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Eco Voice Q & A: Satyajit Das, Author, on the responsibility of the ecotourist to the natural world.

To provide insights on the responsibility of the ecotourist to the natural world, Tim Langdon, publisher of Eco Voice, had the pleasure of facilitating a Q & A with Satyajit Das, Author, Wild Quests: Journeys into Ecotourism and the Future for Animals.

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Q1. What is ecotourism?

Ecotourism traditionally involves visiting specific wilderness locations to watch animals, either independently or with a commercial guide. The definition of ecotourism, always vague, has become increasingly elastic over time as linguistic elasticity has sought to cash in on interest in the environment.

Some even argue that it is about the intent of the individual or organisation involved, and many businesses now use the term to include visiting zoos or animal rehabilitation centres, hunting, fishing and even staying at resorts with nearby wildlife. It overlaps with adventure activities, such as trekking or kayaking, or cultural heritage and wellness tourism.

Q2. Do the animals want to see ecotourists?

Not really. The animals do not want to see us! Nature’s creatures are indifferent to humans. They go about their lives despite our presence on the planet. Lions in the Serengeti or polar bears in the far north do not spend time deconstructing their relationship with us. Yet interaction with our species is at the heart of their problems: damage to habitat, hunting, shooting, killing or persecution. Even our attempts to see them in the wild can be disruptive.

Q3. Does ecotourism help to save some animals?

It should. Our whole interest in ecotourism was predicated on helping preserve wilderness areas and habitat to allow wild animals to survive. We also thought that local people might benefit. Yet what we chose to believe turns out to be untrue.

The damage to wilderness and wildlife is evident to even the casual return tourist. Alongside traditional threats – habitat destruction, over-harvesting of wild animals, damage from introduced species, (increasingly) climate change, industrial ecotourism now cynically exploits the very things it pretends to protect. There is little interest in preserving the Earth in anything close to its natural state. The focus is on short-term priorities, self-gratification and pursuing petty individual interests without regard for cost.

Much of what we have seen and once hoped to see will soon be lost, despite the best efforts of the dedicated few, beyond the next few decades.

The planet was once a place where wilderness and animals surrounded pockets of people. The future is one in which shrinking pockets of nature will barely survive, encircled by an ever-expanding human population. Much of what are now considered wild places will become little more than outdoor menageries.

READ MORE:

https://www.ecovoice.com.au/eco-voice-q-a-satyajit-das-author-on-the-responsibility-of-the-ecotourist-to-the-natural-world/



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