[Coral-List] Sustainable Tourism!?
Steve Mussman
sealab at earthlink.net
Sat Dec 17 13:25:09 EST 2011
Ideas floating about regarding environmental fees to be assessed
on the recreational diving and tourism industries sound reasonable,
but even if they were to overcome obvious obstacles and become
universally implemented, could the revenues raised actually provide
the means necessary to preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems
worldwide? Put another way, can money solve the problem or would this
approach instead raise false hopes that we are taking the appropriate
steps needed to ward off an impending environmental catastrophe?
It seems to me that the abundance of evidence suggests that it is
human behaviors that must change. Reef restoration efforts can not
possibly keep pace with what appears to be an ecological disaster
that will inevitably occur if we continue to maintain the status quo
and resist taking steps to mitigate our impact on the natural world
by among other things, reducing carbon emissions.
The fact is that many destinations already charge environmental fees.
Cozumel, Mexico and Bonaire impose a marine park fee on all divers and
it has no doubt helped stem the tide. Interestingly enough, these
locations contain perhaps the healthiest reefs in the region, yet there
is persistent speculation as to why relatively robust conditions can
seemingly be maintained on these reefs while other locations nearby
appear to be rapidly deteriorating. Dive operators in Cozumel and Bonaire
make consistent and conscientious efforts to protect their reefs and this
has assuredly paid off, but the question remains as to whether or not
these efforts are enough to offset the dynamics of a precarious future.
Regards,
Steve
More information about the Coral-List
mailing list