Overview

Globally rainforests are under threat on numerous fronts, including clearing for agriculture, harvesting for timber and urban expansion. Yet they have a crucial role in biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and providing other ecosystem services. As the term is used in this book, rainforests include both temperate and tropical, although the emphasis is on tropical rainforests. Rainforests are also attractive tourist spaces and where they have been used as a tourism resource have generated significant income for local communities. However not all use of rainforests as a tourism resource has been sustainable. This book argues that sustainability must be the foundation on which tourism use of this complex but ultimately fragile ecosystem must be built upon. It provides a multi-disciplinary perspective, incorporating rainforest science, management and tourism issues. The book is organized into four sections commencing with Rainforest Ecology and Management followed by People and Rainforests, Opportunities for Rainforest Tourism Development and finally Threats to Rainforests. Each major rainforest region is covered, including the Amazon, Central America, Africa, Australia and south-east Asia, in the context of a specific issue. For example rainforests in Papua New Guinea are examined in the context of community-based ecotourism development, while the rainforests in Borneo are discussed in an examination of wildlife issues. Other issues covered in this manner include governance, empowerment issues for rainforest peoples and climate change.

Full Product Details

9780415635820

Table of Contents

Reviews

The significance of rainforests in many parts of the world suggests that this text is long overdue as it explores the challenges for the sustainable development, conservation and management of rainforests for the benefit of tourism. With a highly experienced international list of contributors, the editor has delivered a timely, engaging and challenging text that is both diverse in its coverage and critical in its investigation. With a plethora of international case examples and variety of global perspectives this is a highly recommended text for those with a passion for the world's rainforests and the challenges and opportunities for the sustainable development of tourism. - Alan Fyall, University of Central Florida, USA. This book addresses a significant gap in our understanding of rainforests and the opportunities they offer as tourist attractions. Two particularly noteworthy features are a chapter that outlines the science behind rainforest management and the inclusion of researchers from many of the countries where rainforests are found including Brazil, Chile, Uganda, Jamaica and Sabah. - Bob McKercher, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China. Despite their popularity as venues for tourism, rainforests are among the most fragile ecosystems on earth, acutely endangered by anthropogenic exploits, including tourism. This exceptional volume is chockfull of sagacious studies and essays that underscore the importance of rainforests as one of the most desired, albeit delicate, resources on the planet. Rainforest Tourism, Conservation and Management is an unequivocal must-read for every scholar who is interested in tourism and its consequences for our planet! - Dallen J. Timothy, Arizona State University, USA.

Author Information

Bruce Prideaux is Professor of Marketing and Tourism Management at James Cook University, Cairns, Australia.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available