Ecotourism: what it is, the advantages and the disadvantages

Hi Everyone!

Today we wanted to talk about the idea of ecotourism, including the advantages and disadvantages of this concept. If you are looking to reduce your environmental and social impact when travelling, then this is the post for you!

Ecotourism is a form of tourism which limits the damage to the environment and local community. It can involve helping in community projects such as planting trees, as well as taking part in local customs and festivals. It helps to keep the local culture alive, while preserving the natural environment.

The advantages are abundant. By helping in a project conserving the environment, tourists gain a new understanding and appreciation for the natural world and may be inspired to make changes in their "real" life to live more sustainably. It provides a valuable insight to a country and community, perhaps also inspiring more respect for different people and the lives they lead. The projects also provide sustainable income sources for locals, helping the economy.

This form of income is also important as it does not rely on deforestation. Deforestation provides the area for people to grow crops and farm cattle. This is obviously detrimental to the environment, not only because of the land use of farming cattle, but also as it clears the trees, which act as carbon sinks, removing the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

However, there are several disadvantages to ecotourism. For example, tourism in some areas is not sustainable year round, due to the extreme climate. Many tourists wouldn't want to visit a hurricane prone area in the hurricane season for example. This means the locals may need to find another means of income at certain times of the year.

Another huge disadvantage is that tourists still need to get to a region offering ecotourism. This most likely involves flying, which is extremely bad in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore this form of tourism definitely doesn't solve the entirety of the question of sustainable tourism.

Ecotourism is still a very new concept, and to many getting their hands dirty and participating in conservation projects isn't quite the holiday they imagined, at least compared to lounging on a beach in the sun! However, I believe the advantages of the cultural discoveries and first-hand experience of local customs means these are such incredible projects to be part of.

There are several sites that now offer ecotourism. I have actually done a topic on this at school, and we did a case study about Santa Lucia, in Ecuador. This is an amazing project, which you can find out more about here!

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read this post, and we hope it has been interesting! Let us know in the comments what you think about ecotourism and if it's something you would consider taking part in!

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Comments

The life of ... an alcon blue butterfly

Hi everyone, Today we are going to be looking into the life of an alcon blue butterfly (Phengaris alcon). After mating, the females lay their eggs on marsh gentian, a blue-coloured wildflower. The eggs can only be laid on these flowers, as this is what the newly hatched caterpillars will eat. Although in some alp regions, they can also be found on willow gentians, a close relative of the marsh gentian. Once the caterpillars have hatched from the eggs, their main predator and danger are the ants that swarm below. But high on their plant homes, the caterpillars are safe. However, this isn't where the alcon blue caterpillars are going to stay forever. Eventually, they drop down to the ground using silk strings. With no protection, they are soon dragged off by the ants. The most amazing part is, the alcon blue caterpillars give off the same scent and chemicals as the ant larvae. So the ants take the caterpillars back to their brood chamber, wher...

March 2021 Factfile - some news from the past month, animals that YOU voted for and more!

Hi Everyone! We hope you are all okay and will enjoy this month's wrap up post. We have managed to post a little more this month but we are off school soon so we may be able to post more! News! Recent European droughts and heatwaves are said to be worst in 2000 years The British newspaper, 'The Guardian' reports that the series of droughts and heatwaves since 2014 have been the worst in 2000 years. These heatwaves have disastrous consequences such as early deaths, crop failure and forest fires. For more information, click here . This is definitely the final bit of proof that climate change exists and that it needs to be stopped! Rise in deforestation in 2020 A horrifying 42 000 squared km of forest was chopped down in 2020, making it the third worst year since 2002. The most affected areas were humid tropical forests such as the Amazon, the Congo and other forests in South America and South-East Asia. These forests a...

Announcement: Animal of the week

New IPCC Report 2022

Hi everyone, You've probably heard about the new IPCC report that was released earlier this year. In this post, we wanted to talk about what it is and how it could affect us. We haven't read the whole 3000+ page document, surprisingly, but people on the internet have so we have used information from reliable sources, including the IPCC website. What is the IPCC? IPCC stands for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is governments and scientists from all over the world work together to produce reports about the effects of climate change. When did that new report come out? 4th April 2022 What does the new report say and what does it mean for us? The report states that average annual global greenhouse gas emissions were at their highest levels in human history between 2010 to 2019, but the rate of growth of emissions has since slowed. Emissions must peak by 2025 and then must fall drastically (43% by 2030) if we are to limit the d...

Announcement: Amazon Rainforest Series

November Top Tips | sustainable activities and hobbies

Hello everyone, So this week, we are going to be talking about sustainable free time activities. This area can quite big when it comes to environmental impact, so here are some things that you can do in your free time, that are more sustainable. 1. Reading So reading is one of our favourite things to do. However, books are made of paper and the paper industry isn't great. Some ways you can get around this is by reading online (for example, on a kindle), or through borrowing books from a library or using book boxes. If there aren't any in your area then at least try to support independent bookshops! 2. Running If you love being active then this one is for you. Running is probably one of the most sustainable forms of sport. All you need are some running shoes and somewhere to run. There is obviously more high-tech gear but that isn't really necessary if it's just a hobby. 3. Gardening If you've got a small area of land o...

2021: How Our Year Went, Favourite Posts and Some Goals For 2022 | a wrap up

Hi Everyone! Today we wanted to share some thoughts on how our blogging year went in 2021 and some goals for 2022. We are now at the end of January, which is very scary, but we hope you will still enjoy this slightly belated wrap-up. In 2021, we published 36 posts in total. This is pretty good, we posted on average roughly every 10 days. However, there was a lot of time when we didn't post at all and our posts became increasingly just the monthly fact file. Many of you enjoyed the fact file, and for the most part, we enjoyed writing it but it became a bit of a chore by the end, hence the change we have made over to top tips. We think it would be nice to change our monthly post every year, and we will of course involve you in that just as we did this year. Our best posting months were by far August and September, which is understandable because we were on holiday for August and could schedule a lot of posts for September! Something we want to wor...

The Amazon Rainforest series-part 4: The diligent population checker: The killer fungus

Hi everyone, Today we have a very special post for you. This is our very first guest blogging post. Casandra Chikanele has written an amazing post about the Amazon rainforest. This post is therefore the 4th part in the Amazon rainforest series. Enjoy! Your Green World Team💚 The Amazon rainforest is a diverse and wildlife intense site. Home to thousands of species of animals, insects, reptiles, and all living forms including plants and microbial entities. 1/3 of all species live in this cradle of life. About 2.5 million species of ants, one thousand three hundred species of birds, four hundred and thirty species of mammals, and many more. This environment houses quite a numerous amount of living things, predators and prey, families, and bachelors. A place with such a diverse ecosystem, where new offspring is constantly brought forth. Some species reproduce in little numbers, while others reproduce in hundreds or thousands every few ...

Photosynthesis: what is it and how is it linked to climate change?

Hi Everyone! Welcome to another post, this time about photosynthesis! This is an extremely important process that I've learnt a lot about in school and lots of you may know about it but this will hopefully refresh your memory! What is it? Photosynthesis is a natural process that takes place in a leaf. It turns carbon dioxide into oxygen, which is so important for climate change, but more on that later! This enables the leaf to get energy. The equation is as follows: Carbon Dioxide + Water ~> Glucose + Oxygen CO₂ + H ₂O ~> C ₆H₁₂O₆ + O₂ It's hard to write it on here but to make the glucose and oxygen you need sunlight and chlorophyll. How does it happen? To understand this, you need to know a little about the structure of the cross-section of a leaf. Just type 'cross section of ...

August 2021 Factfile - some news, animals and a plant

Welcome to our August factfile, News Bad news :( Fires in and around Athens Athens has been under siege this month, but not by any army. The forests all around the capital and in other parts of Greece and Turkey have gone up in flames. Houses have been destroyed and thousands have been evacuated. The reason is, of course, climate change . “It’s been crazy over here. Between the extreme heat and the wildfires, it feels apocalyptic,” Eleni Myrivili wrote in an email on Thursday as the army was deployed to assist firefighters. “Ash is raining down on us here in Athens.” England's lake district in peril Lake District, a popular holiday resort in the north of England, is now eroding faster as a result of climate change and an increased amount of walkers due to the pandemic. Paths that were once two meters wide are now at least 12 meters wide on some walks. Also visitors tend to walk off the path, endangering local wildlife. With...

Green World

Search This Blog