Insights for World Tourism Day 2024: How Sustainable Tourism and Project Finance for Permanence Drive Conservation and Community Prosperity
Interview with Jon Miceler, Enduring Earth
September 27, 2024: On World Tourism Day 2024, we sit down with Jon Miceler from the Enduring Earth team to discuss how the global Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative supports sustainable tourism, where nature and people thrive. Jon’s conservation journey began in the 1990s as a mountaineering guide in the eastern Himalayas. Over the past 25 years, he has devoted his career to safeguarding biodiversity while empowering local communities. His work spans Nepal, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, and China, where he has championed initiatives promoting equitable and inclusive approaches to conservation and sustainable development.
Q. What is sustainable tourism, and how can it drive both conservation efforts and economic prosperity within local communities?
Jon: Ecotourism, nature-based tourism, and conservation travel—are very similar terms that largely seek the same thing: active, immersive experiences in pristine landscapes that offer wildlife viewing and authentic interaction with traditional cultures. All of this raw experience strives to be sustainable through practicing a low impact ethos. Nature based tourism often combines outdoor activities, such as trekking, mountaineering, rafting, catch and release fly fishing, with cultural experiences in ways that directly benefit both local communities and the environment. Whether through national park fees, conservation fees, job creation or related services fees, the goal is to ensure the place where these activities take place and the communities that live there gain tangible benefits while minimizing impact on nature, communities, and local cultures.
A broad challenge for nature-based tourism is managing success while remaining low impact. This calls for careful coordination between governments, local communities, tour operators, and independent travelers all of whom need to recognize that it is possible to love a place, even with the best intensions. It is essential to manage tourism responsibly, to protect what we value most in a place so that tourism remains magical for the visitor while providing a source of sustainable income for the parks and authentic cultures that exist in our planets very special places.
Q: How does sustainable tourism contribute to the PFP model in developing long-term funding solutions for conservation and communities?
Jon: In the PFP model, the concept of permanence revolves around securing sustainable financial resources to maintain conservation of protected areas over the long term. Sustainable tourism is a key to this through the generation of visitor fees that can be reinvested directly into the parks where tourism activities often take place. For example, in the Eternal Mongolia PFP, the team is working with the national park system to increase entry fees to regionally competitive rates, and to ensure that these fees are used to maintain the park infrastructure, pay rangers, monitor wildlife etc. This approach ensures that tourism is strategically harnessed to provide ongoing sustainable finance for conservation. This in turn enables protected areas, and the communities living in and near them, to perennially attract tourists and the revenue they bring.
Q: The ‘Eternal Mongolia’ and ‘Great Bear Sea’ PFP initiatives were agreed earlier this year. How does this innovative sustainable finance model foster cultural and environmental sustainability?
Jon: The PFP model works by collaborating with all stewards of the environment to support sustainable tourism that fits within a broader conservation and community framework. As long as the principals of sustainability are adhered to, this approach will ensure that local cultures and ecosystems are preserved without being commodified. Through this lens, there are notable similarities between the Great Bear Sea, the Great Bear Rainforest, Eternal Mongolia, and other PFP initiatives worldwide. These projects leverage tourism responsibly by promoting high value, low volume tourism which attracts tourists that are willing to invest more for carefully designed, unique nature-based tourism experiences. Mass and budget tourism also has a role to play in these places, but it must be carefully managed, so it does not inadvertently degrade fragile ecosystems and cultures. For example, when tourists visit First Nations lands in British Columbia and participate in a traditional potlach or meet Mongolia’s nomadic communities and sit in on traditional shamanistic celebrations, it’s essential that this is done in a respectful and culturally mindful way. Such experiences are best had in small groups that do not overwhelm the traditional experience. Similarly, to catch a glimpse of an elusive ‘sprit bear’ fishing for salmon in a British Columbia river or witness a snow leopard minding her cubs at the entry to their den in Mongolia’s Altai mountains you must be in a small, respectful group. The goal is to ensure that tourism is planned in a way that considers where and when people visit, preventing over-tourism in certain areas while spreading the economic benefits to the local people that steward these places.
Q. How can young people around the world actively contribute to building a sustainable tourism culture, and what role can they play in promoting environmental stewardship through travel?
Jon: When traveling, it’s important to remember that tourists are ambassadors of their home countries. Young travelers, in particular, should think not only about the experiences they seek but also about the impact their behavior will have on the experience of future visitors and the communities they encounter. The question should always be: how does this trip benefit the place or people I’m visiting?
For younger generations, especially with the rise of social media, there’s a growing trend of sharing travel experiences and photos online. While this can sometimes raise awareness about important conservation efforts, it can also result in over-tourism to vulnerable ecosystems that need protection or conservation. In some cases, it may be better not to share widely. Instead, keep the experience personal—leave your phone in your bag, be fully present, and enjoy the moment. This allows the next visitor a sense of adventure as they discover the place for themselves, creating their own unique connection with the environment without advertising it to the entire world.
Q. This year’s World Tourism Day theme is “Tourism and Peace.” How does the PFP model contribute to fostering peace through sustainable tourism and conservation?
Jon: There will come a time when the natural resources that many countries depend on run out, but tourism offers a long-term solution where governments, local people and nature can benefit—not just today, but into the future. The regions involved in PFP initiatives often have finite, extractable natural resources, and sustainable financing through sustainable, nature-based tourism plays a critical role in addressing that challenge.
By promoting responsible resource management, economic stability, and social equity, sustainable financing can contribute to peace with nature and within communities. Long-term investments in climate resilience, protected areas, reconciliation, and community well-being are integral parts of this model. Tourism, in particular, can help governments and communities plan for a peaceful, bountiful future by creating jobs, securing stable incomes, and delivering social, environmental, and economic benefits.
In much of our work, we are looking ahead—10, 20, even 30 years down the road. With finite resources, sustainable tourism can play a vital role in maintaining jobs, supporting local economies, and ensuring that the lands and waters, which have been cared for by local communities for generations, continue to thrive.
Learn more about the Eternal Mongolia and Great Bear Sea PFP’s