I believe that there are many different benefits but also costs to commercializing nature. For example, if you want to conserve nature but also have people there daily, it can become very trashed, or people can step on different plants and animals. If people do this, it doesn’t really fall under conservation anymore. Conservation is preserving nature, so it doesn’t get damaged or destroyed. This clearly would happen if humans are in that area every day.
I don’t believe that it is the best way to save it. I would say it’s pragmatic. Pragmatic is whenever something is the most realistic option, even if it isn’t the ideal situation. I don’t think that commercializing nature is a great solution, but I do think it is the best. A big thing in our generation is going to abandoned places and exploring them, even if it is dangerous. I think that people in our generation would romanticize going to a no trespassing zone, which would in my opinion cause more damage to the land they’re trying to preserve.
I think there are many different alternatives to tourism, but I don’t think they are as smart because of the reason I listed above. They could get government funding to protect and support the area, but I don’t think that is ideal. Similar to that, the community could get donations from nonprofits or individuals, or sponsorships and partners. Again, I don’t believe that would be the best way to preserve these areas, because of teenagers doing whatever they want, or budgets could become unpredictable. You never know if people will donate, budgets will change, or funding disappears. With tourism, you know people are going to come and fund this.
If tourism disappears for whatever kind of reason, these areas are in high stake, and it could be detrimental. Tourists are funding these kinds of areas by paying to do activities, and if that revenue disappears, so does preserving the land. Employees would lose jobs, maintenance declines, and protection of the land becomes little to none.
Overall, I do believe tourism is the best idea for preserving land because of the current state of communities. Many people come and tour these places, which keeps them in business, employees having jobs, and the overall conversation intact.
