Spring 2004: Dane Klinger, Bard College
Recently the EcoQuest entourage packed its bags, loaded up the vans, and made its way to New Zealand’s South Island. The official drive of the migration was purely academic and included in its ranks the pursuit of a many-headed concept, eco-tourism. Breaking from more orthodox methods in academia, EcoQuest attempts the dispersal of knowledge and understanding through experiential means as opposed to a book-driven curriculum. With this in mind, the group set out to learn about eco-tourism by engaging in it first hand.
The crew stopped first in Kaikoura, a small seaside town that is known more for its aquatic inhabitants than its terrestrial ones. Eco-tourists flock from all over the world to see the town’s abundant marine life. A near coastal trench allows for the upwelling of nutrient rich Antarctic currents and creates conditions that are favorable for marine mammals. Kaikoura is unique in its ability to capitalize off an aspect of the relationship between Man and the Sea that John Keats noticed in his poem On the Sea.
On the Sea
It keeps eternal whisperings around
Desolate shores, and with its mighty swell
Gluts twice ten thousand Caverns, till the spell
Of Hecate leaves them their old shadowy sound.
Often ‘tis in such gentle temper found,
That scarcely will the very smallest shell
Be moved for days from where it sometime fell,
When last the winds of heaven were unbound.
Oh ye! Who have your eyeballs vexed and tired,
Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea;
Oh ye! Whose ears are dinned with uproar rude,
Sit ye near some old Cavern’s Mouth and brood,
Until ye start, as if the sea-nymphs quired!
-John Keats 1848
People travel thousands of miles to see certain marine mammal species in an attempt to reconnect with and be healed by the natural world. Man has recently become more sensitive to his self-imposed separation and as a result is more inclined to use his disposable income and hard earned vacation days in facilitated interactions with the natural world. Where there is demand and a market, there will always be a seller. In the case of marine mammals and the Sea, Kaikoura is that seller. But the situation is more complex than just supply and demand.
While in Kaikoura, the EcoQuest crew was exposed to several different players in the eco-tourism story and learned of the deeper problems surrounding what on the surface seems to be simple economics. It would appear that man has already strayed too far from his origins and has perhaps been too burdened by his consciousness and desires; the path of redemption has become murky and dark. In many cases the tourist’s mere presence is becoming a strain on the environment. Man is so far removed from nature that he cannot recognize the negative effects of his eco-tourism actions. His destruction of the same environment that he seeks to appreciate proves that he has become estranged in his dialogue with the natural world. Wordsworth spoke of man’s problem in The World Is Too Much with Us.
The World Is Too Much with Us
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.-Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
-William Wordsworth 1807
Despite the best attempts by government and a few businesses within the industry, eco-tourism does not appear to be a sustainable enterprise unless participation is limited, in which case demand is unevenly met by supply and prices become inflated, leaving eco-tourism open only to the rich. Although scientists and policy makers are labouring to solve this problem through technical or economic means, these are simply symptoms of a larger disease. Culture and Society bear the brunt of the blame for the failings of eco-tourism, and any viable solution will include a revolution in these environs. Solving the problems through reason and logic does not appear to be working. Man’s desire driven affluence is overcoming the industry. After a week of research, contemplation, and an abundance of lectures and discussions, the EcoQuest entourage was unable to develop a cohesive alternative or solution to the eco-tourism problem. It was time to move on.