Results indicated that, while a foundation for ecotourism existed within the state park framework, there was a disparity in management policies and their implementation, and improvements in tourist education were required. These findings lent support to the idea of true and conservation-oriented ecotourism as well as appropriate management for endangered coast redwood forests. Master's Theses.
Advanced Search. Privacy Copyright. Sleeping snow leopard, photo by Matt Hance. This revenue can be used to protect key habitats for threatened species, to support translocation of threatened animals to new locations, develop breeding programs, and create anti-poaching programs, to name just a few of the benefits.
However, people are beginning to question whether all the contributions to conservation from ecotourism are positive. While habitats can be improved by establishing private reserves, which offer protection for threatened species, animal habitats may also be degraded by development efforts for the tourism industry.
In some cases, native species may be displaced or disturbed at breeding sites from human disturbance , and where ecotourism leads to close contact with tourists, animal species may also be at risk of becoming habituated to humans. A tragic example of human disruption played out at Yellowstone National Park last week, when a bison calf was euthanized after it had become habituated to humans and rejected by its herd.
Also, in Morocco, increases in the illegal poaching of juvenile Barbary macaques Macaca sylvanus , were thought to be caused by macaques becoming less scared of humans after being fed by tourists.
It is undeniable that ecotourism has become a vital source of revenue for many conservation initiatives. As ecotourism is increasingly used as a tool to generate revenue for conservation projects, it is important to assess the net ecological impacts of ecotourism and the overall consequences for the conservation of threatened species. In a recent study published in PLOS ONE , Buckley and colleagues aimed to quantify the impacts of ecotourism on the survival of a threatened species using ecological models to assess trends in modeled or predicted populations under different levels of ecotourism.
While previous studies have focused primarily on small scale, local impacts of ecotourism, Buckley et al. As well as considering the ecological impacts of ecotourism, Buckley et al. In total, nine species were considered, including the New Zealand sea lion Phocarctos hookeri , orangutan Pongo and cheetah Acinonyx jubatus.
For most species, ecotourism had a positive impact. However, Buckley et al. Ecotourism often has drastically different consequences in species where the population decline is driven by different mechanisms. In species where industries that exploit natural resources, such as fishing and logging, threaten survival, Buckley et al. In some cases, native species may be displaced or disturbed at breeding sites from human disturbance , and where ecotourism leads to close contact with tourists, animal species may also be at risk of becoming habituated to humans.
A tragic example of human disruption played out at Yellowstone National Park last week, when a bison calf was euthanized after it had become habituated to humans and rejected by its herd.
Also, in Morocco, increases in the illegal poaching of juvenile Barbary macaques Macaca sylvanus , were thought to be caused by macaques becoming less scared of humans after being fed by tourists. It is undeniable that ecotourism has become a vital source of revenue for many conservation initiatives. As ecotourism is increasingly used as a tool to generate revenue for conservation projects, it is important to assess the net ecological impacts of ecotourism and the overall consequences for the conservation of threatened species.
In a recent study published in PLOS ONE , Buckley and colleagues aimed to quantify the impacts of ecotourism on the survival of a threatened species using ecological models to assess trends in modeled or predicted populations under different levels of ecotourism. While previous studies have focused primarily on small scale, local impacts of ecotourism, Buckley et al. As well as considering the ecological impacts of ecotourism, Buckley et al. In total, nine species were considered, including the New Zealand sea lion Phocarctos hookeri , orangutan Pongo and cheetah Acinonyx jubatus.
For most species, ecotourism had a positive impact. However, Buckley et al. Ecotourism often has drastically different consequences in species where the population decline is driven by different mechanisms. In species where industries that exploit natural resources, such as fishing and logging, threaten survival, Buckley et al.
This principle applies to the orangutan, for which logging is the primary driver of population decline. In Buckley's study, the conservation benefits of ecotourism for the orangutan could be exceptional, as when the modeled level of ecotourism was high, it was enough to offset the effects of logging and drastically increase species survival.
However, in the case of the New Zealand sea lion, when modeled levels of ecotourism increased, this resulted in the population declining to extinction. The study also highlighted the importance of considering how ecotourism can have varying conservation consequences in different sub-populations of the same species.
In the modeled populations of the cheetah, ecotourism had a positive effect in all populations, but there was variation in the degree ecotourism contributed to preventing population decline and increasing survival within different reserves in each subpopulation. Overall, where species are well-represented, but exist in poorly funded reserves, ecotourism can result in an overall increase in species survival over time if tourism is managed correctly.
Ecotourism is increasingly being used as a conservation tool worldwide and is effective in preserving threatened biodiversity. But, as the findings in PLOS ONE demonstrated, the consequences of ecotourism can vary greatly, depending on the mechanisms that drive the species decline and other ecological and anthropogenic factors. In light of this conclusion, it is increasingly important to carry out assessments of the impact of ecotourism for other threatened species that can benefit from ecotourism.
Ecological modeling techniques can used to quantify the effects of ecotourism on the survival of threatened species more widely. For now though, the question of exactly what role ecotourism can play in the fight against the global conservation crisis remains. Explore further. Ralf Buckley. DOI: How tourism and pastoralism influence population demographic changes in a threatened large mammal species, Animal Conservation Ralf C.
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