[Coral-List] Remnancy vs resiliency Part 3: making a list

[Brylske at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/23/06 1:19:48 PM, szmanta at uncw.edu writes:


> 1)  Never, ever again take a vacation to a coral reef unless you have a
> way to take home with you every scrap of material (soda & beer bottles,
> left over food, your personal waste products, including used toilet
> paper).
> 
> 2)  Convince all of your friends and neighbors from taking reef
> vacations, and protest at local travel agents that sell people tours to
> coral reef locations.
> 

Dr. Szmant:
     I have nothing but the utmost respect for you, and long ago heeded your 
clarion call about the loss of biodiversity on reefs. And I certainly admit 
that my opinion could be biased, having spent most of my adult life in the 
marine tourism industry. But I have to ask, if people stop visiting coral reefs, 
how can we build the constituency to protect them? I've always felt that Sylvia 
Earle was right on   target when she asked, "How can we except people to love 
coral reefs who have never seen one?"   Do you think that even an IMAX film 
can sufficiently convey the experience of being on a reef? Personally, I don't 
think so. But then again, I'm just a dump scuba instructor.

I'm not at all trying to pick a fight here. It's just that opposition to 
tourism is a conservation strategy that I've never encountered before, and I'd 
like to hear more of what you and others think about this. Of course, the other 
issue is that tourism is now the largest industry on earth, and most of it 
takes place in or near the sea. So, this will be a real uphill battle.



Alex F. Brylske, Ph.D.
Training Manager
The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL)

"Working together to keep coral reefs alive."

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