Originally Posted by
Happy Feet
Sounds like someone doesn't understand ecosystems very well.
NP's are complicated ecosystems wherein park visitors and nature coexist through a lot of planning and intervention.
The strategy for this co existence is encapsulated mainly in the concept and creation of front country and back country zones. Development for mainstream human visitation occurs in the first while more strict rules that limit human impact occur in the second. The revenue generated from the first funds conservation in the second.
I understand that, but I also understand on another level that it is crazy that we have to pay to conserve nature. We should have an economic culture that automatically conserves nature in everything it does.
Think about it like cycling or other physical activity and your health. Do you sacrifice your health in order to make money so you can afford to conserve your health? Hopefully not. Hopefully you conserve your health as part of the way you ride a bike, work, etc. That is the way we should design parks and every other development, really. We should always ask how the thing we're doing or building benefits and protects the natural ecology, and not just greenwash the project because it is expected to make money. We should really design everything to optimize sustainability and then make our lifestyles fit within that paradigm.