How Civic Sciences aims to preserve places that bring tourists to study

In depth The Peruvian Amazon, Tamchiaco Tahuyu Regional Conservation Area, is characterized by enormous biodiversity – pink dolphins, rare monkeys, giant river otters, reptiles, hundreds of birds and different species of plants. It is also one of the most prominent examples of the government realizing that preserving the environment does not require turning people away. Instead, it is possible for humans to coexist with nature and help protect it.

The area’s protected status is supported in part by research conducted by tourists.

Biologist Richard Bodmer welcomes visitors to his research station along the Yarrapa River, on a strip of indigenous land between Tamashiako Tahuyu and another area jointly managed by indigenous communities, Pacaya-Samaria National Reserve, to help track wildlife and collect other ecosystem data for decades. His guests arrive through a partnership with Earthwatch Expeditions, a tour company that connects people with scientists carrying out long-term research projects around the world and invites them to engage in “participatory science.” Earthwatch conducts nearly two dozen trips: to study the ecosystems of polar bears in the Arctic, whooping cranes in Texas, trees in Acadia National Park, large mammals in Kenya, and more.

In the Amazon, research guides the daily activities of a (usually) eight-day itinerary. Participants sleep on a restored ship that was first brought to the area at the beginning of the 19th century to transport rubber. Solar energy is used to operate air conditioning and provide hot water for showering. Bodmer says the goal is to support conservation strategies that simultaneously protect ecosystems and the people who depend on them. The bonus is that economic activity directly linked to keeping those ecosystems intact helps remind government that effective conservation has value in itself.

Each evening, participants set their research goals: choose a specific animal to survey, at a specific location and across a specific radius, during a specific time period. Searching for parrots and other birds means taking a small boat ride up or down the river. “There, we were watching and waiting,” says Jared Katz, a Vermont psychotherapist who joined the Earth-observing expedition earlier this year with his wife, Jennifer Joyce. “One of us had a GPS and was calling out coordinates at each stop we made that morning, and another person had a clipboard and grid to record the data. The rest of us (and these two as well) were monitoring the flight.”

Collecting data over time has led to a greater understanding of the ecosystem. For example, Bodmer says, birds moving where they roost may suggest changes in the waterscape; Recent flooding in the region appears to affect primates, which move easily through the canopy, less than ground-dwelling animals.

What stands out about Bodmer’s riverboat trip in the Amazon is that travelers spend time in an area that is now protected by the government and managed by indigenous people—in part due to the findings of his previous research groups.

Actual environmental friendliness Ecotourism is very different. In general, small operations, local ownership and community involvement are key, says Gian Nyaobane, who researches ecotourism, protected area management and indigenous peoples and serves as director of the Center for Sustainable Tourism at Arizona State University.

While the easiest way to reduce your carbon footprint and protect natural resources is not to travel, and often the most convenient way to engage with remote communities is to leave them alone, the reality is that governments want to see economic growth. “What is the best approach to economic development? Is it better to mine these places? Or build dams and clear the land for agriculture?” Neupani says. “Ecotourism is probably more sustainable than any other extractive industry.”