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... Wildlife tourism constitutes the leading source of foreign exchange in several countries and contributes significantly to rural employment (Damania et al. 2019). Wildlife watching of free ranging animals is generally considered a low-impact activity compatible with conservation that has positive effects including financial revenues incentivizing species and habitat protection, facilitating environmental education, and providing wellness benefits to visitors through naturebased contact (Tablado and D'Amico 2017). ...
Wildlife tourism constitutes the leading source of foreign exchange in several countries and contributes significantly to rural employment (Damania et al. 2019). Wildlife watching of free ranging animals is generally considered a low-impact activity compatible with conservation that has positive effects including financial revenues incentivizing species and habitat protection, facilitating environmental education, and providing wellness benefits to visitors through nature-based contact (Tablado and D'Amico 2017). Wildlife tourism also has negative effects such as disruption of animal activity, stress, accidental kill or injury, transmission of diseases, alterations in space use and breeding success, and wildlife habitat degradation (Green and Higginbottom 2001). These negative effects are accentuated when visitors and/or tour operators are unaware or intentionally ignore guidelines to protect wildlife.
Here I report a wildlife tourism practice based on artificial feeding that introduces a new potential risk for wildlife: animal poisoning with polystyrene. I observed it opportunistically while on holidays on 10 August 2022 at Lake Naivasha in Kenya, a popular birdwatching site included in the key tourism circuits in the country. Located in a high-altitude trough of the Rift Valley, it is one of the few freshwater lakes in eastern Africa declared a Ramsar Site for its ecological value ( https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/724). During a touristic boat trip on the lake, the guide advised tourists to prepare their cameras for a close encounter with African Fish-Eagles (Haliaeetus vocifer), which were perched on trees along the lakeshore. The guide retrieved a fish he had on the boat and stuffed it with polystyrene, whistled, stood up while shaking the fish to get the attention of the eagles, and threw the fish into the water approximately 20 m away from the boat. An adult African Fish-Eagle flew toward the boat, picked up the fish, carried it to a tree, and ate it there (Fig. 1).
Figure 1
Touristic artificial feeding of African Fish-Eagle in Lake Naivasha. From left to right, (top): eagle perched on a lakeshore tree, guide stuffing fish with polystyrene, guide whistling and shaking the fish; (bottom): guide throwing fish to the water, eagle picking up the fish from the lake surface, eagle taking fish to the feeding perch.
The use of polystyrene to make the fish float (because African Fish-Eagles only fish on the water's surface) potentially involves several health-related risks for the eagles or other wildlife consuming it, and also constitutes a new source of environmental pollution (de Carvalho et al. 2021). The African Fish-Eagle I observed consumed the fish in a tree too far away for me to determine whether it ingested the polystyrene or dropped it during manipulation, but ingestion is likely, as numerous birds accidentally ingest plastics (Wang et al. 2021) including those feeding on fish such as seabirds (Wilcox et al. 2015) and Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus; Carlin et al. 2020). Polystyrene ingestion can cause serious health problems in birds in the form of physical impairment and toxicological effects (Wang et al. 2021). Physical damage can occur shortly after ingestion and includes injuries, suffocation, ulcers, gastrointestinal obstructions and perforations (Fry et al. 1987, Pierce et al. 2004, Wang et al. 2021). Toxicological effects can include delayed ovulation, impaired digestive and immune functions, inflammatory responses, and negative impacts on the circulatory system (Wang et al. 2021). Overall, plastic ingestion in birds can lead to starvation, reduced body weight, slower growth rate, reduced reproductive output, and increased mortality (Pierce et al. 2004, Wang et al. 2021). Polystyrene dispersal in nature causes both primary and secondary contamination that may negatively affect a wide range of organisms, causing reduced survival of plankton, increased mortality among invertebrates, physiological and behavioral effects in fish, and respiratory effects in mammals (Kik et al. 2020). In addition, the dispersal of this nonbiodegradable plastic adds to the already concerning pollution problems of Lake Naivasha, which is currently impacted by organic waste, heavy metals, pesticides, and other contaminants from horticultural practices and other human activities (Otiang'a-Owiti and Oswe 2010).
The severity of pollutants' effects on individuals and the environment depends on the concentration and total exposure to the chemical. The anecdotal nature of this observation did not allow quantification of the extent of the problem, but this is likely not an isolated incident. The guide artificially fed the eagles with plastic-stuffed fish three times during a 1-hr boat trip; four other tourists I met who took a similar boat tour with different operators described the same pattern of artificial feeding, and although they could not confirm that the fish thrown contained plastic, they saw that it floated, so it likely contained something to increase buoyancy. In addition, the fact that the eagles responded to the guide's whistle or to the floating fish—a habituation behavior that requires some training over time—suggests that artificial feeding of African Fish-Eagles in Lake Naivasha may be a widespread practice. Moreover, a similar plastic-fish baiting practice is described and denounced on a bird photography website: Grey-headed Fish-Eagles (Icthyophaga ichthyaetus) in Singapore were baited with a live fish stuffed with pieces of polystyrene foam ( https://www.10000birds.com/unethical-photographers-bait-critically-endangered-eagles.htm). This suggests that this practice may affect more species in other regions.
In addition to the polystyrene poisoning risk that I highlight here because it has not been reported in the scientific literature to my knowledge, the touristic practice observed is based on wildlife attraction through artificial feeding, which can alter natural behavior patterns and population numbers and can lead to dependency, habituation, the development of “begging” behaviors that eventually result in aggression toward humans, and intra- and inter-specific aggression due to the greater density of animals in a small area (Orams 2002, Knight 2009, Barrientos et al. 2020). The latter is particularly concerning as Lake Naivasha hosts a high density of African Fish-Eagles and some individuals have killed others while defending their shoreline territories (Harper 2002, Virani and Chadge 2017).
Here I aim to draw attention to the need of further research to assess the effects of artificial feeding using polystyrene on African Fish-Eagles and the consequences of this pollution in Lake Naivasha. The intervention of local authorities may be needed to discourage polystyrene use and control inappropriate behavior of guides. Tourism education must be promoted both among visitors and tour operators, as the practice is grounded in the assumption that close-up encounters increase satisfaction, leading to more generous tips. Although this may be true for a majority of tourists, environmentally educated ones increasingly reject artificial practices (Tablado and D'Amico 2017). In this case, I found myself in a “tourist trap” in which I unintentionally contributed to this malpractice, as the tour operator advertised the experience as a boat tour in the lake where wildlife was abundant; thus, I assumed I would see the animals in a natural way, and there was no indication the tour included artificial feeding of the animals or the plastic involved. As a wildlife ecologist and a tourist, I expressed my discomfort with this practice, complained to the tour operator, and did my best to communicate the risk it involves for the birds. A growing body of research indicates that tourists' satisfaction can be achieved through skilled and knowledgeable guides, authenticity of the wildlife encounters, and practices that enlist visitors as conservation partners (Ballantyne et al. 2009, Egresi and Prakash 2019). Finally, the long-term sustainability of wildlife tourism requires that guides and tour operators guarantee animal welfare, preserving the resources on which their jobs and livelihoods depend (Tablado and D'Amico 2017).
I thank Álvaro Orosa Díez, who gathered some of the pictures used in Figure 1. I thank Antonio Román Muñoz Gallego and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on previous drafts, which improved this work. MMP's contract was funded by the European Union “NextGenerationEU” Programa María Zambrano, Ministerio de Universidades, Spain.
© 2023 The Raptor Research Foundation, Inc.
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... Its rangelands had, on average, 68% fewer animals in 2016 than in 1977 . Locally, such as in West Pokot county, nearly the entire (99%) animal population was lost (Damania et al., 2019). Kenya's human population has grown exponentially from 14.6 million in 1977 (The World Bank, 2020) to 47.6 million in 2019 (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2019aStatistics, , 2019b. ...
... The point has been reached in which further road construction has become inadvisable given the effect on wildlife. The 20 km defaunation zones, which are typical for road construction, result in net long term losses for the economy through missed tourist revenue (Damania et al., 2019). ...
Research into the protection of protected areas against bushmeat poachers placing snares:
1. How can snaring hotspots be identified?
2. Can the expertise of rangers be used in predicting snaring hotspots?
3. Can current patrolling patterns be improved?
... A new national association to represent conservancies, the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA), was created to support the growing movement. Since 2013, the number of conservancies has grown considerably, with over 160 now covering an area of around 6 million hectares, or about 11% of the country's land area (Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA), 2017, Damania et al., 2019;Cockerill & Hagerman, 2020). 930,000 households are now members of conservancies, and conservancies nationwide generate around $12 million in annual tourism income, with these areas playing an increasingly central role in national and county-level (regional) government wildlife policies and investments (Damania et al., 2019). ...
... Since 2013, the number of conservancies has grown considerably, with over 160 now covering an area of around 6 million hectares, or about 11% of the country's land area (Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA), 2017, Damania et al., 2019;Cockerill & Hagerman, 2020). 930,000 households are now members of conservancies, and conservancies nationwide generate around $12 million in annual tourism income, with these areas playing an increasingly central role in national and county-level (regional) government wildlife policies and investments (Damania et al., 2019). Conservation impacts are increasingly evident, including recovering large carnivore populations in some conservancies (Blackburn, Hopcraft, Ogutu, Matthiopoulos, & Frank, 2016) and reduced elephant poaching in key landscapes such as northern Kenya (Ihwagi et al., 2015). ...
Eastern and southern Africa has been a key laboratory for community‐based approaches to conservation for over three decades. During the 1990s, field‐level initiatives and national policy reforms across the region put it at the forefront of global experiments with community‐based conservation. Community‐based conservation, in theory and practice, is closely tied to institutional reforms that devolve rights over wildlife and natural resources to local communities. As such, these efforts have frequently encountered political‐economic and institutional barriers that limited their impact. This contributed to a rising sense of rollback and recentralization of community conservation approaches during the 2000s. Since then, community‐based conservation has expanded its scope considerably in some countries, notably Kenya and Namibia, primarily as a result of relatively supportive legal and policy provisions coupled with sustained government, civil society, and private sector support. At a wider scale, sufficient devolution of rights over wildlife and natural resources has been a chronic constraint, but community‐based initiatives have still managed to persist, adapt, and deliver some evidence of positive ecological and social impacts in Zambia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Three key overarching trends across the region are (a) the significant growth and expansion of community‐based conservation where key institutional enabling conditions exist; (b) pervasive institutional limitations on community rights over wildlife and other valuable natural resources, which continue to constrain and undermine community‐based approaches; and (c) local entrepreneurship and resilience that continues to create new opportunities for community‐based approaches, even under adverse conditions.
... Kenya's road network has grown considerably over the last decades, from around 7,000 kilometers of paved and improved roads in 1978 to around 11,000 kilometers of improved and paved roads as of 2017 11 . This is the same across Africa, and many of them cut across PAs. ...
Background: Road development and associated large infrastructure projects have the potential to drive economic growth and poverty reduction in the developing world. However, there is a common misconception among governments and developers that all roads are good, while some may have considerable economic and environmental costs. It is essential to evaluate any new development against other options to ensure governments and investors make decisions that truly benefit people and the economy.
Context: Many road developments are planned in central Kenya. One of the largest is the "Mau-Mau road project" a 30 billion Ksh (280 million USD), a three-year government project to construct over 500km of road on the eastern edge of the Aberdare National Park (ANP) and Aberdare Forest Reserve. There have also been proposals to extend the Mau-Mau road over the Aberdare mountains. No analysis has been done on the costs and benefits of these road building scenarios for the Kenyan people, which is crucial information for development decisions. This study: We used OpenStreetMap data to evaluate how different road building scenarios perform against well-founded socioeconomic measures of good road design, including the number of people living within 2km of a road, and reductions in travel time to and between major towns. Major finding 1: The new Mau-Mau road will reduce travel times by 1.3-6.5% on 11 routes, increase the number of people within 2km of a tarmac road by 177,000, and improve travel times to major towns for over 25,000 people. This suggests the Mau-Mau road will help stimulate economic growth and development in these areas. The Mau-Mau roads do not pass through any natural habitat in either the ANP or Forest Reserve, so they will have a minimal environmental impact in that regard. Major finding 2: There is almost no socioeconomic benefit to building a road over the Aberdare range and through the ANP. There is no evidence that it brings people closer to main roads, or reduces travel time to markets. The only benefit is a slightly reduced travel time, and potentially lower fuel costs, between Nyeri-Naivasha and Nyeri-Gilgil, but this is conditional on the road being upgraded to a secondary road built to allow an average speed of greater than 50 KpH which is most likely unfeasible on the mountainous terrain. These routes also consist of considerable sections of high gradient, which could profoundly impact traffic flow. Conclusion: Our results clearly show that upgrading roads around the ANP (the current "Mau-Mau road project") benefit more people, and will produce higher economic returns than a road over the top of the Aberdare range. Considering the low socioeconomic returns of this development, it appears that its construction is not worth the risk posed to biodiversity and ecosystem services found within the ANP. 3 4
Kenya' tourism industry is predominantly based on nature and founded on protected areas (PAs) model. However, climatic changes through unstable temperature as well as rainfall patterns have the potential to cause declines in wildlife populations in these PAs. Climate change poses exceptional social, cultural as well as environmental challenges. In Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR), a combined number of factors including climate change, human population pressure on wildlife dispersal areas including human wildlife conflict has resulted in catastrophic declines in wildlife populations. The study investigated MMNR host community perceptions oaround climate change impacts of on natural resources and sustainability of tourism. This is because regional knowledge gaps exist in research on climate change impacts on tourism. Exploratory research design was adopted. This research used quantitative data and hence exploratory approach was considered suitable. Simple random sampling was adopted to sample 399 heads of households who filled the questionnaires. Using SPSS V.23, descriptive as well as inferential statistics was adopted to analyze quantitative data. The relationship between the variables was determined using linear regression. The study findings indicate a positive as well as significant relationship on the two variables of natural resources and tourism sustainability as evidenced by the values (b=0.393 and p=0.000). Also, the coefficient of determination (R squared) shows 39.5% variation in sustainability of tourism can be attributed to climate change as indicated in Table 3. The study findings raises the need for strategic initiatives and considerations for developing alternative wildlife based tourism products in the advent of declines in wildlife populations as a result of erratic rainfall and temperature patterns.
An important driving force for the rapid development of China’s economy is rapid urbanization. In 1949, only 10.6% of China’s population lived in cities. In 2019, China’s urbanization level reached 60.6%. According to the experience of industrialized countries, it is estimated that by 2035, about 70% of China’s population will live in urban areas. In 2050, this proportion will rise to around 80%.
The ocean is fundamentally important for humankind. Simply stated, the ocean helps us breathe, regulates our global climate, and slows down the rate of global warming by absorbing 40% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promises to create new opportunities for shared growth among countries through policy coordination, connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people connections. It takes on new and deeper relevance amidst the global pandemic that has stricken the world. The fight against COVID-19 pandemic has made it abundantly clear that the global community is inescapably interconnected and needs stronger international collaboration through shared institutions and economic growth paths that are resilient, inclusive, and sustainable. The BRI has the potential to make major contributions to these needs.
This open access book is based on the research outputs of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) in 2020. It covers major topics of Chinese and international attention regarding green development, such as climate, biodiversity, ocean, BRI, urbanization, sustainable production and consumption, technology, finance, value chain, and so on. It also looks at the progress of China’s environmental and development policies，and the impacts from CCICED. This is a highly informative and carefully presented book, providing insight for policy makers in environmental issues.
