Tourism Protecting Ecosystems

[Music]

2020 the year of a global pandemic and

the year where international travel came

to a complete standstill

where we all heard headlines about skies

clearing up wildlife returning but also

millions of jobs lost poaching

increasing less budget for

sustainability

sharp increase in single-use plastic

items words like regenerative tourism

emerged and slogans like build back

better

and a realization that humankind has

gone too far in invading areas of

wilderness

impacting biodiversity but will we as

businesses individuals and destinations

use this moment as a turning point to be

more caring about our

impact on ecosystems protecting them

caring for them and using the force for

good of tourism to finance manage and

advocate

for ecosystems worldwide for this we

need to continue to cherish

and nurture our relationship with nature

let’s start with a simple exercise to

reconnect with nature

as many of us continue to be restrained

from traveling at the moment

i ask you to close your eyes and to

think back to a moment on your travels

that made you realize the beauty of our

planet earth its species and that we are

just a tiny part and something much

bigger

that the natural world is absolutely

magical and we are sometimes just too

busy to see it

it might have been on your first dive or

when you encountered a wild animal

or written or witnessed a rare natural

phenomenon or you slept a night under

the stars

maybe it was on a camping trip in your

hometown forest

it doesn’t have to be exotic or far away

but a moment

that you connected to nature and

realized you can’t really put a price

tag on these experiences that make life

worth living and have a long lasting

impact on you

remember what you felt in that moment

how your senses were alive

the thrill and excitement or just the

feeling of content that you experienced

i am sure most of us listening to this

series of tedx talks today have had the

privilege of experiencing nature

in its most beautiful forms and one way

or the other on your trips

and i am sure we would agree that we

would want our friends our families

our children and their children to have

similar experiences

at least it has been this way for me

living in islands or living on ireland

since the past years

i might have given up certain standards

of european life i grew up in

yet in return i was rewarded with more

raw and beautiful moments

beard from bioluminescence in the ocean

at night

watching sea turtles make their way to

the ocean

or having a tiny pilot fish follow me

all along a snorkel

but i have also had these moments in the

heart of europe when i least expected

them

it’s these moments no matter how small

in my work and personal travels

that make me see the potential that

tourism has in safeguarding these

special places on flora and fauna

like many of you i suffer from equal

anxiety but through the means of my work

i have had the privilege to meet many

dedicated passionate people in different

corners of the world

and see that there are examples out

there where tourism can make a

difference

where we can all make a difference

so i decided to continue to stay hopeful

and positive

because when given the chance or with

the right guidance

many businesses many individuals many

communities will decide to do better and

protect ecosystems for their children

and the children of their children

today i wish to make the case for

ecotourism

as a means not only to protect but

restore and regenerate ecosystems and

habitats

and directly provide livelihoods for

communities and thereby educating

visitors and locals

and i would like to emphasize that that

ecotourism is not just a simple fact of

a tourism activity in nature

that refers to respectful tourism that

directly supports conservation and local

communities

the problem in the tourism industry

right now is that

true ecotourism only exists as little

pockets of hope

but that there are few businesses and

few destinations that follow a holistic

approach

that work together instead of against

each other sadly all too often tourism

is mismanaged and can have very

detrimental effects on

ecosystems especially in the context of

small island states we see issues of

marine pollution depletion of natural

resources destruction of habitats and

especially coastal environments due to

tourism infrastructure

short-term thinking with direct negative

effects on flora and fauna

local communities and livelihoods and

many businesses are really lost in

competitive thinking and do not see the

importance of working together for the

greater good of ecosystems

and of course the elephant of in the

room with tourism contributing directly

to climate change

which in turn is already heavily

impacting many destinations around the

world

on the other hand you can find these

rare gems that operate successful

business and

businesses entirely based on respect and

care for nature and local communities

there are ngos like linking tourism and

conservation which have profiled these

examples where you can see that in all

corners of the world we have positive

change makers

that you could utilize ecotourism as a

means to finance manage and educate

about the conservation

in seashells for example there are

private islands which through ecotourism

raised funds for conducting scientific

research reintroduction and safeguarding

of endemic species with a permanent team

of biologists as part of their resort

stuff

some of these resorts actively tackle

their value chain including local

building material growing their own

organic food

bottling their own water eliminating

single-use plastics

there are certain forward-thinking small

island destinations like palau which

have remodeled their approach to tourism

and where eight percent of its gdp

is directly related to responsible shark

diving and palaus marine sanctuaries

and i see this ecotourism magic happen

on a small island off the coast of

zanzibar

as the first privately managed marine

protected area in the world

since 25 years this place finances the

entire protection of a 55 hectare

marine park and 16 hectare forest

reserve with one of the highest species

diversity and health in the region

entirely through a small seven bungalow

ecolodge

43 local staff with on average 12

dependents have all been with the

project for many years

importantly tourism also finances an

environmental education program for

local school children

which brings 350 local kids in the water

every year

who although their islanders have never

seen a coral reef or have never swam

before

seeing the transformation of a child

that is scared to enter the water and

half an hour later smiles from cheek to

cheek

and doesn’t want to leave the ocean

really gives hope

but also in the tourists who immerse in

nature and after they stay

are dedicated to making a difference

sadly many of these examples do not

enjoy the visibility yet that they

deserve and their premise of quality of

a quantity is often of little interest

for tourism investors and politicians

who continue to measure success on the

basis of arrivals

and not in terms of biological diversity

and protection of natural resources

and of course the pandemic has shown

that ecotourism examples

need to strengthen their resilience and

avoid over dependency from tourism

so now we are standing at this crossroad

wanting to rebuild better

even though we have debates about over

tourism carbon emissions

depletion of natural resources my fear

is that change is happening too slow

and that the destructive part of the

tourism industry will continue to

overshadow the immense positive

achievements that exist

when talking about ecosystems we need to

look at the whole picture

and the reality for example in small

island destinations and protected areas

or areas of high ecological value

the truth is that in many cases tourism

is one of the only

or the only sustainable economic

alternative for communities reliant on

this habitat

and it is easy for source markets to

forget this

so we need to reduce our carbon

emissions by traveling more wisely

and by visiting these places that need

tourism to safeguard biodiversity

and to visit them in the best possible

way

leaving our money where it really

matters importantly not sacrificing our

holiday experience

because unfortunately it is still a

common misconception that sustainability

means less comfort or more expense

imagine that on every one of your trips

you have these moments like we

remembered in the beginning of the talk

moments of connecting with nature

with the beauty of our planet learning

something fascinating

meeting a passionate person who shows

you a part of an ecosystem

that you didn’t even know existed this

is what equal

tourism is all about there are

biological

hotspots of universal importance to this

planet which actually through the simple

power of your dollar or eurospend can

protect flora and fauna for the next

generation

it scares me tremendously that my child

might not be able to see certain species

in the wild

or might never show its children a

healthy coral reef

and we can all feel pretty powerless

what might we be able to do so many

kilometers away from these hot spots

well we need to strengthen those players

out there who are fighting hard

to make a difference and we need to

spread the word

now why am i telling you all this

because i am convinced that it works

nature has a power over us which is

difficult to resist once you are truly

confronted with it

because it makes you feel small and puts

you in your place

that there is more to life than a fancy

car or trendy pair of new shoes

now if we can direct our holiday choices

towards more

eco-friendly choices as a collective

we have the power to change the offer

as hospitality businesses we need to

recognize the influence we have a

destination level on policy making

on environmental regulations if we join

forces with other businesses and lobby

for the right courses

which are ultimately also beneficial for

our business

so my goal is for us to build and

support more holistic examples and

create holiday experiences that benefit

everyone

because like always in life we have a

choice

continue our lives or business as usual

or dedicated to creating more pockets of

hope in the world

which collectively can trigger change at

a larger level

we can start on our individual holidays

by opting for hospitality providers that

care

or questioning those that do not care

enough using our purchasing power for

the good

and it continues with the tourism

businesses we work for

and or manage recognizing the important

power we have and capacity to protect

restore

and regenerate ecosystems which

ultimately make our business

more attractive authentic and successful

in the long term

as nature truly is the main attraction

in our travels

[Music]

you