Ecotourism and mangrove conservation in Southeast Asia: Current trends and perspectives

Blanton A 1 , Ewane EB 2 , McTavish F 3 , Watt MS 4 , Rogers K 5 , Daneil R 3 Show all authors , Vizcaino I 6 , Gomez AN 7 , Arachchige PSP 3 , King SAL 8 , Galgamuwa GAP 9 , Peñaranda MLP 10 , Al-Musawi L 11 , Montenegro JF 12 , Broadbent EN 13 , Zambrano AMA 14 , Hudak AT 15 , Swangjang K 16 , Valasquez-Camacho LF 17 , Vorenberg JHP 18 , Srinivasan S 19 , Abdullah MM 20 , Charabi YAR 21 , Wan Mohd Jaafar WS 22 , Musa F 23 , Sidik F 24 , Al-Awadhi T 21 , Ali T 25 , Doaemo W 26 , Mohan M 27

Affiliations 

  • 1 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; United Nations Volunteering Program via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
  • 2 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; BlueForests, San Francisco, CA, USA; United Nations Volunteering Program via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; Department of Geography, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon
  • 3 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; United Nations Volunteering Program via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea
  • 4 Scion, 10 Kyle St, Christchurch, 8011, New Zealand
  • 5 Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences (SEALS), Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia
  • 6 United Nations Volunteering Program via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea
  • 7 United Nations Volunteering Program via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; Mining and Energy Engineering School, As Lagoas, Universidad de Vigo, Marcosende, 36310, Vigo. CINTECX, Geotech group, University of Vigo- Vigo, Spain
  • 8 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; United Nations Volunteering Program via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; School of Biological Sciences, University of California- Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
  • 9 United Nations Volunteering Program via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; The Nature Conservancy, Maryland/DC Chapter, Cumberland, MD, USA
  • 10 Programa de Especialización en Gestión Ambiental en la Zona Costera, Universidad Autonoma de Occidente, Colombia
  • 11 Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), Kuwait
  • 12 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; BlueForests, San Francisco, CA, USA; United Nations Volunteering Program via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; University of Liverpool Management School, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZH, UK
  • 13 Spatial Ecology and Conservation Lab, School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
  • 14 Spatial Ecology and Conservation Lab, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
  • 15 USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 1221 South Main St, Moscow, ID, 83844, USA
  • 16 Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Silpakorn University, 6 Rajamankha Nai Road, Amphoe Muang, Nakhon Pathom, 73000, Thailand
  • 17 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; Unit of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Eurecat, Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, 08005, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Av. Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198, Lleida, Spain
  • 18 Departamento de Ciencias Foresta, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín, Colombia
  • 19 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Forest Analytics, Texas A&M Forest Service, Dallas, TX, 75252, USA
  • 20 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; BlueForests, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Geography, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat P.O. Box 50, Oman; Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
  • 21 Department of Geography, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat P.O. Box 50, Oman
  • 22 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; Earth Observation Center, Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 23 Faculty of Tropical Forestry, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
  • 24 Research Centre for Oceanography, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta, 14430, Indonesia
  • 25 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; BlueForests, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, American University of Sharjah (AUS), PO Box, 26666, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
  • 26 United Nations Volunteering Program via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; Department of Civil Engineering, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea
  • 27 Ecoresolve, San Francisco, CA, USA; BlueForests, San Francisco, CA, USA; United Nations Volunteering Program via Morobe Development Foundation, Lae, 00411, Papua New Guinea; Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, American University of Sharjah (AUS), PO Box, 26666, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; Department of Geography, University of California - Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. Electronic address: mikey@ecoresolve.eco
J Environ Manage, 2024 Aug;365:121529.
PMID: 38963961 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121529

Abstract

Mangroves in Southeast Asia provide numerous supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural services that are crucial to the environment and local livelihoods since they support biodiversity conservation and climate change resilience. However, Southeast Asia mangroves face deforestation threats from the expansion of commercial aquaculture, agriculture, and urban development, along with climate change-related natural processes. Ecotourism has gained prominence as a financial incentive tool to support mangrove conservation and restoration. Through a systematic literature review approach, we examined the relationships between ecotourism and mangrove conservation in Southeast Asia based on scientific papers published from 2010 to 2022. Most of the studies were reported in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, respectively, which were associated with the highest number of vibrant mangrove ecotourism sites and largest mangrove areas compared to the other countries of Southeast Asia. Mangrove-related ecotourism activities in the above countries mainly include boat tours, bird and wildlife watching, mangrove planting, kayaking, eating seafood, and snorkeling. The economic benefits, such as an increase in income associated with mangrove ecotourism, have stimulated infrastructural development in ecotourism destinations. Local communities benefited from increased access to social amenities such as clean water, electricity, transportation networks, schools, and health services that are intended to make destinations more attractive to tourists. Economic benefits from mangrove ecotourism motivated the implementation of several community-based mangrove conservation and restoration initiatives, which attracted international financial incentives and public-private partnerships. Since mangroves are mostly located on the land occupied by indigenous people and local communities, ensuring respect for their land rights and equity in economic benefit sharing may increase their intrinsic motivation and participation in mangrove restoration and conservation initiatives. Remote sensing tools for mangrove monitoring, evaluation, and reporting, and integrated education and awareness campaigns can ensure the long-term conservation of mangroves while sustaining ecotourism's economic infrastructure and social amenities benefits.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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