The following represents new research reports on the importance of learning experiences in sustainable wildlife tourism
These references, along with others, have been added to the bibliography on the WTA resources pages
Ballantyne, R., Packer, J. and Falk, J. (in press). Visitors’ learning for environmental sustainability: testing short- and long-term impacts of wildlife tourism experiences using structural equation modelling. Tourism Management.
Ballantyne, R. and Packer, J. (in press). Using tourism free-choice learning experiences to promote environmentally sustainable behaviour: the role of post-visit ‘action resources’. Environmental Education Research.
Ballantyne, R., Packer, J. and Sutherland, L. (in press) Visitors’ memories of wildlife tourism: Implications for the design of powerful interpretive experiences. Tourism Management.
Packer, J. & Ballantyne, R. (2010) The role of zoos and aquariums in education for a sustainable future. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 127, 25-34.
Hi all!
Here is a very interesting topic to discuss: can eco-tourism actually benefit animal conservation? Here are a few points that need to be considered. Looking at the Great Barrier Reef and the daily amount of eco-tourist swarming the sensible coral reef ecosystem, how can that be beneficial for conserving this highly diverse habitat? if 6000 divers a day (some with a greater level of skills) swim over the corals, it must have a negative impact on its wildlife. Considering that global warming, acidification and sea water level rise threaten any sessile species, the divers will not benefit the conservation of this area.
I know that in the case of whale watching eco-tourism has flipped the switch from whaling to watching and has certainly encouraged the trend to promote wildlife on a new dimension. An other study by Owen T. Nevin suggested that bear populations thrive in tourism season in British Columbia, Canada. However, many people will have to travel for miles and miles by plane or car to get their personal wildlife experience and the co2 emissions caused by tourism might conclude that it would have been more beneficial for nature and environment to NOT go on the eco-holiday.
So what speaks for eco-tourism? Well…there certainly is the demand to educate people on the issue of species decline. This year is the international year of Biodiversity and I still think that the media coverage on this year long ‘event’ is poor in most countries. Tourism will always be there. People will always feel the need to flee their own four walls so how can you skew tourism to a clearly conservation benefit for nature and wildlife???
Looking forward to a lively discussion 🙂
Miriam Kunde