Reef forest. Image by Flickr user JennyHuang.
Can recreation and conservation co-exist?
Ask groups like the Grand Canyon Escalade opposition group Save the Confluence or the anti-Cheddar Gorge Cable Car circle at Keep Cheddar Gorgeous and the answer seems clear—no, they cannot.
Yet, of course they can. Recreation and conservation are not mutually exclusive. Look at scuba diving, for example. The current thinking from that field suggests that, in fact, recreation within natural environments tends to lead more people to help with conservation efforts in those very places.
It may seem like a contradictory argument at first, but it’s really not. Despite some well-founded claims that inexperienced divers can damage the corral reefs they’re supposed to be enjoying, the scuba-diving community is known for its advocacy, conservation and awareness programs. And this ethos originates from a place of tourism, business and recreation.
As a group of Southern Cross University scholars pointed out in a paper from 2012, some scuba divers move from an initial place of wanting simply “to see the big stuff” towards a more nuanced understanding of underwater ecosystems. Through their first-hand encounters with marine environments, they become “integral to raising conservation awareness within the wider community.” Read more
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