How to Take Care of Tourists and Wildlife during Whale Watching Trips

by Marcela Torres

I recently watched a beautiful and moving Argentinean-Spanish film called “El faro de las orcas” (The Lighthouse of the Whales), set in the coast of a small Patagonian village. Although it focuses on the story of a boy with autism, it also raises important concerns about encouraging tourists to get close to killer whales. Free killer whales don’t attack humans, experts say. However, others would argue that you can never be too careful.

Because of that, as I have mentioned before, several countries and organizations, including the InternationalWhaling Commission (IWC) and Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), have issued guidelines for observing whales and dolphins, to prevent harming both marine mammals and humans. In Chile, the Government passed the regulation for marine wildlife observation, in 2011, and later published two best-practices manuals, one of them with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Argentina has regulated this activity as well.

Australia is certainly one of the leaders in the promotion of responsible tourism, particularly in marine habitats. In 2009, I had an unforgettable whale-watching experience on a ferry that took us from Sydney to the feeding site of a group of humpback whales.

It was a clear, sunny day and I can still feel the cold wind and the ocean water sprinkling all over me as the waves moved the ferry up and down. I was on the deck with other tourists who, like myself, were excited and yelled each time they spotted a tail, a fin or a head, triggering a frenzy to get a photo or video of these animals. The ferry crew kept us in line, however, with their staff on deck as well as with constant instructions and explanations provided through loudspeakers.

Educating and raising awareness is key for ensuring responsible tourism. For example, while we sailed towards the whales, we saw a short educational video about these animals and the rules for observing them. Many guidelines and regulations also demand companies to contribute to conserving and monitoring marine mammals, reporting any sightings to the corresponding authorities.

Besides keeping these guidelines in mind, there are two things you can do to ensure a safe and pleasant experience: Look for information about the species and their habitats before you encounter them; and check that you are traveling with a certified tour operator that is respectful of these animals and the regulations for approaching them.

Whales are amazing creatures! They have been around for more than 30 million years and fascinate people all over the world. But many of them are endangered and we must act responsibly when embarking on a whale-watching adventure.

Hernán Torres (1946-2017): A Great Nature Lover

by Marcela Torres

It was January 2000 and my dad and I were sitting on top of a rocky promontory in Torres del Paine National Park, in southern Chile, withstanding the strong cold Patagonian winds that pierced through our parkas, gloves and hats. But we were on a mission: To photograph the elusive Andean Condor.

We were fortunate enough to stay at a park ranger post, where the staff gave us tips on the best spots to find the Condor. Since this is a scavenger bird, they suggested we take with us some really stinky cat food that would surely do the trick of attracting it to us.

Following their instructions, we trekked for hours through the tall grasslands of the “pampa” to reach one of the hills they had recommended. It was a rocky mount, completely barren, but after climbing it we discovered it provided a great lookout point. There we sat, with our stock of smelly cat food, and waited, and waited, and waited…

As we waited, I remembered how we came to be there on the first place. In 1982, the BBC produced one of my dad’s favorite documentaries, “The Flight of the Condor”. Mind you, he got a copy and played it over and over again. Being just a girl, I was more into cartoons and Michael Jackson videos, but I ended up liking this incredible film about a bird that is a national symbol in most Andean countries, including Chile, where we lived.

In fact, it wasn’t the first time I had enjoyed a national park with him. My dad had been Regional Director for CONAF, the agency in charge of Chilean protected areas, in Arica between 1974 and 1985. As a child, I traveled with him many times to Lauca National Park, in the high Andes, during his field visits. He taught me about the Vicuña, the Flamingos, the Vizcacha, and the Condor.

It was so much fun that I never paid attention to the cold and loved accompanying him while he photographed nature, which was his passion. When I turned nine, he gave me my first camera, a Polaroid that I still have, and taught me how use it. I was so happy that I took pictures of everything!!

Thanks to him, my family and I enjoyed living in Ann Arbor, Michigan; San José, Costa Rica; New Haven, Connecticut; and Arlington, Virginia. This gave us some unforgettable experiences, such as camping around the Great Lakes and visiting all of the beautiful national parks in these areas.

Torres del Paine had always been on my wish list. So, when he offered to take me in 2000, I said yes immediately! And there we were, waiting for the condor…

A couple of hours had gone by and we had almost lost all hope when suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge bird appeared flying straight towards us. It was a Condor! We quickly ditched our gloves and grabbed our cameras, getting ready to take great shots of this amazing animal. But in only a few seconds it was right on top of us!

As it came, and we realized how low it was flying, we instinctively leaned back until we lay flat on the rock.  It was such an awesome sight, having this massive bird glide only a meter above us, that we completely froze. We could see all the details of its belly and the long wings. When we snapped out of our awe, we realized we had not taken any pictures! So, we quickly rolled over on our bellies and started shooting with our cameras to try to catch at least a glimpse of the Condor. It was too late! We were only able to capture a tiny speck that was quickly flying away from us towards higher altitudes.

We stayed there a while, letting the experience sink in. It had been so amazing! Finally, we grabbed our cameras and the stinky cat food and walked back to the park ranger post. At night, while we sat with the rangers around a fire sharing a “mate” (muh-teh) –a typical Patagonia herbal tea-, they laughed at our adventure.

Our common love for nature led us to co-author two editions of the Guide to Chile’s National Parks (1999and 2004), in Spanish, and to work together in the development of the firstsustainable visitor center in a protected area in Chile, in Los FlamencosNational Reserve, between 2005 and 2006. That experience made me decide to study my Master in Ecotourism at James Cook University, in Cairns, Australia, in 2009.

My dad always supported my endeavors and often contributed with photographs for my blog. He was a member of several professional associations and chaired for many years the IUCN South American Camelid Specialist Group, promoting the conservation of the vicuña until the end of his life. I will continue contributing as well, honoring his memory.

He passed away on Saturday, February 18, 2017. It is still so recent that it’s hard to believe… I still feel him close… He will be with me forever… And my love and gratitude for all that he taught me will remain…

HERNÁN TORRES BIO

Hernán held a Master of Environmental Studies from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources from The University of Michigan, both in the United States. He was Regional Director for CONAF (1974-1981 and 1984-1985); team leader for protected areas management plans at the CATIE, in Costa Rica (1986-1988); Protected Areas Specialist of The Nature Conservancy’s Caribbean Region Department (1995-1998); and an accomplished international consultant in protected area planning and management, sustainable development, ecosystem services and biodiversity, working with multilateral agencies, such as the UNDP, UNEP, World Bank and RAMSAR, and actively participating in IUCN initiatives until the end.

Let’s Help Protect the Vicuña!

© Hernán Torres

by Marcela Torres

A ray of hope shone from Hawaii to South America last week when the General Assembly of the World Conservation Congress of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) approved Motion 103: Vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) conservation and the illegal trade in its fibre. The aim is to achieve that the Conference of the Parties (CoP17) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which will be held in South Africa between September 24 and October 5, demands its members to strengthen controls to half the poaching and illegal trade in its fibre.

The Vicuña: A Successful Conservation Case

The Vicuña is one of the four South American camelids that inhabit the High Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. During the 1970s, the species was on the brink of extinction due to excessive hunting for its fibre, considered the finest one in the world, on top of those obtained from cashmere goats and alpacas.

Thanks to the efforts made by conservation organizations and the governments of the countries within its area of distribution, which in 1979 signed the Convention for The Conservation and Management of the Vicuña, all trade in live animals, their fiber and other products of the species was banned. As a consequence, its populations successfully recovered.

At the beginning of the 1990s, Peru requested authorization to trade fiber obtained by indigenous communities from animals that are sheared live and then released, using an ancient Inka technique called “chaku”. Thus, the sustainable management of the species began, together with the export of its fiber to countries such as Italy, Scotland and Japan, an example that was later on followed by Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.

Poaching Reappears After Four Decades

Obtaining vicuña fiber is difficult. Each adult sheared adult vicuña produces barely 200 grams of fiber, every two or three years. Because of that, in addition to being the finest fiber it is also the most expensive, with prices ranging between USD $300 and $500 per kilogram.

Companies focused on luxury clothing in countries like Italy, England, Germany and the United States buy vicuña fiber to manufacture articles such as coats and men’s suits, which are sold at approximately USD $20,000 and USD $40,000, respectively. However, over the past years, it is suspected that China has entered the market, although in an illegal manner, promoting a black market for vicuña fiber that would allegedly be paying up to USD $1,000 per kilogram and being supplied through poaching of the species, particularly by criminal groups operating in Bolivia.

Approximately 5,000 vicuñas have shown up dead and skinned over the past five years. But the killings have increased significantly since 2014 to date, endangering once more the survival of the species and threatening the livelihood of High-Andean communities that carry out a sustainable management of the vicuña with great efforts.

How can these killings be stopped?

Fortunately, civil society and the scientific community have raised their voices over the past year to call attention to this issue and request worldwide help to solve it, from petitions through Internet sites -such as www.thepetitionsite.com and www.care2.com- to a statement made by the IUCN’s South American Camelid Specialist Group (GECS by its acronym in Spanish).

What is needed most is to stop the illegal sale of vicuña products. On the one hand, as consumers we are responsible for making sure that what we buy is duly certified. In addition, we must report any informal sale offer we encounter, since it will most likely be part of a black market that promotes killing protected wildlife.

At an international level, it is crucial that the CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP17) accepts Motion 103 of the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress and commits to, among other things, ensure that the Parties to the CITES that have vicuña fiber and products derived from it identify, mark and register them appropriately, to guarantee their traceability to their origin, adopting and applying the relevant legislation with extensive controls, in order to prevent the illegal trade in these items and that States within the species’ area of distribution, importing countries as well as consumers increase their collaboration.

Let’s hope that the CITES will hear the global outcry to save the Vicuña!

Welcome to Tourism-People-Nature!

At the Piedra de la Iglesia (Church Rock), Constitución, Maule Region, Chile.

by Marcela Torres

Welcome! This blog is a continuation of the one I published between 2011 and 2013 as part of the contribution to the dissemination of World Responsible Tourism Day by the tour operations company, Southern Cone Journeys, which my sister Paula and I created to receive tourists in Chile.

Unfortunately, we were forced to close the company because our expectations were not met regarding the supposedly growing ecotourism and responsible tourism markets in North America and Europe. Of course, the recent economic crises did not help either.

Nevertheless, those two years in business gave us the opportunity to meet fantastic like-minded people, who strive to improve tourism in order to leave the world a better place for future generations.

In that spirit, I have decided to migrate the entries from our previous blog to this new address and to continue with the effort of promoting responsibility in the tourism industry towards the people and the environment of the destinations it relies upon.

I invite you to follow me in this new phase! 

World Tourism Day 2013: Conserving Water

by Marcela Torres

On September 27 we celebrate the 2013 World Tourism Day (WTD) under the theme “Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future”, which the World Tourism Organization (WTO) has chosen to underscore tourism´s responsibility and commitment in ensuring a sustainable water future.

Water availability and quality play a key role in the quality of life of humans. And tourism also depends on this resource in many ways, be it for consumption of visitors or as part of the attractions offered to travelers.

Although tourism has a minor share in world water consumption, compared to other industries such as agriculture and mining, it nevertheless contributes to the problem. For example, the hotel sector requires water for cooking, laundering, human consumption (drinks, showers, etc.), filling pools and irrigating gardens or golf courses, among other uses.

According to the WTO, since more than one thousand million people travel each year worldwide, tourism can be an important channel for raising awareness and changing behaviors, helping reduce issues of availability and quality of water resources and offering effective solutions aimed at achieving greater sustainability for water in the future.

Some related outstanding initiatives have already been set up by the tourism sector. For example, the British non-governmental organization Tourism Concern has a campaign on water equity in tourism, which promotes principles among governments, industry and society at large. The Just a Drop foundation relies on donations from tourism companies to fund clean water projects throughout the world.

People who have not yet taken any water-saving measures may start by taking baby steps. It is not necessary to do everything at once.

Here are some good tips:

• Reduce unnecessary water consumption in cleaning and cooking
• Check pipes and fittings to avoid leaks which cause loss of water
• Use water-saving technology
• Use recycled water from showers, washing machines and toilets or rain water to irrigate gardens
• Invite your hosts to contribute to reducing water consumption through information materials

Happy World Tourism Day!

This entry was originally posted by the author on September 26, 2013.

World Tourism Day: Sustainable Energy

by Marcela Torres

Today marks the celebration of the 2012 World Tourism Day (WTD) under the theme “Tourism & Sustainable Energy: Powering Sustainable Development”, with the aim of highlighting tourism’s role in a brighter energy future; a future in which the world’s entire population has access to modern, efficient and affordable energy services.

Through this blog, I have highlighted several initiative or issues related to energy sustainability in tourism. One outstanding example is the construction of the first sustainable Visitor Center in a protected area in Chile, in the Soncor Sector (Chaxa Lagoon) of the Los Flamencos National Reserve in the Atacama Salt Flat. The project included the architectural design and construction of the Visitor Center, incorporating techniques such as reuse of grey water and electricity generation through solar panels and wind mills.

I have also analyzed the international trend of travelers preferring “green hotels”, highlighting the opening in Santiago of Chile’s first green hotel which, among other things, using solar panels to provide electricity for its rooms and promotes recycling among its staff and guests. In terms of transportation, I have covered topics such as the use of biofuels by airlines, regarding the implications of increasing costs of fuel and energy in the future. 

Finally, I’ve provided useful tips for tourists to reduce their carbon footprint while traveling, through measures such as saving unnecessary energy expenditure when they’re not at home, avoiding disposable batteries and choosing day flights which use less fuel and emit fewer amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Let's celebrate this World Tourism Day inviting everyone to contribute to a greater sustainability in the industry!

This entry was originally posted by the author on September 27, 2012.

International Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC) 2012

Celebration of Cultures Party, ESTC 2012

by Marcela Torres

Last week I had the opportunity of participating for the first time in the International Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference, held in Monterey, California and organized by the International Ecotourism Society (TIES).

It was a great honor for me to be able to deliver, precisely on the day of Chile’s Independence, a presentation on the experience of contributing to developing ecotourism at the Chaxa Lagoon, in Los Flamencos National Reserve in the Atacama Salt Flat. The project, which we developed for CONAF Antofagasta and the Lickan-Antay Indigenous Community of Toconao with the Torres Asociados Limitada consultancy firm, consisted of building the first sustainable Visitor Center in a protected area in Chile and implementing a set of bilingual materials to interpret the natural and cultural values of the area.

The interest of attendees in learning about this experience gave me great satisfaction because it was that project which made me realize that I wanted to dedicate my life to ecotourism and motivated me to study a masters in the topic.

The International Ecotourism Society has been promoting ecotourism for over a decade and working to ensure that tourism activity generates benefits for both the host communities and the environment of the destinations where it operates. This version of the Conference was attended by representatives from such diverse countries as Argentina, Botswana, Canada, Ecuador, Guyana, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya and the United States, to name a few. All of us analyzed issues such as how to fund sustainability initiatives, development and empowerment of local communities, the role of ecotourism in promoting the conservation of endangered species and the unique opportunity of the travel industry to contribute to eradicate poverty.

During the meeting, the International Ecotourism Society also launched the guidelines to regulate “voluntourism”(volunteer tourism), which it developed together with the Planeterra Foundation. The document can be downloaded from the TIES website.

The Celebration of Cultures party, the closing event of the Conference, was the highlight since it allowed attendees to share with the rest some aspects of their culture, such as music and typical outfits, and it emphasized the importance and the great potential of tourism to unite people from so many different countries around a common goal: A better quality of life for all.

This entry was originally posted by the author on September 23, 2012.