Are feral pigs (Sus scrofa) a pest to rainforest tourism?

Koichi, Kana, Cottrell, Alison, Sangha, Kamaljit K., and Gordon, Iain J. (2012) Are feral pigs (Sus scrofa) a pest to rainforest tourism? Journal of Ecotourism, 11 (2). pp. 132-148.

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Abstract

Invasive alien species potentially pose a threat to the sustainability of ecotourism by degrading the quality of the environment on which the industry depends. However, little research has investigated such implications. In this paper, we offer a case study on the impacts of feral pigs (Sus scrofa), a major environmental pest in Australia, on rainforest-based ecotourism in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA) of North Queensland, Australia. Our study found that feral pigs seem to have negligible implications for tourists' rainforest experience owing to their lack of prior knowledge about the existence of these animals within the WTWHA and rare sighting and acknowledgement of the damage caused by them. Nonetheless, values that tourists ascribed to the WTWHA rainforest were negatively affected once they acknowledged the existence of feral pigs. We propose that effective provision of environmental education as part of ecotourism experience can result in the management of both sustainable ecotourism and the invasive species.

Item ID: 22844
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1747-7638
Keywords: invasive alien species, Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, pest management, environmental education, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, total economic value
Funders: Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, JCU
Date Deposited: 28 Aug 2012 03:19
FoR Codes: 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050209 Natural Resource Management @ 50%
16 STUDIES IN HUMAN SOCIETY > 1604 Human Geography > 160402 Recreation, Leisure and Tourism Geography @ 50%
SEO Codes: 90 COMMERCIAL SERVICES AND TOURISM > 9003 Tourism > 900302 Socio-Cultural Issues in Tourism @ 50%
95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9501 Arts and Leisure > 950103 Recreation @ 50%
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