Get a Photo with the Pirarucu! Ecotourism as Disguise for Wildlife Exploitation in the Amazon

• In Event: Conservation, Green Criminology, and the Study of Non-Human Crime Victims

Abstract

As the world faces a nature crisis with an accelerating loss of biodiversity, the tourism industry is expanding as more people raise above poverty. While tourists are a diverse group, consisting of, i.a. back packers, cruise ship passengers, and safari travellers, the increasing numbers of people who want to experience pristine nature and wildlife harm the very same nature and wildlife they are so eager to experience. An answer to this problem has been ecotourism, the concept of the phenomenon which if conducted in an eco- species-just way, may reduce the harms of tourism, but which may also be used to legitimize the inherent harms of tourism. When something is conceptualized and presented as ‘eco’, or ‘conservation’ it may give the impression that people who are ‘touristing’ contribute to nature and wildlife protection. In this paper I discuss how people may contribute to wildlife harm rather than their conservation and protection using as a case a specific facility in the Amazon jungle, which presents itself as a venue for wildlife conservation. I argue that concepts of wildlife conservation and ecotourism may be employed to profit from endangered wildlife and greenwash wildlife harms, even with the condonement of national law enforcement authorities.

Author

• Ragnhild Aslaug Sollund, University of Oslo