Wetlands, poverty reduction and sustainable tourism development

Tourism is a principal source of income for many of the developing countries. The tourism sector provides good opportunities for many poor people.  Wetlands like coasts, rivers and lakes play a vital part in this success. This brochure highlights the role of wetland tourism for poverty reduction.

Coasts, lakes, rivers, mangroves and other wetland areas are an important resource for tourism. Tourists enjoy swimming and diving, watching birds and other wildlife or just enjoying the scenery. Less is known about the extent to which tourism in these wetlands contributes to poverty reduction in developing countries.

The relationship between tourism and wetlands is however complex and sometimes adversarial. Tourism can impact wetlands in a number of ways such as by causing habitat loss, pollution, noise or over-consumption of water. But with proper planning tourism can also be an innovative mechanism for funding nature conservation and development of local livelihoods.

The brochure ‘Wetlands, Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Tourism Development’ is released in English, French and Spanish.

This publication is developed through cooperation between Wetlands International, IUCN Netherlands Committee (IUCN NL), the Dutch development organisation Cordaid, the travel organisation TUI Nederland, the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention and the Tourism & Environment Group of the Wageningen University and Research Centre (TE-WUR).