Daniel Kaul, founder and chief executive of educational travel company Natucate, says operators must do all they can to ensure the natural world is in a better position than it was before they started operating
Whether humans can coexist with the natural world is the question of our time. The exploding human population, with its need for food, medicine, energy and shelter, is placing an unprecedented strain on our natural world. As a result, the way we satisfy these needs is rightly subject to increasing amounts of scrutiny.
The way we satisfy our need for travel cannot be exempt from this examination. When managed correctly, tourism can support livelihoods and bring us closer to the planet we call home. When managed incorrectly, it can wreak havoc.
Earlier this year, the UN unanimously adopted the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST), a global standard for measuring the environmental impact of tourism. We now have a standard through which we can measure ourselves. At this year’s COPs, it’s our collective responsibility to prove we can live up to it.
Many may argue that the solution is easy; stop traveling. However, human nature isn’t that simple. The clues are in our roots; early humans were nomadic, constantly seeking out new areas that may offer food, resources or safety. In modern times, we depend on travel for trade, cultural exchange and social interaction. Travel is as innate to us as sleep and speech.
As long as humans exist, the travel industry will exist too. Yet with an ever-growing population, and an even faster expanding middle class, satisfying the human travel instinct is stretching our precious natural resources.
After all, the travel industry owes its existence to nature. What would a trip to the beach be without the squawk or a sea-bird overhead? What would a hiking trip be without the trees, bugs and creatures we see along the way? Nearly all tourism products rely, in some way, on the natural world. Protecting nature is therefore an act of sheer self-preservation for the industry.
I work in the tourism sector because I know it can be a force for good. Tourism provides crucial income for local communities, conservation areas and NGOs. It can lead to the development and investment in vital infrastructure. It gives us a greater reason to preserve and restore some of our most treasured cultural artefacts. It exposes us to those who live, think and speak differently to us. Finally and crucially, it can turn us into custodians of the natural world upon which we rely.
Take Thailand. The contribution of tourism to Thailand’s GDP grew from $21.9 billion in 2000, to $117.5 billion in 2019. Tourism funds have helped to preserve famous landmarks such as the Ayutthaya and Sukhothai temples. Events like the Loy Krathong and Songkran festivals attract tourists from around the world to help keep these Thai traditions alive.
Thailand’s success story is not unique. Tourism has played a vital role in sustaining the development of many communities, and nations, across the globe.
However, like any human endeavour, poorly managed tourism can have a catastrophic impact on the local areas. Take the Great Barrier Reef. The famous bleaching of the reefs is in part caused by global temperature rise. However, the presence of divers, snorkelling and tour boats have had an outsized impact on the destruction of what was once a natural wonder of the world. Beyond the catastrophic natural loss, some estimate that the bleaching of the coral reef could cause an estimated $1 billion in lost tourism.
The Great Barrier Reef is not alone; poorly managed overtourism has disrupted the fragile ecosystem in the famous Galapagos islands once visited by Darwin, while herds of visitors have irreparably damaged the soils of Ecuador’s Machu Picchu.
This year presents the tourism industry with an opportunity to assert itself as part of the solution to biodiversity loss. Both COP 16 (focussed on biodiversity) and COP 29 (focussed on wider climate breakdown), must be used as an opportunity for the industry to prove it can exist in harmony with the natural world upon which it relies.
What is to be done? Tourism operators themselves must do everything in their power to ensure that the natural world is in the same, if not better, position than it was before they started operating. This means thorough biodiversity assessments of their local area. It means not using caged animals for entertainment. It means having strict traveller quotas, especially in biologically fragile areas. Furthermore, it means supporting wildlife, not merely extracting value from it.
Governments must play their part too. Protecting crucial areas is a good place to start, as long as these conservation initiatives involve, and don’t exclude, the rights and voices of local communities. Imposing visitor caps in peak seasons can also go a long way in protecting the regions that we so desperately need to protect.
Of course, power ultimately lands in the hands of travellers. We mustn’t be ashamed of our instinct to travel. However, we do have a responsibility to do our due diligence on any area we are visiting. Are we using a reputable tour operator? We are leaving no trace when we travel? Are we treating animals and plant life with care, respect and solidarity?
The United Nations’ new standard for assessing tourism may well mark a paradigm shift towards a more unified, global approach to measuring tourism’s impact on biodiversity.
Setting a standard is one thing. Following it is another. This new standard has given the world a microscope through which it can assess the real natural impact of the tourism industry. Now it’s our job to make sure they like what they see.