Benefits:
Economic Growth: It can boost local economies by creating jobs and bringing in money from park fees, tours, and services like hotels and restaurants.
Conservation Funding: Money from tourism can support efforts to protect wildlife, like stopping poaching and restoring habitats.
Awareness and Education: Tourists learn about endangered animals and habitats, which can make them care more about conservation.
Community Involvement: Local people can benefit economically and stop relying on harmful activities like poaching.
Challenges:
Environmental Impact: More tourists can harm habitats and pollute, affecting wildlife.
Stress on Wildlife: Animals might get stressed from too many people, affecting their health and behavior.
Overtourism: Popular places can be damaged by too many tourists, making the experience worse for visitors.
Economic Leakage: Often, money made from tourism doesn’t help local communities but goes to international companies instead.
How to do it right:
Controlled Visits: Limit how many people can visit and encourage visits during less busy times to protect the environment.
Environmentally Friendly Facilities: Build hotels and facilities that use less energy and produce less waste.
Responsible Tours: Make sure tour guides follow rules, like not getting too close to animals or feeding them.
Include Local People: Involve locals in planning tourist activities so they support conservation.
Educate Tourists: Teach visitors about the places and animals they’re seeing, so they treat them with respect.
By balancing tourism and conservation, we can enjoy and protect our natural world for future generations.
– Mohammad Suleman Baig
