Wildlife tourism has the potential to contribute to conservation through a variety of mechanisms. This chapter presents a preliminary assessment of the extent to which this potential is currently being realized, comparing tourism based on viewing of animals in captive settings (with a focus on...

Many protected-area managers are encountering difficulties balancing the demands of conservation and visitors. An essential component for sound management planning is having objective data on appropriate use, visitor-use impacts and visitor needs. Visitor-impact management in protected areas poses...

A detailed account is given of the growth and magnitude of ecotourism worldwide. Several ecotourism indicators are identified: increase in 'nature-motivated' tourism visitation worldwide; growth in ecotourism education; international recognition and regional support; international funding or aid;...

Ecotourism-related organizations as a mechanism to minimize the negative impacts and maximize the positive impacts of ecotourism worldwide are described. For the purposes of this investigation, ecotourism-related organizations are divided into three categories: (1) membership non-governmental...