Wildlife tourism maps and the governance of environmental collapse

Abstract

In Bocas del Toro, Panama, tourists are shuffled on panga boats between Dolphin Bay, Starfish Beach, and Sloth Island in hopes of seeing and photographing those species specifically – one at a time. The aim of this research was to explore the governance of the wildlife tourism industry by gauging tourist satisfaction and assessing the relationship between industry operations and tourist demand. A mixed method approach utilized semi-structured interviews with tour operators (n = 21) and surveys with wildlife tourists (n = 101). Empirical evidence demonstrates that a collectivist organization with de facto ownership/control of wildlife tourism sites has not been effective at self-governing towards a sustainable industry capable of ensuring the well-being of target species and conservation. Communication issues between tourists and guides are also shown to be behind the creation of the de-territorialized and reductionist (and consequentially detrimental) wildlife tourism attraction map. This, along with survey results demonstrating unaddressed demand for providing more education, better wildlife treatment and conservation, together poke holes in the assumption that industry governance might be best steered by global efforts to shift consciousness to include demand for wildlife equity. Findings instead place priority on the need to interrogate the financial incentives that drive industry governance and towards understanding how the profitability of wildlife equity and conservation could be empirically demonstrated to those who control industry operations.