When Costa Rica’s current President took office in 2007, he promised to the people that he would make Costa Rica a carbon neutral country. There is not much time left to fulfill the vow now, but he still hopes that with the help of United Nations, the country can make it.

Costa Rica’s authorities have a special interest in protecting and preserving the environment since the country is visited by 2 million tourists every year. Therefore, natural riches is a very important, perhaps, the most important asset for Costa Rica. The president plans to create alliances with the carbon-neutral countries and further promote the idea of ecotourism.

Ecotourism provides income that helps to both preserve protected areas as well as benefit local populations. It reduces the dependence of local people on activities harmful to natural habitats. According to the annual Environmental Performance Index prepared by Yale University that ranks 163 countries based on their policy concerning both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality, Costa Rica appeared in the third place.

In recent years the popularity of Costa Rican Vacation Packages such as Photography Tours, Whale Watching Tours, Sea Turtle Ecotourism, Rainforest Tours, and other specialized travel options have grown. Costa Rica has simply become a new “eco-destination rising star” among well-known European destinations such as Iceland, Switzerland and Sweden.

The country has already reforested more than half of its area and increased the amount of national parks. With respect to the energy, nearly all of Costa Rica’s electricity is produced by water power and through geothermal energy.

Well, I think I’ve found a good candidate.

LEARN MORE

For more information on The International Ecotourism Society, e-mail David Jones at dbjones@usm.maine.edu or call (207) 780-4587.

In my last column, I talked about a new sustainability program being offered by the University of New Hampshire. In my continuing effort to shine a light on Portsmouth’s neighbors across the Piscataqua, today I focus on a new program at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. It’s in the field of sustainable tourism.

USM has joined a prestigious group of universities that are members of an educational consortium created by The International Ecotourism Society, at 21 years old considered one of the oldest ecotourism nonprofits in the country.

According to its Web site, TIES unites “conservation, communities and sustainable travel, promoting responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.”

Other consortium members are the University of Utah, West Virginia University, the University of Minnesota, North Carolina State University and California Polytechnic University.

“These are division one research institutions. It’s great for us because it’s moving us into a whole new area,” said David Jones, USM professor of recreation and leisure studies.

Jones said what’s great about the consortium and the certificate program being offered by USM is that it’s across all majors.

Jones has been teaching Introduction to Nature-Based Tourism for three years, and he said his students run the gamut from business to environmental science to anthropology to history, as well as his department of recreation and leisure.

“A lot of students are interested in working in this area,” he said, “taking tourists to the outdoors in a way that doesn’t deplete the environment and that gives back to the local community.

“It’s very different from mass tourism. They educate tourists about the area, looking at the local economy and how tourism benefits local indigenous people.”

Ecotourists do not stay at hotels run by multinational corporations. Instead, they stay at bed and breakfast inns owned by local people. They tread lightly on the land, too, perhaps birding, taking photographs, biking or hiking.

Jones said many airlines also offer carbon offset programs, whereby you pay a little more up front based on your itinerary. An organization uses the money to plant trees or otherwise offset carbon emissions.

Students in the USM program take Jones’ nature-based tourism course, plus two courses on sustainability that can be in any department. They also participate in a study-away component and a 400-hour internship program.

He said he’s found a great deal of interest in Maine and New England-based organizations and businesses that want to offer internships, including Maine Huts and Trails, the Appalachian Mountain Club, LL Bean and the Audubon Society. Some 15 in all are signed up to take interns.

“They’re very much in favor of this. They see this as the future, really,” he said.

Interest among students has been great, he said, and its cross-discipline approach was the selling point at USM.

But not only enrolled students can earn a certificate in sustainable tourism. Anyone interested in adding to their resume can apply to enter the program, and Jones said it’s a perfect complement to a lot of professions. He said the program lasts about a year, if you’re taking it on your own.

Vitavas Srivihok, the Thai ambassador to Laos, says Thailand will urge Laos and Vietnam to co-operate on eco-tourism. Both Route 8 and Route 12 have good potential for eco-tourism, he adds, given the number of caves, waterfalls and other attractive features along the way.

Goods transported to Vietnam via Laos on Routes 8 and 12 currently face problems because the Laotian Customs Department treats them as imported goods destined for re-export, thereby forcing truckers to pay higher duties, said a transport industry source.

Goods transported via Route 9 are treated differently, as it has a special status in the Cross Border Transport Agreement and is thus eligible for lower duties.

Route 8 links Nakhon Phanom in Thailand with Thakhek and Khammouane in Laos. It thenlinks to Route 12 in Laos which continues to Dong Hoi on the central Vietnam coast.  Route 9, roughly parallel but farther south, links Mukdahan in Thailand via Savannakhet, Laos to Danang.

Vitavas said he hopes that when the third Thai-Lao Bridge across the Mekong River opens in November 2011, linking Nakhon Phanom and Khammouane, it will help facilitate more tourism and trade on this route.

The Thai Ambassador acknowledges that Laos doesn’t want to be treated as a corridor for trade between Vietnam and Thailand, and that’s a good reason for it to develop its potential for tourism on Routes 8 and 12.

The weakness of Vietnam on the two routes is that its tourist spots are not connected to each other, he said.

Laos is the best location for creating a link with four countries: Thailand, Burma, China, and Vietnam. “Travelling through Laos will be the shortest way. If the roads in Laos can be connected, we can easily travel to all five countries in this region,” Vitavas told the Bangkok Post. Of the total 2 million visitors to Laos last year, 1.3 million were Thais.

Vitavas urges the Greater Mekong Subregion members – Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and southern China – to co-operate on tourism more seriously. “Better joint promotion of tourism is a good way to help alleviate poverty and meets foreign tourists wish to visit many Asian countries at one time to save costs,” he adds.

“There are few countries in the world that jointly promote regional tourism, and they are in Europe, the Caribbean countries and Pacific island countries,” says Vitavas. To promote tourism in the region, there should be a single visa and shared infrastructure, he adds.

Vitavas argues that the strategy for tourism promotion should include a common market with three to five countries treated as one destination. As well, it will be important to develop the human resources, encourage cross-border facilitation, private-sector participation and tourism-related infrastructure.

The mostly indigenous ethnic Kuoy residents of Romchek village in northeast Preah Vihear province are to receive a share of almost $20,000 in grant money from the Global Environment Facility”s (GEF) Small Grants Programme, according to a press release issued today by UNDP.

They will invest the money in environmentally sensitive visitor sites in the pristine forestland around the Choam Prei lake.

The lake, used by the Kuoy as a cattle-grazing site and as a water and food source, was returned to the 213 families of Romchek from private ownership this year after a process that involved the local, provincial and central Government.

A plan to develop the 70-acre lake into a site for hosting tourists was approved in June by GEF”s Small Grants Programme.

“The site has a lot of potential for the entire village,” said Ly Setha, a project officer for a provincial civil society organization, Ponlok Khmer, that will channel funds from the small grant into eco-tourism projects for the area.

“Villagers hope there will be a spill-over from the tourists coming every year that will allow them to earn income by selling local products, and that will help them improve their livelihoods,” said Mr. Setha.

The two-year project aims to accommodate tourists to carry out conservation-related research, or to experience the wild animals and plant life around the lake. Activities include production of publicity material, building campsites, and training community members to become tour guides.

Ponlok Khmer was already running a programme that employed villagers to repair the lake”s drainage and water level and to improve it as a fish spawning ground.

Before January, the lake had been part of a fish-farming enterprise run by the family of a local entrepreneur, who was given permission by a village chief in 1998 to use the area for private business.

Villagers accused him of blocking public access to Choam Prei. They collected 86 thumbprints to file a petition through their local government office.

The head of Romney commune took up the case in 2008 and raised its profile through a nationwide local government-association. The association, the National League of Commune/Sangkat, receives technical and financial support from UNDP as part of a project for democratic reforms at the local level.

Nowadays, much “adventure travel” is given a deliberately green tinge. Organisations like Earthwatch send young (and increasingly frequently old) people to the four corners of the earth to study and protect endangered wildlife of every sort and, yes, to enjoy themselves in doing so.

But just how realistic is it to imagine that increasing numbers of people can visit the wild places of the earth, and the animals, trees and plants that live there, without destroying them? Oscar Wilde famously wrote that “each man kills the thing he loves”. Have we reached, or are we approaching, the limits of sustainable wildlife tourism? Should there be a strict rationing of visitors in sensitive areas? Should “return visits” be banned? Should there be total no-go zones?

There are no easy answers to such questions, but it is important that they should be asked. Take the Galapagos Islands, for example. Historically, British visitors have formed the second largest group. Even with the recession, there were still 14,000 British visitors last year.

When I first went to the Galapagos, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, in 2006, I did ask myself whether it was altogether appropriate to visit, but the sheer excitement of being offered a bite at this incredible cherry won the day.

During that first trip to the archipelago, I spent 10 days on board a 16-berth schooner, sailing from island to island. For me, as for most visitors, the love affair began as soon as I stepped off the aircraft. The astonishing thing about the Galapagos is that you actually do get to see what you hope to see. If you are lucky, you will come across most of the famous birds that intrigued Charles Darwin when he landed there 175 years ago next month. You will see blue-footed boobies and frigatebirds, Galapagos hawks and flightless cormorants. You may swim and snorkel among huge Pacific Green Turtles and white-tipped reef sharks. You will meet giant tortoises well over 100 years old and still going strong.

This relatively benevolent relationship between man and nature didn’t always exist. Vast depredations of Galapagos wildlife occurred in previous centuries. Tortoises were captured in their thousands by passing ships. The surrounding oceans were virtually emptied of whales. It is only really since 1959 when the Galapagos was established as a national park and, subsequently, as a World Heritage Site, that a proper framework has been created for safeguarding this paradise. But since then numbers of human residents and visitors have boomed.

When I first visited, some 500 cruise ships were already offering the Galapagos as a destination and some of those ships would be carrying hundreds of passengers. Nor was the problem confined to people on boats. It might not yet have been a backpacker’s dream, but when I walked through the main town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, with its agencies offering “Galapagos Adventure Tours”, I could see the potential for disaster. An explosion of short-stay visitors might overwhelm the capacity of the authorities to manage. It would also dramatically increase the risk of alien species being introduced.

Even if the authorities had the knowledge and the means to control mass-tourism, would they have the political will? In the early years of the new millennium, the islands had seen a high rate of immigration from the Ecuadorean mainland, and as many as 30,000 people now lived there – most of them involved in the tourist industry. Pressures to increase the ceiling on the number of tourists permitted to visit the islands (then about 120,000) were already being felt.

That initial trip to the Galapagos coincided with the final throes of an Ecuadorian national election campaign. I was in Puerto Ayora, for the eve-of-poll rallies. Pickup trucks, garlanded with slogans, hooted up and down the streets and boats sounded their horns in the marina. The slogans were for jobs, better sewerage, and support for local fishermen. I didn’t hear anyone on the islands calling for the authority of the national park to be strengthened and expanded. Or, if they did, I missed it. Yet, without strong political backing at every level, I had serious doubts whether the Galapagos miracle could long survive.

But the island’s uniqueness draws visitors back again and again, myself included. I returned to the Galapagos this summer, keen to see it with fresh eyes after being asked to join the Galapagos Conservation Trust as chairman and moderator. My wife and I travelled on board the MV Eclipse, which carries a maximum of 48 passengers. Crucially, from our point of view, there were the three Ecuadorian naturalists on board: Javier, Tommy and Daniel. Day after day, they escorted us to the different sites on land. If we were snorkelling, they led the way, using hand gestures to point to giant starfish, slow-cruising sea-turtles, and marine iguanas plucking seaweed from the rocks, or Galapagos penguins flashing past at speed in search of their prey.

In the evening, as we sat in the lecture room, they elaborated on key themes. “The Galapagos” Javier, told us, “is one of the most important nesting areas for the Pacific Green turtle.” As we disembarked, he warned us to stay clear of the areas of the beach above high-water mark where the turtles had already laid their eggs. “There are five important marine turtle nesting sites in the Galapagos,” he explained.

For me, this was a profoundly emotional moment. For the last several years I have served as an ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme’s Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). Within the framework of the CMS, the countries which border the Indian Ocean and the South-east Asia region have already reached an agreement to protect all species of marine turtle. Now the CMS and other bodies are considering what measures can be taken to protect marine turtles in the Eastern Pacific, many of whose populations are under threat. It is clear that the Galapagos, as a key breeding location for marine turtles, will play a vital part in any such agreement. Standing there on the critically important Bachas beach, I truly felt that I was in on the ground floor.

But it’s the giant tortoises that are perhaps the most famous of all the Galapagos wildlife. Today it is estimated that the islands’ giant tortoise population stands at about 15,000 individuals divided into 11 sub-species. The largest population is on the volcano of Alcedo on Isabela Island.

How are the giant tortoises faring after the depredations of earlier centuries, when whalers, pirates and sailors used to take giant tortoises on board to provide fresh meat and oil? Darwin notes that the crew of the HMS Beagle collected between 600 and 800 tortoises in just a few weeks. The introduction of goats and rats hastened the process of decline.

If you want a poignant reminder, go and visit “Lonesome George” in the grounds of the Charles Darwin Research Centre just outside Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. The tortoise given this nickname, who could be more than 80 years old, is the last of his subspecies, the Pinta Tortoise. While his plight is a poignant reminder of what we risk losing, the giant tortoise breeding programme has been very successful in bringing other subspecies back from the brink.

But the “elephant in the living room” – tourism – remains. On my first visit, the idea of huge people-carriers anchoring off the islands and disgorging boat-loads of passengers had sent shivers down the spine of conservationists around the world. Nor was it clear what benefit to the local economy such visitations would bring. One of the great advantages of a small-scale Galapagos cruise is that a well-equipped vessel carries its own expert guides. And a well-arranged itinerary provides plenty of time for those experts to brief interested passengers on the threats and challenges the islands face. On my second visit, it was Tommy who summarised for us the current situation. He gave us the good news first.

Thanks to a moratorium inspired – in part at least – by a campaign led by the Galapagos Conservation Trust, the menace of large cruise ships has, at least for the time being, disappeared. But what about the explosive growth of other kinds of tourism? In 1991 tourists had numbered 41,000. Annual visitors now number around 170,000.

“Shipborne tourists are not a major threat to the visitor sites. These are relatively well managed,” Tommy explained. “The National Park authorities are in strict control of the number of visitors and of their itineraries.”

He went on to point out that new guidelines were being introduced. Whereas, in the past, a seven-day circuit of visitor sites, largely confined to the inner islands, had been the norm, in the future it would become the exception. Instead of returning again and again to the same limited number of sites, the tourist vessels would have to range further afield, calling at sites so far infrequently visited.

“The biggest challenge now” Tommy said “is the rapid increase in the number of people coming to Galapagos for reasons other than a wildlife cruise. Whether they are here for two days to cross it off a list of must-see sites, or simply to sit in the sun, their number and their activity is much harder to control.” He added that the risk of invasive species remains the biggest threat. The Galapagos islands now have 748 species of introduced plants, outnumbering that approximately 500 species of native plant. “However tough your quarantine measures, there is always a danger.”

As Tommy continued his lecture that evening I couldn’t help thinking about those amazing giant tortoises, which so attracted Darwin’s interest when he visited the Galapagos 175 years ago. How ironic, how banal, it would be, I thought, if the rampant spread of blackberry bushes (now considered to be one of the most serious threats as far as invasive species are concerned) finally caused the demise of the giant tortoise! Clearing the invasive plants is one of the Galapagos Conservation Trust’s most important projects. And it wasn’t just a matter of ripping the offending plants out. “Most invasive plant species” explains Toni Darton, the chief executive of the trust, “come via people’s gardens. That’s why we are supporting a project to encourage residents to swap their introduced choices for native Galapagos species.”

If I am lucky enough to make a third visit to the Galapagos before I am borne away on the back of a giant sea-turtle I hope to be able to report more good news. The Galapagos, it seems to me, is a kind of test case for managing other vulnerable sites of natural beauty, though few perhaps will rival the Enchanted Isles in terms of their scientific, natural and environmental interest.

I know that many people have been dismayed that Unesco has recently removed the Galapagos Islands from the “most threatened” list of World Heritage sites (in 2007, Unesco mentioned tourism as one of the main threats to the Galapagos ecosystem); but, looked at another way, this is really good news, not bad. It means that solid progress has been made, and that more progress can be expected in the future. Tourism will be an inevitable part of the Galapagos’s future but, I hope, it can evolve to a point beyond where we are now, and each visitor can nurture the land they love without destroying it.

When Georg Schluender, a 1987 graduate of Harbor Springs High School, launched a career in ecotourism, he did what most others wish they could do – turn decades of adventure into a full-time job.

It all began in high school with an exciting and new sport (at the time) – mountain biking – and his work as an assistant water-ski instructor at Spray Ski School on Crooked Lake.

Within two years of graduating, Schluender had already taken this experience and launched Mountains Only, LLC, a silent sports training business, which focuses on sports that do not disturb others or negatively affect the environment.

But, he said, the real journey began in 1990, when he headed across the country to attend the Evergreen State College in Washington and, shortly thereafter, move to the San Juan Islands, located between Seattle and Vancouver.

Soon after settling in the islands, Schluender met Mark Lewis, founder of Sea Quest Expeditions, college professor, and author of “Birding in the San Juan Islands”.

“He was also from Michigan,” Schluender said. “He took me under his wing and took my passion for instructing outdoor recreation to a new level of natural history interpretation and marine mammal interactions.”

Using his new knowledge, Schluender began leading sea kayaking tours through Sea Quest Expeditions, in the midst of orca pods, sea lions, seal, porpoise, whale, and dog sharks.

During the winters, he instructed snowboarding on Mt. Baker, building again on his passions, and spent fall mountain biking in Utah, in both Summit County and Moab, until 1999.

After working in San Juan for a few years, Schluender attempted to enter the corporate world by taking a job at Apple Inc. in the Pacific Northwest. The avid outdoorsmen soon itched for more adventure, though, and chose to leave his new post in 1997 and migrate again, this time between the Barrier Islands of the southeast and the San Juan Islands in the spring and summer.

“I decided to return to guiding and instructing because of how fulfilling it is to see people lose their mainstream persona and realize how grand life is outside of the ego. More importantly, seeing the wonder and interest in the way children see the world makes it so worthwhile,” Schluender said.

In 2000, he returned to northern Michigan briefly to help with his family’s business, JW Filmore’s restaurant.

“I was not cut out for it,” Schluender said. “I obtained my real estate license in Marquette, but was interested in guiding again. I took up guiding for various outfitters in the upper peninsula and northern Michigan, but was dissatisfied with the quality and skill level of the sea kayaking provider’s.”

Believing the providers lacked natural history knowledge of the ecosystem or had “inflated ego’s with limited skills,” Schluender was not impressed. He chose instead to create the position of Director of Silent Sports at Shanty Creek Resorts in 2006.

It was an uphill battle, he admitted, and within two years, all upper management had left. He decided it was time to resurrect Mountains Only, LLC, – now known as Michigan Outdoor Silent Sport Tourism – which had fizzled through the years.

At Mountains Only, he began guiding and developing target marketing for silent sports and various seasonal outfitters and resorts.

“Because of the unique aspects of silent sport marketing, the media, Pure Michigan, various cable television shows, and PBS asked me to assist in travel adventures,” he said.

Schluender appeared on several episodes of “Destination Michigan”, a television series broadcasted by PBS last winter.

Last fall, House Representative Edward Clemente invited Schluender to Lansing to speak on silent sports marketing and ecotourism as a part of his Quality of Life Through a New Economy Initiative.

Schluender said the visit was very well-received, and it facilitated his career in consulting on ecotourism marketing and most recently led him to his position of Northeast Michigan Council of Government’s (NEMCOG) Director of Ecotourism.

Today, Schluender lives in Traverse City, consulting and developing marketing for resorts in the Great Lakes Region.

Despite his success, Schluender still finds time to return to his starting point, spending the last week of July of this summer in the San Juan Islands working with his mentor and best friend, Lewis, leading private guided tours as requested by clients.

“I continue to make myself available to assist training our intern guides as well, on points of natural history interpretation, marine mammal interaction, birding, tidal zone and current safety concerns and weather considerations along our tour routes,” he said.

“I am eager to be among the whales that gave seed to my career, lifestyle, and passion for silent sports,” Schluender said of the trip before he left.

The lush green Amazon is the world’s largest river basin that contains the most bountiful rain-forest on the planet. Including macaws, toucans, tyrant flycatchers, capybaras, tapir, sloths, squirrel monkeys, red howler monkeys, jaguars, caimans, anacondas, tarantulas, leaf-cutter ants, scarlet ibis and black skimmers, the Amazon rain-forest is home to a bewildering array of wildlife.

Don’t think the list gets over here, Amazon is such a large rain-forest and has such profusion of wildlife that it might get difficult for you to explore it and if you’re able to then there is a possibility that you won’t see the same sights twice. I’ll suggest you to take your camera along so that you are able to capture the cherishing moments.

Amazon rainforest is the world’s most beautiful and unspoiled places. It is dense, rich, tropical and brimming with life. It is host to some of the most remarkable and fascinating wildlife on earth. With about thousand species of fish and birds including hundreds of hummingbirds, about sixty reptile species one can easily make out the astounding biodiversity of the place.

Wouldn’t you call Nick Gordon fortunate enough to spend ten years of his life get close encounters with the abundant nature of Amazon rainforest? He came up with the astonishing series of magical images. ‘A photographer’s incredible journey’ will be published next month by Evans Mitchell Books at £25. Here, in the picture gallery below I’m putting few pictures of the exciting species and I’m sure these will help you have the idea of Amazon’s biological richness.

The Deputy Commissioner of the district has been asked to submit a project plan on land requisition mentioning the quantity of khas and vested property to the ministry concerned within the next 15 days.

The meeting also decided that an 8-km area along the Brahmaputra River would be re-excavated and 14 ghats would be reconstructed by Water Ministry under the supervision of Religious Affairs Ministry as part of the proposed project.

Besides, the Architecture Department would formulate a master plan following which the ministries concerned would reconstruct the mandirs, set up shades, guide-walls, roads and other necessary infrastructures.

The Ministry of Forest and Environment would set up a tree-shadow, a tourist corporation and a restaurant as a part of the project. A police station would also be set up to ensure public security in the area.

Religious Affairs secretary Ataur Rahman, Water Resources secretary Syed Mohammad Jobayer, joint secretary of Agriculture Ministry Latfur Rahman, Land Ministry joint secretary Murtaza Ahmed were, among others, present in the meeting.

During the dry season, the beels cover an area of approximately 4,400 ha. However, during the rainy season, the entire area gets flooded, and the beels are united as one large lake, or haor, with an area of approximately 18,000 ha. This makes it the largest haor in Bangladesh. Some 190,000 people live surrounding Hakaluki haor area. Hakaluki haor is a highly significant site for a wide variety of waterfowl.

It is important for wintering migratory birds. Its overall significance is perhaps best expressed with reference to the various criteria for inclusion as a Ramsar site. “It is a particularly good representative example of a wetland which plays a substantial hydrological, biological or ecological role in the natural functioning of a major river basin85; “It supports an appreciable assemblage of rare, vulnerable or endangered species of plant or animal, or an appreciable number of individuals of any one or more of these species.

“It is of special value for maintaining the genetic and ecological diversity of a region because of the peculiarities of its flora and fauna. “It regularly supports about 20,000 waterfowl. “It regularly supports substantial numbers of individuals from particular groups of waterfowl, indicative of wetland values, productivity or diversity.

“The Maldives were one of the first countries to recognize that sharks were a key reason tourists went to dive there,” said Matt Rand, director of Global Shark Conservation for the Pew Environment Group. “Today’s announcement protects the Maldives’ tourism industry—the largest segment of their economy—from the ravages of the shark fin trade. It is a bold and farsighted move on the part of the government of the Maldives.”

The protected waters are home to thirty species of shark, including the scalloped hammerhead and the oceanic whitetip, both of which are up for protection at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The IUCN Red List classifies the scalloped hammerhead as Endangered, and the oceanic whitetip as Vulnerable to extinction.

The Maldives, a popular tourist location, depends on its pristine beaches, coral reefs, and marine wildlife, such as sharks, for much of its tourism industry. Globally tourism focused on seeing sharks in the wild is a growing business.

“Countries are beginning to recognize just how important vibrant shark populations are to healthy ocean ecosystems, and to their ecotourism industries,” explains Rand.

The trade for shark fin soup has devastated shark populations worldwide: sharks are caught, finned (whereby fishermen cuts off their fins), and then tossed overboard into the ocean to perish. It is estimated that 73 million sharks are killed every year for their fins alone.

Currently, 32 percent of open ocean shark species are threatened with extinction.Sharks that dwell in the Maldives can breathe a sigh of relief: the island nation has declared 90,000 square kilometers of the Indian Ocean a safe-haven for sharks, banning shark fishing as well as any trade in shark fins.

“The Maldives were one of the first countries to recognize that sharks were a key reason tourists went to dive there,” said Matt Rand, director of Global Shark Conservation for the Pew Environment Group. “Today’s announcement protects the Maldives’ tourism industry—the largest segment of their economy—from the ravages of the shark fin trade. It is a bold and farsighted move on the part of the government of the Maldives.”

The protected waters are home to thirty species of shark, including the scalloped hammerhead and the oceanic whitetip, both of which are up for protection at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The IUCN Red List classifies the scalloped hammerhead as Endangered, and the oceanic whitetip as Vulnerable to extinction.

sharks, for much of its tourism industry. Globally tourism focused on seeing sharks in the wild is a growing business.

“Countries are beginning to recognize just how important vibrant shark populations are to healthy ocean ecosystems, and to their ecotourism industries,” explains Rand.

The trade for shark fin soup has devastated shark populations worldwide: sharks are caught, finned (whereby fishermen cuts off their fins), and then tossed overboard into the ocean to perish. It is estimated that 73 million sharks are killed every year for their fins alone.

Currently, 32 percent of open ocean shark species are threatened with extinction.