Staff. (2022, August 17). Report: Pollution from sediment in Lake Tahoe reduced by 600K Pounds in 2021. TahoeDailyTribune.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023, from https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/report-pollution-from-sediment-in-lake-tahoe-reduced-by-600k-pounds-in-2021/ 

The article “Pollution from the sediment in Lake Tahoe reduced by 600k Pounds in 2021” is exactly what the title is. Thousands of pounds of pollution have been reduced, many of which from people and others from fires. Tahoe gets around 15 million visitors yearly, most to explore the wildlife and partake in outdoor activities. Besides human activity, phosphorus, and nitrogen levels have significantly decreased and reduced to a healthy amount, lessening the number of algae growing in the lakes, causing the clarity level to be 61 feet.

It is without a doubt that Tahoe is one of the most visited places in California and Nevada and a commonly traveled destination for other people in other states. Tahoe has a lot of things to offer to many tourists, which brings many people to visit. With around 15 million people visiting Tahoe annually, it would be detrimental to the environment. The pollution levels are very high due to ecotourism and fires, which must be dealt with to maintain the lovely city healthily. Helping reduce pollution would help, but it is also up to the tourists to be responsible for their waste. All the emissions from transportation alone make up much of the pollution, so figuring out ways to lessen the carbon footprint is needed.

Rennie, K. (2022, September 20). Can Environmental Conservation and tourism exist together harmoniously? Global Voices. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://globalvoices.org/2022/09/20/can-environmental-conservation-and-tourism-exist-together-harmoniously/ 

In the article “A green Yellowstone keeps the local economies in the black,” we understand how the great floodings in Yellowstone national park have affected ecotourism by dropping the percentage by 90%. Businesses were shut down due to flooding, and over 60 million dollars worth of infrastructure damages came with the floods. The number of habits, housing, and businesses affected would’ve affected tourism and overall profits. Essential companies like hotels, gas stations, recreation industries, restaurants, and transportation, to name a couple, were heavily influenced and impacted life for the locals.

In a disaster like a big flood, it would be beneficial to support the people affected. In this case, it is hard. It is tough when the primary revenue accumulated is all by ecotourism, and having the yearly season canceled greatly affects the locals and the restoration process. A lot of profits for the park and people have been cut drastically, and necessities for people have been cut too. Not allowing them to get gas, food, and overall transportation could be detrimental to their lives, and the people that lost their businesses and homes have it way harder.

Rennie, K. (2022, September 20). Can Environmental Conservation and tourism exist together harmoniously? Global Voices. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://globalvoices.org/2022/09/20/can-environmental-conservation-and-tourism-exist-together-harmoniously/ 

In “Can Environmental Conservation and tourism exist together harmoniously?” we learn about some of the downsides and benefits of ecotourism. They claim that ecotourism promotes education and awareness about endangered animals and climate change, improving local life quality and understanding and sensitivity towards other cultures. These benefits are overtaken by the negatives, which are the excess pollution emitted, like carbon in our air, and creating a big divide between cultures/people. The article goes more into depth about the cons of ecotourism and its effects.

 The last quote of the article from Architect and engineer Smith Mordak pretty much sums up the writer’s opinion about the idea of ecotourism, “Ecotourism is an oxymoron [seemingly self-contradictory]. Trying to fix environmental degradation with tourism is like trying to fix a black eye with a right hook.”. The way that we partake in ecotourism is very irresponsible. If we want to preserve and maintain precious lands, we should do it differently now. There would have to be more measures to prevent disruptions in our environments.

Depillis, L. (2022, December 10). Wish you were here. ignore the floods and fires. The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/business/new-mexico-climate-change-wildfires-floods.html 

The article “Wish you were here. Ignore the floods and fires” discusses the effects of climate change, like floods and forest fires that have significantly impacted many people’s lives in New Mexico. We hear how people are negatively affected by disasters and their struggles to make any profit during the disasters and the aftermaths. The needed efforts to promote more ecotourism to help the people and the land survive such tragedies. It would help them by having money go towards land restoration and damages to the people’s lives.

The idea of ecotourism helping to pay for damages and support people is a great and healthy way to receive support. There could be a lot of downsides to ecotourism, but one that always benefits the land and locals is the economic benefits. In a crisis, like a wildfire or a flood, damages need to be covered because many things are lost in the aftermath. Often, these events claim the lives of many stuck in these disasters or help stop them.

• University of Portsmouth. (n.d.). Ecotourism is having a negative effect on primate’s behavior. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220425104845.htm

The act of ecotourism in Malaysia is causing the proboscis monkeys to become more stressed and angry. When tourists approach them in their boats with loud motors, the noise makes the monkeys stressed and makes them hide away in the deep forest, leaving them to be more vulnerable to predators. This is an issue because it disrupts the way the monkeys live and gives them unnecessary stress that the tourists give them. The monkeys also get more aggressive, especially the males.

The monkeys being bothered could really affect their ecosystem since they will become more vulnerable to predators. This will lead there to fewer monkeys and it could seriously affect their ecosystem because they play their own part which is helping the vegetation around them thrive. Environmental science ties into this because the ecosystem is being interrupted causing the environment itself to progressively get worse. I believe that places like that where wildlife is present, shouldn’t be available to the public because people can affect the behavior of wildlife. 

• Parekh, V. (2022, August 31). Hidden truths of ecotourism: Colombian case study. UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/sustainable/hidden-truths-ecotourism-colombian-case-study

The article is about Tyrona National Park in Columbia. We are introduced to the term “Green Grabbing”, “which is the transfer of ownership from local communities to either the government or private sector under the banner of environmentalism” (Parekh, 2020). In this case, some groups decided to take over the land that was there before and use it to market and produce drugs like marijuana. Ninety percent of the park is owned by a private group. This affected the ecotourism that once inhabited the park.

This article discusses a different but similar link with the industry by having to capitalize on the parks for their own success. This is very different from the rest because the park/land is being used to make a profit off of something else that is not the park. This ties into more of the economic side of Environmental Science because it is using natural resources to benefit others. I do not agree with the use of the land. I believe that it should be controlled by the government, like in the US, where the government controls the national parks, etc.

• O’Donnell, D. (2022, May 26). CATALYST – The Downside of Ecotourism. CATALYST. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://catalyst.cm/stories-new/2019/11/26/the-downside-of-ecotourism

The ecotourist harms the areas around us, causing overpopulation n some places. The amount of carbon emissions made from air travel is 5%. Tourists in the ecotourist area use way more natural resources than locals living there. A place mentioned that is negatively affected by ecotourism is Macchu Picchu. The amount of waste made by tourists causes a lot of problems, from the trash they leave behind, to the waste they make. The land is overpopulated with numbers only increasing over time.

The area in Macchu Picchu is heavily affected by ecotourism which is causing it to have many problems. There isn’t much that benefits the land or Peru, besides the money they receive. A place like Macchu Picchu will not last very long with the number of people going and causing harm. I believe that this ties into environmental science because the number of people going is really affecting the environment. The environment will be seriously in danger unless more precautions are made to limit the number of people going and visiting.

• Revfine.com. (2022, May 14). Ecotourism: What it is, Advantages & Disadvantages, Examples & More. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://www.revfine.com/ecotourism/

We learn about the many pros and cons of Ecotourism’s effect on nature. The article opens up by discussing the purpose behind ecotourism, which is to raise awareness to our environment. Then discusses the pros, which are that it promotes more attention and action towards wildlife preservation, and often, the money spent in ecotouristic locations is distributed amongst the community and the care for the wildlife. Some cons listed as well were that it can affect the wildlife’s behavior, driving indigenous and local communities away from the location, and ignoring ecotourism conservation practices. The article closes by telling us how to be a proper Eco-Tourist.

The idea of ecotourism affects the wildlife to either benefit or get worse over time, as explained in the article. Ecotourism could disrupt the ecosystem if precautions aren’t followed. In Environmental Science, we learn the dangers that humans have and could cause to the planet, ecotourism ties into that because we learn what we do that can affect the environment. I believe that the cons stand out more than the pros. We affect the wildlife more than benefit it and there should be more precautions and limits for people when it comes to ecotourism. Many people ignore the conservation practices (like keeping the area clean, no smoke, no loud noises, etc.) resulting in the disruption of the ecosystem, people will remain ignorant of the wildlife as it gets progressively worse.

• What Is Ecotourism and How to Plan Your Next Trip. (2022, July 27). Unsustainable. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://www.unsustainablemagazine.com/what-is-ecotourism-plan-your-trip/

The positive impacts of Ecotourism are supporting local communities and cultural literacy. The act of ecotourism helps bring more job opportunities to indigenous people and supports the community in which they live. It helps the idea of cultural literacy which is learning about the cultures surrounding the location. However, ecotourism still causes some issues, it ruins the environment. The demand for going to these eco-touristic locations causes issues with the locals and the wildlife there, often affected by consumer culture. 

I believe that environmental science ties into this because it shows how sometimes nature can be disrupted by our human footprint, affecting places negatively, and drifting wildlife and even other people away. Although the act of ecotourism has some benefits, I believe that there are more negatives than positives. It is nice that people are helping the environment in the process of ecotourism, but the harm they also do overlooks the good things that come out of it. Oftentimes, wildlife behavior is affected by our human footprint in these ecotourism locations. As said in the article, consumer cultures marketed toward tourists exploit natural resources and wildlife.