THE OTHER FALLOUT

With tourism funds drying up, wildlife conservation, and the people who depend on it, are facing a crisis

- CHAITALI PATEL

In August, the Great Migration, one of the largest movements of terrestrial animals on Earth, took place in East Africa, as it has for hundreds of years. A prized sighting, and one that draws large crowds, was different this year—Africa’s biggest wildlife event played out with no spectators. The animals probably did not miss the audience, but the lack of tourists, and the money they bring in, was definitely missed by conservationists and local communities.

In an April 2020 blog post on undp.org, Midori Praxton, head of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, United Nations Development Programme, writes, “Tourism may sound rather frivolous. Wildlife tourism fringe-frivolous! But statistics indicate that it is in fact one of the most influential and world-shaping of human industries.”

According to a 2018 study conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council, the total economic contribution of wildlife tourism amounted to $343.6 billion. The industry supports 21.8 million jobs, equivalent to the population of Sri Lanka. When the industry comes to a grinding halt, as it has this year, it puts both the wildlife and the communities that depend on it at risk.