In ways that help species at risk.
Wildlife and the outdoors are major drivers of tourism, but it’s the rare traveler who hasn’t seen places where this is to the detriment of the animals and their habitat. However, as described by the World Bank Group, tourism done right contributes to sustainable development. It can facilitate conservation, enhance the perceived value of wildlife, increase funding for protected species and areas, create viable and more environmental land-use alternatives, and improve livelihoods and equality in rural communities.
Put simply, tourism can help create economies where wildlife is more valuable alive than dead. It makes conservation a good practice for individuals and businesses, increases willingness to comply with environmental laws, and intensifies demands for governments to enhance those laws. The plunge in travel due to the COVID pandemic has made it clear that tourism helps prevent poaching, is critical for protecting wildlife habitat, and for maintaining nature preserves and the animals that live in them.
If you want to see wildlife on your next vacation, make your tourist dollars count. Look for destinations and tour companies that provide good jobs to local people so they can rely less on poaching and activities detrimental to animals and their habitats. Ensure that some of the fees you’re paying go directly to conservation. Ask about protection laws and make it clear you expect them to be followed. Support brands that support wildlife.
Here are ten examples of close encounters with wildlife that can help protect the species you’re so keen to see.