The loss of biodiversity is one of the main environmental crises facing humankind today. This loss (extinction) is irretrievable, and results from habitat loss, introduction of alien species, excessive hunting and collecting. Biodiversity is important for two main reasons: utilitarian functions (ecological, medicine, products, aesthetics) and intrinsic functions (aesthetics, and ethical).
      The loss of species is particularly critical in developing countries, because many of them are tropical or subtropical where biodiversity is the greatest, and because of the "development at any price" philosophy. The competing interests are poaching, the need for lands to house the population, conversion of natural habitat to agriculture, raising of exportable cash crops rather than sustainable food for the locals, economic precedent over protection.

     Ecotourism is a possible solution to the protection of biodiversity and the necessity of foreign income to bolster the feeble economies. Visitation can be promoted to see the environment, the indigenous cultures, and archaeological monuments in its natural state. To preserve the sites tourists want to view, reserves can be established and hunting can be reduced which will both serve to increase animal populations.

Questions:

1. How specifically should the tourist dollars be spent to benefit the animals, habitat, and the local people?
2. Should there be a "entrance fee" to these pristine areas?
3. What are the advantages of ecotourism to the environment, and to the indigenous people?
4. What are the disadvantages of this influx to the environment and the indigenous people?
5. Will this protectionism and resultant increasing animal populations, have any negative consequences?
6. Should high cost permits be sold to hunt (cull) "endangered" animals that reside in protected areas and exceed their carrying capacity (like many elephants)? How high
7. Should the fee be, and to whom should the money be directed?

 

ECOTOURISM: IS THIS A SOLUTION FOR SPECIES PRESERVATION?
E3 HUMAN ENVIRONMENTS--WINTER 00
DR. SHARI STERN

     I plan to use this problem as a 20-minute exercise to be completed entirely in the classroom. The course consists of 425 students, a mixture of lower and upper division students, and fulfills one of the three courses of the natural science breadth requirement offered through Social Ecology. The students are not particularly science savvy, nor do they have an initial deep appreciation for science, but most want a "good" grade. Additionally, many of the students are not very familiar with the internet and web searches or with the library, either on campus or through the web access.

     Because of time constraints, I plan to have the students form their own groups using clusters of 3-4 nearby students. The students will volunteer for their "positions" whose tasks will be identified in general on a handout. Also due to time, but realizing that some accountability is important to get results, the students will submit their written summary/conclusions to me, but we will review them only, and not provide descriptive feedback or grades. However, there will be specific questions on the subsequent test relating to this exercise. The in-class summary will be withheld from the Clone notes.

     My objectives with the project are intellectual content and critical analysis, and not group action/interaction per se (although this is important; I just don't have time to teach it). As a consequence, the problem will utilize just a portion of the class period, say 5-8 minutes for each of the 3 sections, and then a 10 minute class wrap up to ensure that ALL students gained some knowledge and understanding of the issues.

 

Specific Objectives of this Problem:
1. to understand the complex relationships between people and the environment
2. to understand the causes of extinction, and to identify which species are at risk
3. to understand the ecology of an area: food webs, population and community biology, ecosystem structure and function
4. to understand the tenants of the ecotourism concept
5. to recognize how promoting ecotourism can benefit the species, the indigenous people, and the tourists
6. to realize that ecotourism also has the capacity to damage the ecosystem and alter cultures

 

THE PROBLEM, Part I.

     Someone once said, "You only protect what you know, you only know what you understand, and you only understand what you love." The loss of biodiversity is one of the main environmental crises facing humankind today because this loss (extinction) is irretrievable. Both plant and animal species are targeted. The loss of species is particularly critical in developing countries, because many of these lands are tropical or subtropical in location, contain exceptional high species diversity, and because the human factors (like poverty, illiteracy, lack of ecological understanding) that contribute to the problem are complex.

     Ecotourism, sometimes referred to as adventure touring, has been suggested as a possible mechanism to protect biodiversity by providing solutions to the social factors that contribute to the destruction. Done correctly, it can enable both the natives and the tourists, to know, understand, love, and thus protect their environment. Foreign visitation can be promoted as a way to see nature, culture, and historical sites in their natural state. While some of the lands and animals could support large numbers of tourists, other areas are too fragile to withstand tourists. By teaching tourists about the natural world, the indigenous people would begin to value these living resources while bringing in foreign money.

Questions:
1. Why is the protection of biodiversity important--to the earth, to you?
2. Who are the various stakeholders that have an interest in the protection of the environment and the species?
3. What issues should be included in developing a plan for ecotourism?
4. How would you integrate the indigenous people into the plan?
5. What would you suggest as a way of protecting the native flora, fauna, and cultures while at the same time providing the tourists with a memorable experience
6. Which groups should be included in developing this plan?

 

THE PROBLEM, Part II.

     Some countries, including Belize, Tanzania, and Kenya have been successful at developing the ecotourist paradigm. However, some unanticipated consequences have been the rapid increase in certain animal populations, like the formerly endangered elephants. These populations now are so large, in some cases, that they go outside park boundaries where tourists can safely travel, and damage agriculture fields, native homes, and damage the environment that this ideas was supposed to protect.

Questions:
1. What factors are involved in the increase of these populations?
2. Which groups now should be included in a discussion of options?
3. What options would you consider to either allow the populations to increase at will, reduce population size, or prevent the future increase?
4. What questions do you need to be an effective advocate for each different group represented?
5. Where do you think you can find the information to the questions?

 

THE PROBLEM, Part III.

     The ecotourist idea applies also to coral reef communities, and not just terrestrial communities. Coral reefs, along with estuaries and tropical rainforests, have the highest primary productivity and highest biodiversity on the earth. Yet, because of indirect pollution associated with agriculture, climate change, overfishing, and sewage, the number of species in these locations is diminishing. Directly, well meaning tourists, who come to these areas, bring in tourist dollars for accommodations, equipment, and tours, yet their snorkeling and SCUBA diving inadvertently damage the reefs that they would like to see protected. Once the reefs become damaged, there's nothing to sell, and tourist dollars decline.

Questions:
1. In which ways are terrestrial communities similar/different from marine communities?
2. How do the solutions identified for terrestrial communities apply to marine ecosystems?
3. How should we set priorities between the needs of each individual species, the needs of biodiversity in general, the needs of the natives, and the needs of the tourists.

 

Rudi B's group

Question 1
1. Provide specific web site information to direct the students towards those sources on the PBL sheet
2. Ensure the problem is completely described

Question 2:
      The problem had been abbreviated to only one isolated question, with no additional background information, so initially we were confused as to what was wanted, and where to go. We didn't (correctly) see this as a PBL problem. However, we defined the problem we were given in our own context, and proceeded to structure an outline of information that would be necessary to understand the scenario and to answer any questions we generated about it.

     It was clear that it is important to define the problem clearly, and to direct the students to the content that you think is important. We all became excited about the problem, even though the subject was not relevant to all or our disciplines, but enthusiasm and a quest for knowledge are important.

Question 3:
     The group functioned as an excellent cohesive group. We all volunteered for our positions, and I was the facilitator (which I prefer to be). I tried to ensure that everyone contributed, that we stayed on topic (group members helped me on this), and that I also was able to include my own ideas. We had a note taker, which was helpful when we would need to periodically review where we were and what we had accomplished, but I also took my own complete notes. I, personally, felt that individual note taking was essential. We stayed on task, worked smoothly and rapidly, and completed our "assignment" early. I am sure it was difficult for Rudi to listen to us without comment, even though this was only a small remnant of her original proposal. Our comments on the project could not have helped her very much, since this was not her submitted project. However, our final product of issues, objectives, etc. resembled hers very closely in ideas, if not is exact name. Frankly, I feel we did a phenomenal job.