Travel Responsibly In Sri Lanka!

Sri Lanka is a hugely popular tourist destination and a growing segment of its industry is devoting itself to ecotourism, a practice of travelling to remote, often threatened environments in order to support conservation efforts and learn about the local history and culture. Like every country around the world, Sri Lanka is facing great challenges when it comes to climate change and the loss of biodiversity, which is why ecotourism – part of one of the country’s largest industries – is incredibly valuable in the fight to conserve it.

Environmentally-friendly tourism is vital for the health of Sri Lanka’s natural biodiversity, as it cannot be forgotten that the country has lost a vast percentage of its natural habitats over the last fifty years. It is no coincidence that in this time tourism in Sri Lanka has grown at an incredible pace, with visitor numbers annually well into the millions – but, as is often the case, economic growth has led to environmental decline. However, there is another trend happening: since 2004, ecotourism has grown “globally three times faster than the tourism industry as a whole’’.

And as luck would have it the island is home to a whole host of protected natural and cultural sites, including 114 UNESCO World Heritage sites, twenty six national parks, and a huge number of reserves. It is in these protected areas that a lot of ecotourism destinations are located, hidden in the forest and secluded up in the clouds.

With interest in the movement rising rapidly in Sri Lanka, ecotourism destinations are popping up all over the island. So if you wish to travel to this beautiful island, learn about its authentic culture from people who live it everyday, and take care of the earth as you do it, watch this video!