Ecotourism - a dilemma

 When I was sitting in the first class for my marine naturalist training, the speakers that day talked about Place. Place in the San Juan Islands is predicated on the unique ecosystem that is found here. One of the speakers talked briefly about ecotourism as an important part of the local economy. She spoke about ecotourism as a positive force that helps people appreciate aspects of the natural environment. In the San Juan Islands this has everything to do with the killer whales, our resident (and transient) Orcas. But I wondered about the increasing impact of the tourist industry in this area just as I wondered what qualified any tour operator to be "ecotourist" friendly.
So I started doing some research on ecotourism as an industry.

As you can imagine, promoting travel based on the natural environment, native species/habitat, or indigenous populations has had - and can have - incredible impact on those resources, cultures, and communities. Look back to the early days of Yellowstone National Park, the Galapagos Islands more recently, and any number of regions that promote tourist activity today in and near awe-inspiring ecosystems, and we see loss of those resources, damage and erosion, and irrevocable changes brought on by the infrastructures needed to support the tourist activities. And yes, we see conservation, education and research dollars created as well.

Governance and management over these resources are doing their best to balance protecting the resources and helping the public engage with that resource. Engagement is critical to the protection of these natural resources because people support (with their dollars) what they have a connection to - what they feel part of. However, it is equally impossible to keep large numbers of humans from having a detrimental impact on those resources.

Ecotourism - just the word itself - causes part of the problem. No one agrees on a definition. And yet, everyone (who benefits from its marketing power) uses the term to get people to use their services. Ecotourism often means one thing to a customer (tourist) and something else to the service provider. Also, Ecotourism is socially constructed - which basically means that it is a term that is going to mean something different in varied corners of the country and larger world.

As I sat pondering ecotourism in the San Juan Islands, especially how it relates to  unique habitats and species that make their homes here, I wondered what our regional definition is.

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) put this definition out in 2015:
Ecotourism is "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people and involves interpretation and education."

One of the main principals that TIES puts out is that authentic ecotourism has minimal impact on the resources that are the subject of the tourist activity. It is also interesting to note that "interpretation and education" are explicitly highlighted as key to ecotourism.

How then, can the whale watching industry claim to be an ecotourism activity? Sure, they have naturalist often on board to educate - but their impact is not minimal. (UW News Summary).

This is a dilemma: On the one hand, the efforts to engage the public in appreciating the various whales that use the Salish Sea as prime habitat has promoted changes in policy and protection for not only whales but salmon species and other habitats throughout our region. Naming the whales, promoting research and sharing that research has brought in critical funding to protect the whole ecosystem. Standing on the bow of a whale watching tour boat and seeing the orcas breaching and playing in the waters off San Juan Island is something most people never forget. I've had folks straight off the tour coming to the Whale Museum and 'adopting' the whale that they had seen with their own eyes. We humans love stories - and these whales now have histories and stories along with names.

On the other hand: All of that continued research has also given us irrevocable proof that boat engine noise is putting continual stress on the pods of whales as they try to find the decreasing supply of salmon. Whale researchers are the first to acknowledge that they don't know all there is to know yet about the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) and their habits but what they are learning about the impact of boat traffic is troubling.

"A variety of human interactions, such as exploitation, habitat degradation, and pollution, are known to have negative effects on wildlife populations, while even non-lethal human disturbance, such as wildlife viewing, can be perceived by observed animals as a predation risk and result in energy costs and effects on survival and reproduction [4]. Therefore, it is important to better understand the extent of human use of the environment so that negative consequences on animal populations can be assessed and mitigated." (Research Article) * 

"Such ship noise has the potential to mask odontocete signals, especially in coastal environments where shipping lanes are close enough to the shoreline (<10 km) that high frequency sound is not fully absorbed. In the summertime habitat of the endangered SRKWs ship noise may interfere not only with SRKW communication (vocalizations) but also foraging and navigation (echolocation clicks)"(Link to study) **

Both of the above studies took place in the last five years. What has spurred the flurry of research?

The whale watching industry has increased exponentially in the last ten years and Haro Strait freighter traffic (including oil tankers) has increased as well. While the U.S. registered tour boats follow the regulations regarding distance and sound, the Canadian tour operators don't have the same rules. With the Orcas traversing the boundary waters between Washington State and British Columbia as their primary hunting grounds, there is only so much regulation that can be enforced. We could also talk about all the pleasure boat captains who don't think those regulations apply to their yachts - and suddenly what is being marketed as a major part of an eco tour destination is anything but.

The more we learn about killer whale behavior and feeding strategies, the more it becomes obvious that boat traffic is detrimental to an already endangered species ability to thrive (see above articles). Maybe that statement goes farther than some folks in our area would put out there, but we are talking about a species population (SRKW) that is less than 100 and has yet to recover from the exploitation and capture of population back in the 70's. Sure we have other pods of killer whales in the area that seem to be doing well, but our resident killer whales are struggling. How do the varied tour companies manage which pods they follow? Can they? Would they?

It is a hard balancing act in the face of the research. How do we continue to promote engagement with the natural world (which whale watching tours can do in a wonderful way) while also promoting sustainable conservation? I've talked to park rangers and enviromentalists all over the west in regards to this question and the answers aren't unanimous.  People want to connect to the natural world and people want to make a living guiding those experiences - and other people want to utilize some of the funds created from that partnership for research and conservation. We could probably expand out that list to include all the varied industry and services that profit from supporting the desire to see our extraordinary world. If you have been to Moab, UT over the last thirty years, you understand what I'm talking about when a community explodes to exploit all the tourists coming in to wander through Arches and Canyonland National Parks.

From my own experiences over the years, I would wish for two things:

• A guiding definition of Ecotourism that establishes a certificate with a list of criteria for any company wishing to use that designation for marketing purposes. If a tour operator wants to market itself as ecotourist friendly then they will have to comply with a list of principals as set forth by the certificate. This is done in so many other industries  - and I think there are folks out there trying to do this - but enforcing it has been difficult. It's got to mean something to the consumer of this product. The National Park Service, as a regulatory management practice, tries to do this in its own backyard, but outside of their jurisdiction, how do we really craft ecotourism that actually works? We first and foremost have to educate the consumer in regards to why it is so important to follow guidelines that promote conservation with minimal impact. We, as consumers, have to buy-in to the importance behind changing some of our behaviors in order to preserve the resources/habitats/species that we are there to appreciate.
• My other wish has everything to do with moderation. Our voracious consumerism is a cultural paradigm that needs to shift in order to sustain our ecosystems. We, as the consumer, need to shift our expectations because no industry out there is going to shift their priorities regarding profit. Again, the consumer needs to look for the tour operators who embrace sustainability, conservation and education equally. Corporate america doesn't work that way. Small, independent businesses might be able to -  and, perhaps, also market themselves accordingly. 

My opinion?

Ecotourism, right now, is a catch phrase used to entice a certain segment of the tourist population into 'feel good' travel. How it is defined by the operator and the customer don't have to line up to capture a market share of ecologically minded travelers. The onus is on us, the traveler to do our research and ask questions of the various providers of these tourist activities.

Here in the Salish Sea, it is going to become increasingly important that educators and stewardship programs like Soundwatch host a conversation with service providers regarding sustainability and oversight. They are working hard, hand in hand with so many great tour operators here in our area to create a community of stewardship. It is too bad that a few less mindful groups and private boaters make it harder for everyone to help keep these resources accessible.

Here is a list of principals for ecotourism*** that we can all watch for:

• Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts.
• Build environmental and cultural awareness, and respect.
• Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.
• Produce direct financial benefits for conservation.
• Generate financial benefits for both local people and private industry.
• Deliver memorable interpretative experiences to visitors that help raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climates.
• Design, construct and operate low-impact facilities.
• 
  

Citations
*Houghton J, Holt MM, Giles DA, Hanson MB, Emmons CK, Hogan JT, et al. (2015) The Relationship between Vessel Traffic and Noise Levels Received by Killer Whales (Orcinus orca). PLoS ONE 10(12): e0140119. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140119

** Veirs S, Veirs V, Wood JD. (2016) Ship noise extends to frequencies used for echolocation by endangered killer whales. PeerJ 4:e1657 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1657

*** TIES 2015 annoucement of revised principals for ecotourism 

Being Part of the Ecosystem

The years that I have spent gunk-holing around the inland waters of the Puget Sound and beyond - these waters that are now designated the Salish Sea - have always brought Williams' words to mind. There is a dynamic aliveness to how the land, with its rock, trees, grass and underbrush meet the nutrient rich depths of deep moving water. Coming up Haro Strait puts you ten yards off shore - and in 800 feet deep water.

There is something about these islands and the waterways that separate them.

Both have been carved, shaped and given personality by the constant expansion and contraction of glacier ice. The Puget Sound, with British Columbia islands and mainland as well, is an incredible rich landscape that first drew many of the First Nations tribes to settle and live. And then the europeans came, with western world settlers to follow. Today, the Salish Sea ecosystem is the address for approximately 7 million people.

As humans, we are a community that needs to 'meet and integrate' with our very unique environment. It is my sense, that human beings rarely consider their ecological identity. Our footprint on the lands we call home are lost within the cacophony of sound and fury that feeds into our lives. We've focused on the socially constructed divisions - on who we are versus who they are - instead of exploring how our diversity can bring a deeper, richer wisdom of what it means to be a members of the human race on this particular planet. Whether it is the concrete world we never leave; the messages of fear, scarcity, and impotence fed to us daily; or the TV/Computer that we lose ourselves in every day for hours on end, human beings have become disconnected from one small fact: The earth doesn't need us to survive. We, however, need a healthy environment in order to continue to live.

Becoming aware of how our human community interacts with any given ecosystem is going to be in direct correlation with the well-being and survival of our species. We can't ignore the interface. We need to find our way back into relationship with this planet for many reasons. Perhaps the most important reason right now is so that we can find our way back into connection with those that we like to label "them" or the "other." Those human beings that you've closed ranks against. The cultures, religions, genders, sexual preferences, political positions that you lock out of your world. We won't find peace, we won't thrive as a species until we recognize that we are all homo sapiens: an indigenous life form on this planet.

I do not mean to disrespect the term indigenous as I do believe it has been incredibly important for indigenous peoples to hold that term as a defining attribute for their cultural communities. However, as long as the rest of us human beings don't grok the fact that we are a unique species of this one, particular planet in the vast galaxies of space, we will continue to violently express our singular visions of sanctioned humanity. Oh what we as a species could learn from the indigenous peoples of our planet!

Look, what I'm trying to say is this: we can't lose sight of what we are. Human beings are biological creatures (surprise!). We are mammals, warm blooded, bipedal and big brained. We depend on water, air, and all the minerals, vitamins, fats, calories that are found within and on the soil, in the atmosphere, and in the water that surrounds us. Our bodies are miracles of biological evolution - right along with all the other millions of living animal and plant species on this planet. That's why its so important to get outside - to find that edge, to breathe in the borders of our constructed world with the planet that actually exists. Its uncomfortable, humbling, scary - and yet it gives us back a sense of self that makes it impossible to ignore the reality of what we humans all have in common...

Earth.

Humans need to actually 'meet' - to take in, see, pause within, explore or simply breathe in - the natural world, we have to be willing to connect with some part of it.

To connect, we navigate the borders - and find ourselves. We remember that the term "ecosystem" more often than not includes us in the mix.

Look around you, find the landscape. Stop and watch a bird. Go out and experience the awe of a whale breaching or an eagle gliding over the water. Listen to the wind in the trees and walk the rocky beaches that line our sea. Find that piece of agate that skips perfectly across the water. Just get out and connect. Find the place where the being that is you meets the implacable, bewildering power of this planet. Find the creative edge and explore what dwells there.

Remember.