Marine Ecoturism

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EXTRAS

06. MARINE ECOTOURISM

Oceans have always been a source of wealth and numerous civilizations prospered thanks to them, gradually leaving their footprint on the shores. Our ability to extract resources and dump waste has reached unthinkable levels, causing severe impacts. Some communities found an opportunity to use the ocean’s resources in a different way: marine ecotourism. What started as a local economic alternative is today a global industry that generates 50 billion dollars each year, serving more than 120 million tourists. Marine ecotourism is a key piece to ensure that the conservation of natural capital contributes as much or more to human well-being than fisheries. Could the true richness of the oceans lie in something beyond resource extraction?

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WITH SUPPORT FROM

Lyda Hill Foundation

The Nature Conservancy

IN COLLABORATION WITH

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Gulf of California Marine Program

DIRECTION AND EDITING

Jaime Rojo

SCRIPT

Octavio Aburto

Exequiel Ezcurra

Jaime Rojo

VOICE OVER

Exequiel Ezcurra

PHOTOGRAPHY VIDEO

Alfredo Barroso

Thor Morales Vera

Tania Escobar

Cristina Mittermeier

Neil Ever Osborne

Miguel Ángel de la Cueva

Jaime Rojo

Google Earth / NASA / Landsat

Wikimedia Commons

Longjourneys/Shutterstock

Mount Airy Films/Shutterstock

ART

Patricia Ferguson

ANIMATION

Pierangelo Pirak

MUSIC AND SOUND FX

Ernesto Paredano

SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION

Isaac Bazán / Romboh

Andrea Bizberg

Catalina López

WEB DESIGN

Yin-lai Trinidad, Setentayocho

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Andrés Cisneros

Everardo Meléndez

Carlos Godínez

Mauricio Martínez

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IMAGE GALLERY

Petroglyphs featuring marine species in Sierra San Francisco, Baja California.

Oceans have always been a source of wealth and numerous civilization prospered thanks to them

Our ability to extract resources and dump waste has reached unthinkable level, gradually leaving our footprint on the shores

What started as a local economic alternative is today a global industry that generates 50 billion dollars each year, serving more than 120 million tourists

With nets growingly empty, some communities found an opportunity to use the ocean’s resources in a different way: marine ecotourism

Cabo Pulmo receives 29,000 tourists every year, who leave a direct revenue of 3 million dollars, an alternative to fishing that has also

allowed them to resist the attempts to establish mega-developments around their park

In Mexico, marine ecotourism attracts 900 thousand visitors every year in the Gulf of California alone, generating local income of over 500 million dollars.

After gray whales were protected, their population rebounded, and today they generate each year

more than six million dollars through ecotourism in the sanctuaries of Baja California

In Mexico, the sharks fishery generates 21 million dollars annually at the cost of decimating our seas, while diving with sharks,

generates more than 12 million dollars without any impact to the species or the ecosystem.

But not all is success stories: poorly planned tourism tends towards massification, impacts the environment and disturbs wildlife populations.

Marine ecotourism is a key piece to ensure that the conservation of natural capital contributes as much or more to human well-being than fisheries.