Tourism
1. Tourist impact
- feeding animals
- bringing seeds in clothing/shoes
- scaring dolphins
- trash - ex: waste plastic choking sea lions
- insects on tourist boats are invasive species
- lights on the tourist boats disturb the distribution
of insects on the islands
- motors disturb underwater sea life
2. Native Tourism Employee Impact
- draining resources: fresh water, sand, seafood
- fishing villages > tourist attractions:
restaurants, hotels, etc...
- plants/animals > souvenirs
- when tourism jobs are unavailible, illegal
fishing, or over-fishing, is the next option for natives > capture of
Galapagos penguins, dolphins, flightless cormorants, sea lions, sea iguanas,
sharks for their fins...
3. Rules for Tourists
a) DO NOT take anything with
you - such as plants, animals, remains, or any natural objects
b) DO NOT interact with the animals - no feeding, no
touching, etc...
c) leave NOTHING but footprints - specifically no types
of litter
d) DO NOT throw garbage in the
water, such as off the tourist boats
e) DO NOT bring food or anything living onto the islands,
or between islands
f) DO NOT deface the rocks
g) visit the islands ONLY without a licensed National
Park Guide
h) visit ONLY the permitted areas, and always remain
within these boundaries
i) DO NOT support the use of native plants or animals
for souvenirs by buying them
Sources
Taylor, J. Edward and others. The Economics of Eco-Tourism: A Galapagos
Island Economy-wide Perspective. (May 2004)
<http://www.reap.ucdavis.edu/working_papers/jet-galapagos.pdf>
The Rainforest Alliance. (28 October 2004)
<http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/programs/tourism/index.html>
Grenier, Chriistophe. How Tourism Reduces Earth Diversity and How it
Could be Different: The Galapagos Archipelago and Easter Island Cases.
Environment in a Global Information Society.
<http://egis.cefe.cnrs-mop.fr/Tourism%20Frontpages/grenierabstract.htm>
Galapagos Tourism Case Study. The Trade and Environment Database.
(11 January 1997)
<http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/galapago.htm>
