msimsik’s Recent Comments

• Click here to view comment in original post

  Ecotourism in Madagascar

  In response to the article "Show me the monkey," I question the wisdom of putting all of our hopes for successful biodiversity conservation in Madagascar on ecotourism.  Madagascar is far from typical ecotourist markets and once you are here, there is little on-the-ground that will facilitate your visit.  Albeit, while some of these issues are being addressed (e.g., improving the road network and hotel infrastructure), Madagascar is far behind the upscale ecotourism markets of southern and eastern Africa.  Also, without the big game of Africa, Madagascar is unlikely to ever rival places such as Botswana or Kenya in terms of ecotourism.

  A great deal of current conservation efforts in Madagascar are going toward 'community-based management.'  While these efforts are likely to hold (at least part of) the key to conserving biodiversity, all too often villagers think they will make their local protected area profitable by appealing to tourists.  Most of these areas are inaccessible and will likely never be able to attract enough people to pay for the opportunity cost of having been protected.  People clearly need more options of what to do with their protected pieces of forest or wetlands (for example, sustainable harvesting and production of renewable resources such as timber, fish, and game).

  On the mention of "explosive" population growth, it seems that all too often the focus on this issue in conservation circles takes away from the bigger issues of addressing poverty and corruption in countries where rich biodiversity remains.

  - MikeOn Show me the monkey posted 3 years, 5 months ago 11 Responses