Tourism Group Calls for Information on Mangrove Conservation & Tourism.

Tuesday, 20 Feb, 2010 0

Ranong Thailand

The mangroves are beautiful, quiet forests. How can tourism contribute to the conservation, rehabilitation and presentation of the mangrove environments?

Throughout Asia Pacific the complex ecosystems of mangrove forests are home to a rich biodiversity and have an important role in coastal waters. In their important role in coastal waters, ‘they are nursery grounds for commercially important fish and prawns that live in surrounding habitats. The forests act as a buffer between the sea and the land mitigating all but the worst effects of storm surges.’

So, how can tourism contribute to the conservation, rehabilitation and presentation of the mangrove environments? Writes Steve Noakes

How do you make ‘sticky mud, biting insects and thickets of trees with dense sometimes impenetrable aerial root’ those trees that have adapted to live between the high and low tide zone – into a pleasant ecotourism experience?

There are numerous communities throughout Asia and the Pacific who live close to, or rely upon the health of mangroves for their livelihoods. Some of those communities are engaged in various forms of tourism, but there is little evidence (apart from educational, scientific or voluntourism travel) where mangrove forests have been a high ranking motivation or destination attribute of interest to tourists.

So, the opportunity is to develop creative forms of ‘mangrove tourism’ that can contribute to the conservation of this crucial natural resource.

PacificAsiaTravel has started collecting background information to help to better understand the nature, importance and relevance of mangroves to future tourism (probably eco-tourism) experiences.

If you have any observations or knowledge to share on this subject, we’d be delighted to hear from you. When we get sufficient information/case studies, we will make the paper it freely available to any interested parties.

Valere

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