An Overview Of Wildlife Tourism

An Overview Of Wildlife Tourism It may be high volume mass tourism or low volume and low impact tourism. It may generate high economic returns or low economic returns, be sustainable or unsustainable, domestic or international, and based on day visits or longer stays (Roe et al., 1997). Wildlife tourism includes activities such as bird watching, whale watching, reef diving, gorilla tourism and photographic safari. Wildlife tourism can include interaction with animals in captivity but for the purposes of this paper the narrower definition of wildlife tourism as denoting only human contact with animals in the wild is used. Wildlife tourism is a holiday with a difference. A wildlife tourism holiday offers a different experience for each traveller on each occasion, as the major component of the holiday, the wildlife, is unpredictable. Tourists often feel that they, and they alone, have experienced a particular aspect of an animals behaviour. Wildlife tourism often involves not only seeing rare or exciting animals in their natural habitat, but visiting areas that are difficult to travel to and hence not visited by many tourists. This perceived exclusivity adds to the appeal of wildlife tourism. In the a study reported in the Times, three of the top five Things to Do Before You Die involved an aspect of wildlife tourism (swim with dolphins, whale watching and swim with sharks respectively). For many participants a wildlife holiday will be remembered for many years to come as a holiday with a difference. Trends in Consumer Behaviour that are Catered for by Wildlife Tourism Public interest in conservation and environmental matters is growing. 85% of industrialised world citizens believe that the environment is the most important public issue (Carson and Moulden, 1991). This socio-cultural trend has led to an increase in the demand for ecotourism. Ecotourism is nature-based tourism that involves ecologically sustainable management of natural areas and an interaction with or observance of either flora or fauna. This is precisely what wildlife tourism provides. There has also been a trend towards experiential tourism; that is active, rather than passive travel. People increasingly want to feel that they are participating in and influencing the area they travel to. Wildlife tourism caters for this trend in that tourists often feed or otherwise interact with the wildlife they visit. The major world tourism markets, Europe and North America, are affected by an increase in the proportion of older people in the population. In addition, changes in working practises have meant that people have more flexibility to get longer periods of time off work. The days when gap years were restricted to students are gone. More mature people than before are taking sabbaticals from work or travelling after retirement. Wildlife tourism caters well for these grown up gappers as a longer time frame will allow remote geographical areas to be accessed and increase the chances of a successful wildlife encounter. Management Issues Facing Wildlife Tourism The management issues facing wildlife tourism are twofold, identifying methods of minimising the impact on the wildlife resource itself and ensuring that the tourists receive a valuable experience from the holiday. Sometimes these two aims are mutually exclusive. There are many direct impacts of wildlife tourism on wildlife. They can be divided into categories such as habitat destruction, disturbance of feeding and disease transmission. Each of these categories will now be illustrated with an example. Tourism can contribute to the destruction of wildlife habitat. In the Norfolk Broads, UK, large volumes of boat traffic, especially motor boats, result in considerable boat wash and river bank erosion and undermine on-going efforts to improve the Broads severely impaired water quality and threatened aquatic wildlife (Brouwer et al, 2001). The consequences of erosion can lead to important habitats being lost and the silt from the disappearing banks clogging up the waterways, which further deteriorates water quality. In the Yacatan Peninsula, Mexico, boatloads of tourists were driven into groups of feeding flamingos to make them take flight (Long, 1991, cited in Chin, Moore, Wallington Dowling, 2000). This type of disturbance during feeding can have several effects depending on the magnitude of the disruption. Some birds may take flight temporarily, but return after the disturbance ends. Other birds may modify their feeding habits and desert the site of tourism disturbance permanently. When a bird is unexpectedly forced to take flight during feeding, energy intake terminates and energy expenditure significantly increases. Where disturbance causes a bird to desert a particular site, the availability of suitable alternative sites is critical for the birds survival. Furthermore, the site in which it settles may already be populated or may be of lower quality resulting in lower rates of energy intake. The possible transmission of diseases from humans to animals is a serious threat resulting from the close contact between species that many wildlife tourism experiences involve. It is though that the mountain gorillas of Rwanda are particularly affected. Humans and gorillas share about 97% of their genetic makeup and they are therefore susceptible to many of the same diseases. These include tuberculosis, influenza, measles, polio and intestinal parasites (Cameron). The single population of 300 mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes is particularly badly affected. More than seventy tourists and a similar number of guides, porters, rangers and researchers visit seventy percent of the gorillas in this population daily. There have been several outbreaks of disease that can probably be attributed to humans. This includes an epidemic in 1988 in which six habituated gorillas died of respiratory illness and twenty-seven more became ill. Methods of managing these and other negative effects on wildlife caused by wildlife tourism include restricting the number of tours allowed, education and finally licensing, and thereby controlling, the activities of tour groups. The most popular example of restricting the number of tours allowed is that of the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, which were protected in 1934. In the Galapagos Islands parts of the islands are designated as Intensive Visitor Zones, where a maximum of ninety people are allowed simultaneously on shore. The Extensive Visitor Zones are open to groups of less than twelve individuals (de Groot, 1983). Education of operators and tourists about appropriate behaviour to adopt in the presence of wildlife is another method of managing the negative impacts of wildlife tourism on the animals involved. A code of conduct can be distributed to tour operators and publicly displayed in the local area. Tourist education can develop a demand-lead requirement for responsible tour groups. Licensing of tour companies is a method of minimising the impact of wildlife tourism. Licensing is often dependent on compliance with particular regulations, such as minimum approach distances. Many whale watching regulations specify a minimum approach distance of 100m (Brouwer et al, 2001). The choice of type of management depends on the nature of the target species and the severity of the impacts on them. An analysis of the impacts of the specific wildlife tourism would be required before a management method was selected. As well as managing the needs of the wildlife by minimising wildlife tourisms impact on them, tourism managers, of course, need to consider the needs of the tourists. Tourists want a wildlife watching experience that is both enjoyable and informative. The skills and knowledge of tour operators add to the experience of wildlife tourists and so should be maximised. Wildlife tourism is inherently seasonal. Most species act differently according to the season. The best example of this is migration. The Great Migration is the movement of over a million wildebeest between the Masai Mara and the Serengeti plains. There are numerous wildlife tourism opportunities presented by this, but there are of course dependent on the timing of the migration. The migration usually occurs May to June, but this can be affected by rainfall, which in turn affect availability of vegetation. Wildlife tourism management involves understanding the environmental influences on species behaviour and how this will affect tourism opportunities. Wildlife tourists also want to get close up to the wildlife (Orams, 2000). Managers of wildlife tourism need to attempt to ensure predictable occurrence of species within a relatively restricted area. Managers of wildlife tourism need to carefully integrate visitors and wildlife through management of their interactions whilst still ensuring damage to the species is limited. Managers of wildlife tourism also need to ensure that there are other activities to keep tourists amused for times when wildlife does not co-operate with tour schedules. There needs to be an awareness of either other geographical locations that can be utilised to view the same wildlife or other species that can be more easily located. Back to: Essay Examples Conclusion Wildlife tourism offers a holiday with a difference. It caters for emerging tourism trends, particularly ecotourism, experiential tourism and longer duration holidays. There are two main management issues facing wildlife tourism. These are minimising the impact of tourism on the species involved and ensuring that wildlife tourists receive a quality experience. The particular management strategies that can be utilised depend upon the species involved and the severity of the impacts upon that species. Bibliography Akama, J. (1996). Western environmental values and nature-based tourism in Kenya, Tourism Management, 17, (8), p567-574. An overview of apes in Africa Gorilla Taxonomy. 2000. http://www.berggorilla.de/english/gjournal/texte/21butyn.html (25 Mar. 2005) Boo, E. (1990). Ecotourism: the potentials and pitfalls. Washington D.C: World Wildlife Fund. Brouwer, R, Turner R.K Voisey, H. (2001) Public perception of overcrowding and management alternatives in a multi-purpose open access resource Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 9, (6), p471-488. Caalders, J van de Duim, R. (2002). Biodiversity and tourism: impacts and interventions, Annals of Tourism Research, 29, (3), p743-761. Cameron, K. Providing healthcare to a wild gorilla population The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. http://www.azadocents.org/The_Mountain_Gorilla_Veterinary_Project.pdf (27 Mar. 2005) Carson, P Moulden, J. (1991). Green is Gold: Business Talking to Business About the Environmental Revolution, Toronto, Harperbusiness. Chin, C et al. (2000). Ecotourism in Bako National Park, Borneo: visitors perspectives on environmental impacts and their management, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 8, (1), p20-35. Curry, B et al. (2001). Modelling impacts of wildlife tourism on animal communities: a case study from Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 9, (6), p514-529. de Groot, R.S. (1983). Tourism and conservation in the Galapagos Islands. Biological Conservation 26, p291-300. Gorillas are my patients BBC Science. 2002. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/gorilla.shtml (27 Mar. 2005) Ingham, R and Summers, D. (2000). Cruise ship tourism in the Falkland Islands UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum. http://www.ukotcf.org/pdf/calpe/calpe106-124.pdf (25 Mar. 2005) MaLellan, L. (1999). An examination of wildlife tourism as a sustainable form of tourism development in North West Scotland, International Journal of Tourism Research, 5, p375-287. Mathieson, A Wall, G. (1992). Tourism: economic, physical and social impacts. Harlow: Longman. Murphy, P. (1991). Tourism: a community approach. New York and London: Routledge. Orams, M. (2002). Feeding wildlife as a tourism attraction: a review of issues and impacts, Tourism Management, 23, p281-293. Orams, M. (1999). Marine tourism: developments, impacts and management. New York and London: Routledge. Priskin, J. (2001). Assessment of natural resources for nature-based tourism: the case of the Central Coast Region of Western Australia, Tourism Management, 22, p637-648. Reynolds, P Braithwaite, D. (2001). Towards a conceptual framework for wildlife tourism, Tourism Management, 22, p31-42. Shackley, M. (1995). The future of gorilla tourism in Rwanda, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 3, (2) p61-73 Shackley, M. (1996). Wildlife Tourism. London: International Thompson Business Press. UK background factsheet The Orangutan Foundation. http://www.orangutan.org.uk/history/ (10 Mar. 2005)

Reflection of Tuesday with Morrie Essay

Through the movie and book, I asked myself–if I had ever been through what Morrie’s had, could I stay in peace like him or teach others about life lesson? He, not only suffered from ALS, but also lost dearest mother then his younger brother had polio. If I were he, how will I deal with that unfortunes? I think I’ll feel timid, negative, and have a gloomy personality. But, Morrie didn’t. He later on became a successful professor and a good husband and father, who always gave his love to people generously. Sometimes I doubted. How can he take everything so easy? Doesn’t he think god is unfair to him or why I am the one who deserve this? Why didn’t he become angry or complained all the time? I finally got my answer when I realized that he didn’t pretend that he did not care what hurt him. He accepted all the bad things, and also embraces the negative emotion . He experiences these feelings and said, â€Å"Yes, it is sadness† Or â€Å"Yes, it is depression.† and let them go. I really envy how optimistic he was. Every time I had in great depression, I just didn’t know what to do except take it or release by shouting or crying to my family and friends. I rarely think of any way out. Morrie’s strongest support came from his strong faith in love. When Mitch was a college student, one day Morrie mentioned â€Å"the tension of opposites†. The old professor said,â€Å" A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live in the middle in the society.† Sounds like a wrestling match, Mitch says. â€Å"A wrestling match.† He laughs, â€Å"Yes, you could describe life that way.† So which side wins, M itch asks† Morrie smiles at Mitch, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth. â€Å"Love wins. Love always wins.† Love, a word people nowadays hear over thousands time everyday. In nowadays, instead of love, the world is still flooded by money, power, and fear. To those people, it is meaningless word. In order to solve this problem, Morrie has a great idea: creating your own culture, investing in people. He means finding your true meaning of life, don’t just believe what the society tells you, and always care about people you love. He is absolutely right! People want to figure out what they are pursuing. In other words, life is an eternity course, but only some succeed. We might get lost in life, so we need somebody by our side, and it must be someone we trust or love. Sadly, most of time we took them for granted, we never think they might leave us some day—some die, or disappear, then we lose them with regrets. It is an awful repetition. Think about it, how many people who ever played important roles in your life? After watching the movie, I thought of some friends of mime, we had great time before, but I never heard any news of them after high school or college. World is like a big garden without gravity and human beings are flowers there. If roots are not deep and strong enough, then the plants will gradually lose the grab of earth and float in the air. Most of flowers have no determination to root in fertile soil, so they lost their directions and live without nourishment, withering soon. The soil is actually love, what Morrie never let go of in his days. No wonder he was always in blossom. Though he passed away, he never disappeared. Just like his words, if people remember him, then he’ll always by their sides. His body withered but his spirit transformed into the rich soil, spread his belief and love to us.

Philosophies of Education Essay

There are different theories that govern the procedure of learning among students today. Likely, because of the modern culture learning, the said theories are now changed towards the possibility of supporting the modern needs and demands of the students today. Such theories include the philosophies of idealism, realism, neo-thomism, experimentalism and existentialism. Each philosophy addresses different aspects of an individual’s learning and also presents different ways of approaching the subject of education. Idealism  The philosophy of idealism stresses the belief that ideas are the sole truth and the only real things that are worth knowing. Everything that is in this world are mere shadows and distorted images of a more genuine, a more real world. There is a world of ideas on which this world is based and it is only that world which is worth knowing. Proponents of this philosophy focus on the mind and intellectual mechanisms of students. The world of ideas, in the educational setting, becomes the world of the mind. This means an emphasis on fields dealing with symbols and ideas such as history, literature, art, and the like. Realism The philosophy of realism espouses the belief not in a world of ideas but rather in a world of things and beings. Truth, for the realist, is found in observable facts. This means that the realist believes in the world as we see it. The strength of the laws of nature are emphasized. The realist student relies on his or her senses. Learning is thus geared towards fields like math, chemistry, physics, biology, and the like. Neo-Thomism Neo-thomism believes that reality is the universal truth of God. Reality is something that is eternal and unchanging to the neo-thomist. Reality, or universal truth, is only revealed through holy text, such as the Scriptures or through revelations of a divine nature. Although it is only through these two mechanisms that reality can be learned, neo-thomists assert that truth is always supported by human reason. Experimentalism Experimentalism believes in a continuously changing world. Reality, for experimentalists, is what an individual experiences at every precise moment. Experimentalists discover reality through testing and group decisions. An experimentalist student would thus be viewed as an individual who is able to experience different things and coming into contact with other individuals who either add, do nothing, or detract from the said experiences. Emphasis is placed on fields such as sociology, political science, psychology, and other such socially driven fields as well as fields that deal with problem-solving. Existentialism Lastly, existentialism is discussed. This philosophy, originating from the likes of Sartre and Kierkegaard, believes in one’s own interpretation of everything that is around him or her. An individual is able to set for himself or herself a standard for reality and truth. Also, because the individual has this freedom, he or she also has the responsibility over his or her decisions and actions. Reality is, for the true existentialist, subjective. There is no one truth because everyone has their own version of truths and realities. Existentiallist students are free to learn what they want. Discussion is not structured in an existentialist school. Educational Implications of other Philosophies of Education It is undeniable that many of the philosophies of education have had varying impacts and implications on education as a whole. Some of the many theories that have done so include existentialism, behaviorism, perennialism, essentialism, and reconstruction. Existentialsim Existentialism believes in a relative world where every individual is free to create his or her own standards of truth and reality. Because of the propagation of this belief, education has expanded. Curricula are no longer based solely on the scientific method, in symbols, or in the words of a few significant individuals in history. Rather, learning has also become about dialogue between the student and the teacher. It is no longer rare to find teachers believing that they too have learned something from their students. This development is rooted in the principles of existentialism. Teachers are able to see that students are not merely empty vessels waiting to be filled with knowledge. Rather, they are also capable of setting their own versions of reality and of creating their own truths. This is why there are now many classrooms encouraging discourse and free expression. Behaviorism The philosophy of behaviorism emphasizes an individual’s nature to be conditioned, at an early age, to act in particular ways. Students are viewed through the mechanisms of stimulus-response. Behaviorism is behind the educational system’s drive of teaching through modeling and of teaching through a strict implementation of schedules. Rules and regulations in education as well as punishments that come from not following them are based on stimulus-response mechanisms. The most popular impact behaviorism has had on education is the use of grades as a form of reward for those who achieve well in school. Perennialism, as an educational philosophy, espouses a strict and inflexible form of education. It is the philosophy of perennialism that espoused the importance of rational thinking and reasoning. The structure of education, today, is based on the rigidity and conservatism of perennialism. Disciplining of the learner’s behavior in order to achieve reason is a common practice in today’s education and is based on perennialist form. Teaching through structured lessons, controlled teacher-led discussions and class drills are also a few examples of the palpable impacts perennialism has had on education. Essentialism Essentialists believe that there are certain specific skills that an individual must gain in order to have a rational life. The impact of essentialism is clear in today’s educational curricula. There are set subjects for students to learn and basic topics that are believed to be essential in rational living. The basics of reading, writing and math, for example, are never left out of learning. The emphasis education has had on such fundamental concepts are all a result of the teachings of the essentialists. Reconstruction Finally, education has also been impacted by the philosophy of reconstruction. This philosophy revolves on the concept of constant change. The world is constantly changing and humans have to constantly change in order to keep up. The greatest impact it has had on education is the way educators have handled other aspects of the field. Intelligence, for example, is now studied through a multi-dimensional eyepiece. There are now alternative learning procedures developed for the purposes of learners that fall outside the norm. There is more freedom to change educational machinations because of the concepts espoused by reconstruction.

The Effects Of Global Warming On The Environment - 1175 Words

Global warming, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, â€Å"refers to the recent and ongoing rise in global average temperature near Earth s surface.† Effects of human influence on the environment has long been a cause of concern regarding the disturbance of the â€Å"natural order.† Although a cycle which results in the periodic increase and decrease of the average global temperature has long been known to exist, due to new data suggesting the substantial and relatively recent spike in global temperatures, the idea that humans have become major contributors to the increase of temperature is now widely accepted. Our inability to find a solution to the effects of climate change has resulted in the evident deterioration of our environment. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/basics/ Causes of global warming spans from as early back as the late 1700’s, during the advent of the Industrial revolution; America was just beginning to revolutioniz e manufacturing. 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