A proposed new train in Mexico would connect the archaeological site of Chichen Itza, on the Yucatan Peninsula, easier to reach from Cancun.
REUTERS/Mauricio Marat/National Institute of Anthropology and History
An ambitious new train would link resorts like Cancun to inland ancient ruins and colonial towns. That means laying rail across 932 miles of dense jungle, pristine beach and indigenous villages.
Ex-combatants learned to survey birds, plants and other wildlife.
Jaime Gongora
In the wake of decades of violence, ex-guerrillas in Colombia are making conservation part of the path to peace.
Zephyr_p/Shutterstock
Thousands of wildlife photographs are taken every day – they could prove very valuable for conservation.
Marine protected areas are geographically distinct regions of the ocean that are given special protection under law.
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A new network of 20 sites have been declared as marine protected areas in South Africa.
Lucia Orosco holding her daughter, Arely, in Boquillas. Much of the embroidery created here reads ‘no el muro’ (no wall).
Matthew Moran
A scholar who travels regularly to the US-Mexico border finds ecological links and a community on the other side that welcomes American visitors.
There are about 600 Mountain gorillas left in the Virunga Volcanoes.
Onyx9/Shutterstock
In Rwanda gorillas have been leaving protected areas to raid sodium rich crops.
BlueOrange Studio/Shutterstock
Wild animals don’t mind humans in their habitats, so long as they make as little noise as possible.
An elephant faces down a car full of tourists.
Isabelle Szott
Wildlife tourism is a million dollar industry, but do we know enough about how wildlife feel about tourists in their habitat?
The Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island. Each new luxury ecotourism development becomes a precedent to allow future incursions.
Southern Ocean Lodge/AAP
Around Australia, and the world, national parks are under threat from the curious paradox of luxury ecotourism.
Children play on a beach in Palau, in the western Pacific Ocean. The country was the first to place a sweeping ban on sunscreen to protect its reefs.
(AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
As the mid-winter break draws crowds to beaches, tourists may be wondering if their sunscreen is toxic to coral reefs.
Elephants in Kakoi village, Burunge Wildlife Management Area.
Credit: Alex Wunsch
Narratives about successful community-based conservation efforts in Tanzania need to be probed.
At least 30 tourism developments have been proposed for Tasmania’s World Heritage-listed wilderness.
Newly revealed documents show the Commonwealth government approved a controversial tourism plan for Tasmania’s World Heritage wilderness without assessing it against federal conservation legislation.
Participants in a virtual reality travel experience reported a sense of relaxation, similar to that gained from travel in real life.
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Mind wandering engages the same neural pathways used to receive stimuli from the real world, evoking emotions similar to real life. VR can elicit these same feelings.
Do people in Nosey Be Madagascar benefit equally from ecotourism income and training opportunities?
Flickr.com/tatogra
Efforts to conserve nature needs to include communities.
Getting up close and personal can make you like sharks more, even if you already like them.
Juan Oliphant
Sharks have a PR problem. But new research shows that shark ecotourism programs boost people’s knowledge and attitudes towards shark conservation – even among those who are green-minded to begin with.
Travel is getting cheaper, but more carbon-intensive.
Renato Podestá Castilho/Flickr
For the first time research has quantified the global carbon footprint of tourists. It’s big – and getting bigger.
Sun, sea, sand and tower blocks in Benidorm, Spain.
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How to make your holiday better for the environment through sustainable tourism.
The Maldives: beautiful, but vulnerable.
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It’s not just the price to you, but how much it costs the destination.
Social media posts, such as this image uploaded to Flickr, can be repurposed for reef health monitoring.
Sarah Ackerman/Flickr/Wikimedia Commons
Mining social media posts from tourism hotspots such as coral reefs could turn tourists into environmental citizen scientists without them even realising it.
basiczto/Shutterstock
Barcelona is under huge strain from tourism growth, but at least it is trying to do something about it. You could help as well…