l etoile

I recently left the Vjosa Valley in Albania where the Vjosa River was recently protected as a national park as it is the last wild river in Europe. 93% of people there supported the protections.

I came to see it and also support the people who overwhelmingly favored protecting the Vjosa River by making it a national park. I really hope carefully planned, limited development to attract more eco-travelers to the glorious hiking, rafting, biking, camping will mean good things for the people there. This area rivals most anywhere in the world in beauty.

Supporting local economies, their efforts to protect the environment, to support their families, and showing cultural respect can potentially keep environmentally destructive development from coming in.

I’m curious other places where travel can be protective to the environment, animals, local people. Where responsible tourism money can keep destructive development at bay.

- The butterfly migratory reserves in Mexico seem such places. There is a lot of illegal logging in those areas, but tourist dollars that keep the butterflies and their habitat valuable to the communities is probably the best chance of keeping it out.

- There’s a migratory butterfly sanctuary in Texas that frequently faces threats and is another where visitors are important to protecting this habitat.

- Southern Africa is another where eco-tourism aims to make animals more valuable alive than dead. Without safaris. I wonder if any rhinos would be left.

Other thoughts on places where travel can have benefit to local communities and environments?


(photo of the Vjosa River, Europe’s last wild river and a national park)