Integrating Marine Conservation Efforts Along Tourist Trails

May 16

Marine conservation is particularly important in popular tourist destinations, where the influx of visitors can put a lot of pressure on delicate ecosystems. However, tourists themselves can play a role in supporting conservation efforts.

This article will look at how we can engage travers with more eco-conscious behaviors, for example, sharing how an activity such as hiking the Fisherman’s Trail could be a healthy and sustainable alternative.

Challenges of Marine Conservation in Tourist Areas

Marine ecosystems in tourist areas face an array of challenges, such as pollution, habitat destruction and overexploitation of resources. The increased human presence and activities in sensitive coastal and marine areas can disrupt the delicate balance of these ecosystems, leading to long-term damage. The extra demands on local infrastructure can also lead to things like waste ending up in the ocean, or more oil due to cruises and boats docking in the area.

Striking a balance between enjoying tourist activities and preserving the natural environment is tricky. Sometimes, the most sustainable thing to do is just to stay at home, but that’s no solution…instead, we must learn how to travel more sustainably.

Strategies for Integration

Integrating marine conservation into tourist trails can be done in a few ways.

Educational programs can be developed to raise awareness among tourists about the importance of marine conservation and how to be a responsible tourist. These programs can be delivered in interesting ways.
While you can simply invite visitors to interactive workshops and guided tours, informative displays and signage can be a powerful tool as well. It’s important to have signage on guidelines for wildlife interaction at sites of interest, communicating the importance of maintaining a safe distance from marine animals and avoiding feeding them. This is usually done through signage, but could be something that local hotels and guides can promote as well.
Social media can also be used as a communications tool. For instance, you can create and use content on the topic to share information about the marine and coastal biodiversity, targeting tourists and overseas folk who have taken an interest in the area (i.e. related travel pages).
Engaging tourists in citizen science initiatives, such as reporting sightings of endangered species or pollution incidents, can be done through mobile apps, which can contribute a lot to conservation efforts.
To go a step further, such initiatives could gamifying the experience through tourist-related apps as a way to expose tourists to conservation in a fun and exciting way.

Tourist Involvement in Conservation Efforts

Tourists can feel as though they’re helpful rather than harmful to marine conservation efforts in a few ways. Participating in organized beach clean-up drives is a simple yet effective way to remove litter and debris from coastal areas - something we’re seeing more of around the world. In fact, many of these begin as tourist-driven groups, but eventually attract locals too.

Tourists can also support conservation by choosing sustainable tourism operators that adhere to environmentally friendly practices, as well as avoiding certain fuel-based transport. For example, a long walking trail along the Portuguese coast where no car is used has very little negative impact on the environment. Plus, you can combine litter-picking with the trail as a bonus, and/or reporting sightings of certain species.

Conclusion

Integrating marine conservation efforts along tourist trails is essential for protecting the health and biodiversity of marine ecosystems. By being proactive in engaging tourists in conservation initiatives, it’ll be possible to inform travelers of their environmental footprint and share learnings that they can take home with them.

Sea Going Green is a sustainable tourism consultancy that works closely together with the public and private sector to develop tourism experiences that are authentic, environmentally-focused and culturally in tune with host communities.

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