{"id":53391,"date":"2022-09-04T11:06:35","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T10:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/?p=53391"},"modified":"2022-09-05T10:57:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T09:57:32","slug":"how-to-tread-lightly-in-fragile-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travindy.com\/news\/2022\/09\/how-to-tread-lightly-in-fragile-places\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Tread Lightly in Fragile Places"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"How<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Organizing a responsible visit to sensitive areas like the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands or Antarctica involves research, decoding certifications and possibly a travel adviser.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like the 18 other passengers on the ship Origin, from the expedition cruise company Ecoventura<\/a>, I went to the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands in May to be awed by nature. Swimming with barrel-rolling sea lions, seeing a blue-footed booby chick peeking out from beneath its mother, kayaking with flamingoes and experiencing the meditative pace of a giant tortoise \u2014 all exceeded the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along the way, encountering the most beautiful white sand beaches I have ever visited, with no hotels, but plenty of sea turtle tracks and sun-bleached whale bones, I became awed not just by nature, but also by humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecuador\u2019s decision in 1959 to create the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands National Park has preserved an archipelago with some of the highest levels of endemism, or species found nowhere else. \u201cI can say without hesitation over 40 years working in and out of there as a tropical ecologist, if the tourism control and management of visitors hadn\u2019t been put in place in the \u201960s, it would have been lost,\u201d said Gregory Miller, the executive director of the nonprofit Center for Responsible Travel, or C.R.E.S.T.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it is also up to visitors to do their part to tread lightly in the Gal\u00e1pagos and other environmentally sensitive places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interest in sustainable travel is on the rise \u2014 in a recent Expedia Group Media Solutions survey of 11,000 travelers globally, 9 in 10 respondents said they looked for sustainable options when planning trips. In the same survey, 70 percent said they were overwhelmed by the process of becoming a more sustainable traveler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was planning my trip last winter and keen to travel as responsibly as possible, Mr. Miller helped me break down the options through the lens of sustainability, which was time consuming. It took months deciding where, how and with what company to go; sifting through operators\u2019 websites for sustainability practices; and committing to putting my money \u2014 triple my normal travel budget, in part because the Gal\u00e1pagos is not cheap \u2014 where my mouth is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnfortunately, not a lot of sustainability is mainstream yet,\u201d said Paloma Zapata, the chief executive of Sustainable Travel International<\/a>, which consults with destinations and educates consumers in sustainable travel. \u201cPeople, businesses and local organizations do not know what sustainability is and how to really fulfill those criteria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editors\u2019 Picks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich: A Marriage Built on Monsters<\/a>You\u2019ve Seen a Bodega Cat. How About a Barber Shop Rooster?<\/a>A Baby Hadn\u2019t Gained Any Weight in Months. Why Was It Failing to Thrive?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, she and other experts helped provide guidance for travelers who want to plan sustainable trips, especially to sensitive destinations like the Gal\u00e1pagos or Antarctica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n