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