted atmosphere, the conversations were lively and the night was fun. We talked politics quickly, but most of the chat revolved around the exciting possibilities in the area. My all-too-short few days with the group left me with a palpable sense of promise. Invasive species are down. Populations of such threatened animals as lesser rhea and guanacos are up. Newly planted, carbon sequestering native algae is growing—and surviving. At Gateway Bahia Bustamente, a former sheep ranch that Rewilding Argentina has turned into an interpretation center, the sound of shearers has faded and visitors get a preview of the natural beauty of the area and learn about the need to protect it.

While many people will still gravitate toward the ice-capped Patagonia of the brochures, or fly over this region on their way to Ushuaia and global tourism headliner Antarctica, those who take a detour will be richly rewarded—and likely as captivated as I was.

How to visit

Journeys With Purpose is offering an eight-day trip to Rewilding Argentina’s project at Ibera National Park, from September 29 to October 6, 2024. While that trip focuses on the forested parts of the north, the company also offers bespoke journeys and could add on several days in the Patagonia Azul region (or even craft a whole trip here).

A woman laying in a super bloom of golden California poppies in Antelope Valley

tourism conservation model

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What Is Conservation Tourism?

Conservation tourism, also known as ecotourism , is characterized by travel practices that minimize environmental waste, encourage conservation and educate travelers about the needs of the environment. The conservation process typically begins with a conscientious approach to planning and packing for trips. At the travel destination, conservation might take the form of recycling and saving energy and water. Some ecotourism tours deliver in-depth information about animals that are in danger of extinction, such as bats and elephants. In some cases, funds that are generated through ecotourism activities are utilized to preserve the local environment and economy.

Careful preparing and packing for travel are important first steps in conservation tourism. Staying longer in a destination helps save fuel, in contrast with taking numerous trips of shorter duration. Selecting hotels that recycle newspapers, aluminum cans and plastic bottles is another consideration for minimizing waste. Packing carefully and leaving behind unnecessary items helps tourists to travel light and save fuel. Before leaving home, unplugging all unused electronic devices also saves energy.

While the participating travelers are touring and staying in a new destination, conservation tourism typically involves limiting waste. Asking the hotel to refrain from washing the towels and sheets daily is a way to save water and energy. Buying locally grown groceries limits the pollution and energy usage associated with transporting food from faraway locations. Walking and biking to travel spots or using public transportation helps reduce fuel usage. Limiting the use of plastic plates and utensils by washing and reusing them saves water and reduces landfill waste.

Conservation tourism sometimes involves organized wildlife tours. Animals that are beneficial and important to the preservation of the ecosystem typically are the focus of such organized activities. For example, bats, which are often considered dangerous or intimidating, are the focus of some wildlife tours that seek to educate members of the public. Elephant conservation tours are another example of efforts to increase exposure to endangered species . Through learning about their diseases, behaviors and habitats, tourists gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for these animals.

Economic and social benefits also are an integral part of conservation tourism. By attracting large groups of people to less-frequented areas, local residents often benefit from more sustainable economies. Additional jobs are often created in locations where tour guides, instructors, bus drivers and other personnel are needed to assist tourists. Funds from ecotourism activities, in some cases, are used to preserve endangered species and protect the flora and fauna of the location.

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  • By: cheri131 Conservation tourism might focus on animals in danger of extinction, such as bats.

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