Deep in The Peruvian Amazon, the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Protected Area, boasts enormous biodiversity – pink dolphins, occasional monkeys, giant river otters, reptiles and hundreds of birds and different types of plants. It is also one of the most outstanding examples of the government recognizing that protecting the environment does not require keeping people away. Instead, humans can coexist with nature and assist protect it.
The protected status of the region is partially confirmed by research conducted by tourists.
Biologist Richard Bodmer welcomes visitors to his research station on the Yarapa River, on a strip of indigenous territory between Tamshiyacu Tahuayo and another area co-managed by indigenous communities, the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, to assist track wildlife and other ecosystem data for decades. His guests come thanks to a partnership with Earthwatch Expeditions, a tour company that connects people with scientists carrying out long-term research projects around the world and invites them to engage in “participatory science.” Earthwatch organizes almost two dozen trips: including: to study the ecosystems of polar bears in the Arctic, whooping cranes in Texas, trees in Acadia National Park, and huge mammals in Kenya.
In the Amazon, research guides daily activities over a (usually) eight-day journey. Participants sleep on a restored ship that was first brought to the region in the early 19th century to transport rubber. Solar energy is used to power air conditioning and heat water for showers. The goal, Bodmer says, is to support conservation strategies that simultaneously protect ecosystems and the people who rely on them. An additional advantage is that economic activity directly related to keeping ecosystems intact helps remind the government that effective conservation has value in itself.
Each evening, participants define research goals: they choose a specific animal to study, in a specific place and within a specific radius, during a specific time period. Looking for parrots and other birds means taking a miniature boat up or down the river. “We were there watching and waiting,” says Jared Katz, a psychotherapist from Vermont who joined the Earthwatch trip with his wife, Jennifer Jewiss, earlier this year. “One of us held the GPS and gave us the coordinates for each of the stops we had made that morning, and someone else had a clipboard and a grid to record the data. The rest of us (and these two too) watched the flight.”
Over time, data collection has led to a better understanding of the ecosystem. For example, Bodmer says, birds moving around where they perch can suggest changes in the waterscape; Recent flooding in this region appears to be having an impact on primates, which are less likely to move through treetops than ground-dwelling animals.
What makes Bodmer’s Amazon riverboat expedition unique is that travelers spend time in a region that is now protected by the government and managed by indigenous peoples – thanks in part to the discoveries of his previous research groups.
Real environmental friendliness ecotourism is very diverse. Overall, small-scale operations, local ownership and community engagement are key, says Gyan Nyaupane, who studies ecotourism, protected area management and indigenous peoples and serves as director of the Center for Sustainable Tourism at Arizona State University.
And while the easiest way to minimize carbon footprints and protect natural resources is to not travel, and often the most appropriate way to connect with remote communities is to leave them alone, the reality is that governments care about economic development. “What is the best approach to economic development? Is it better to mine these places or build dams and clear the land for agriculture?” says Nyaupane. “Ecotourism is probably more sustainable than any other extractive industry.”