Stories tagged ecotourism

Ecotourism is the practice of visiting places where rare or exotic animals live and the popularity of ecotourism is growing at an amazing rate. Ecotourism can foster many beneficial effects for the special- interest sites that people visit: people can learn about the wonderful places and animals they see, donations help with conservation and preservation of the area and species, and tourism can be a source of income for surrounding communities.

However, ecotourism remains a routinely unregulated practice and scientists are starting to wonder about the effects that such high numbers of visitors will have on the wild animals, their populations, and the surrounding habitats, if the practice continues unchecked. Other problems , such as the amount of garbage that is accumulating at sites due to the tourism and the loss of natural resources that area communities are experiencing, have come to light and are generating concern from scientists and local peoples.

Scientists on the island of Damas, off the coast of Chile, are studying Humboldt penguins and the effects of ecotourism on the penguin population. They have reported a steady decline in the average number of offspring produced by each Humboldt female, as tourism to view the penguins has increased. Scientists fear if ecotourism practices are not regulated and the sites not managed, many exotic species and their habitats will disappear.

Tags : ecotourism, Humboldt penguins, extinction, tourism

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