watching/photography). The Bank needs to understand these better and find ways of scaling those up. So, you have supply diminishing on one hand, and demand rising on the other hand which creates an opportunity for economic progress together with conservation. If the benefits of tourism flow to the local communities, they will value the parks much more. In 2016, travel and tourism contributed $7.6 trillion, or 10.2%, to total GDP, and the industry provided jobs to one in 10 people, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. Yes wildlife tourism can be ethical and it has positive impacts on both the environment and the local economy. Prudence and precaution are another reason why investments in nature-based tourism ought to be promoted. The science of “planetary boundaries” warns us that many fragile natural environments and ecosystems are reaching their limits and in some cases, the hypothesized safe boundaries have been crossed. What have been the drivers behind a burgeoning nature-based/wildlife-based tourism sector? Moorhouse, T. P., Dahlsjö, C. A., Baker, S. E., D’Cruze, N. C., & Macdonald, D. W. (2015). With 189 member countries, staff from more than 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries. Design of the required guidance, initiatives and tools for the implementation of STS in countries. Nature, national parks and wildlife are considered the most important tourism assets for tourists travelling for instance to Africa. According to the UNWTO Report ‘Towards Measuring the Economic Value of Wildlife Watching Tourism in Africa,’ 7% of world tourism relates to wildlife tourism, a segment growing annually at about 3%. As the entry fee charged from tourists is invested in the conservation of animals, more and more tourists are willing to re-visit wildlife sanctuaries and are ready to pay extra as entry fees, just to ensure animal life conservation. But, wildlife watching tourism can have adverse effects on wildlife: by causing changes in their behavior, changing their physiology, or damaging their habitats. Hunting & Wildlife Viewing - Statistics & Facts Published by S. Lock, Aug 15, 2018 Hunting and wildlife viewing are both forms of sports and recreation in the United States. The greatest extinction risks for birds and mammals are found in South-Eastern Asia, mainly owing to the conversion of lowland forests. Wildlife tourism is a powerful tool countries can leverage to grow and diversify their economies while protecting their biodiversity and meeting several Sustainable Development Goals. The publication Supporting Sustainable Livelihoods through Wildlife Tourism highlights successful wildlife tourism programs in seven countries in Africa and Asia that can be used as models to promote conservation and boost economies. There needs to be an ethical balance and that is where ecotourism comes in. Another force driving demand is the internet and rising lifestyles—you can learn about animals and habitats you might not have known existed, and more people have the ability to visit them. It is also a way to engage tourists in wildlife conservation and inject money into local communities living closest to wildlife. Further damage will imply that we lose important ecosystem services such as watershed and soil protection with damaging consequences for development. “Here is a way of squaring the circle: provide jobs and save the environment,” said World Bank lead economist Richard Damania, who has extensive experience in understanding the link between tourism and the economy. The majority of encounters with wildlife were in national parks (44.3%) or in other natural settings (12.9%), with smaller proportions of visitors encountering wildlife in captive exhibits such as zoos (17.1%), wildlife parks (12.4%), theme parks (3.3%) and aquariums (2.4%). For those still not convinced about the potential of wildlife, lets remind some of the benefits: World Tourism Organization Wildlife tourism, in its simplest sense, is interacting with wild animals in their natural habitat, either by actively (e.g. A WWF report shows that 93% of all natural heritage sites support recreation and tourism and 91% of them provide jobs. Global data and statistics, research and publications, and topics in poverty and development, "Here is a way of squaring the circle: provide jobs and save the environment".