Biological Effects of Ecotourism

Significance

The worldwide travel industry has recorded more than 1 billion tourists around the world annually. This increasing amount of traffic creates concern of the negative impact that tourists leave on the people, culture and wildlife of a foreign destination.

Ecosystem

lumber yard image by marilyn barbone from Fotolia.com

While ecotourism seeks to improve the impact of global travelers on the environment, its objective to build new sustainable hotels, resorts and other establishments often causes the destruction of local resources in order to make room for them.

Wildlife

butterfly image by Radoslav Lazarov from Fotolia.com

Similarly, the construction of clean energy facilities, water-treatment plants, sanitation facilities and other operations that enhance conservation practices will put pressure on local habitats, negatively affecting the wildlife. For example, this type of land conversion has led to deforestation and habitat deterioration for butterflies in Mexico and squirrel monkeys in Costa Rica.

Local Culture

hut in the jungle image by Maciej Zatonski from Fotolia.com

Ecotourism is quickly spreading to numerous developing countries, which presents significant change to wild habitats and indigenous people who have spent years being separated from consumerist nations. On one side, tourism offers financial benefits for the local community, but at the same time, it can exploit local tribes for cheap labor.

Other Influential Factors

aerial shot over kenya image by sheldon gardner from Fotolia.com

For the most part, ecotourism is managed by foreign investors and corporations, which means that the local economy and the people do not benefit the most from the exchange. In one case in Kenya, a nomadic tribe killed wildlife in protected parks in response to the unfair ecotourism system by which they earned wages.