to wildlife conservation

Abstract

Ecotourism has been proposed as a viable economic activity that can minimize negative human impacts on wildlife habitat and provide an incentive to preserve natural areas.The potential of ecotourism as a wildlife conservation strategy is limited by its inability to insure the long-term protection of environmental assets and by its tendency to contribute directly to environmental degradation. Ecotourism is a proxy market designed to align consumers' preferences for recreation with the protection of environmental assets. Because it does not necessarily address the direct protection of those assets, it is prone to market failure. Pressures on governments and firms involved in providing ecotourism services will impair their ability to minimize detrimental effects of human economic behavior. Ethical appeals to minimize harmful practices face serious obstacles. Promoting ecotourism may actually distract from more appropriate means of environmental protection.