In recent years tourism has grown and ever more people travel to discover new places on our Planet. In particular, ecotourism has grown massively in the last years. At its core ecotourism promotes conservation and respect for the environment and culture we visit, supporting and contirbuting towards the economic emancipation of local communities.
However, tourists can unknowingly become involved in activities which involve heavily exploiting wildlife.
Orang utans, tigers, lions, barbary macaques and other monkeys, turtles, dolphins...the list of species that are exploited for the benefit of tourists is long. behind a souvenir, a selfie, experiences in contact with wild animals there is often a history of exploitation: from poaching to illegal trade, intensive breeding, abuse, removal of teetch and de-clawing, with little regard for animal welfare.
It is very important to be aware tourists: inform yourself before and while you travel can help avoiding becoming funders of such exploitative activities.
Tourists are ultimately the end consumers of these activities, and therefore they have the power to influence, limit and lastly put to end these practices.
We've spoken with Sian Waters from BMAC (Barbary Macaque Awareness and Conservation), an organization in Morocco that safeguards barbary macaques and their environment. Sian has a long experience in the impact of exploitation for tourism on animal welfare, particularly primates.
A.R.C.A. Foundation and Parco Natura Viva have supported for years the work of Sian and BMAC, they also took part in the Just say no, campaign with the aim of raising awareness among tourists on the impact that their actions can have on wildlife.
