What’s really robbing you off your tropical holiday?

I’ll be the first to admit, I love my holidays…but I love the environment that give me that luxury even more. Irresponsible tourism can ravish nature faster than you think. Within the blink of an eye, that white sandy beach could very well be just another picture on a postcard because once tourism sinks its teeth into it; you’re going to scream scam the moment you arrive.

Which makes me wonder, do we all only learn to appreciate what we have after it’s gone?

You see the movement to sustain the environment isn’t quite as popular a march outside the US, which might hit you as odd, since these are the people who still have virgin forest and un-ravished natural beauty to boast about.

Back home, we’re not just fighting to save what we have left of nature, we’re fighting to bring back what is now lost -an uphill battle all the way! And as advance as our industries and technological breakthroughs are, sadly so are the effect of global warming, which makes us the perfect example of what not to let your environment become.

So why then, do we see still see nature losing its battle to survive? There are many reasons, but ignorant tourism is one of the culprits.

Fact of the matter is, tourists hold just as much responsibility as their host if not more to keep the environment flourishing

Tourism is about money, it is just another form of income for the host, so there’s no need to question which one takes the prize of priority. Hosts will manipulate nature anyway it takes to bring the tourists in and even though there are responsible ways of doing this, sadly most don’t come with such foresight so we end up with scenarios of extinct marine life and ruined coral reefs.

Yet where there are handfuls, which do their best to ensure nature stays in its virgin state, it is the lack of co-operation from the tourist which makes the effort a failure.

You don’t have to do anything much, just pick up after yourselves and follow the rules. If the sign says, ‘Marine Reserve Park, please do not take marine life out of the water’ -then don’t!

The star fish is beautiful creature and so is the sea cucumber, but take them out of their environment and that beauty is gone. So come on everyone, baby steps go a long way to protecting and preserving our environment. I still want to have a picture perfect tropical beach to go to, don’t you?

Image Source: Perhentian Guide