Open a travel brochure and you’re sure to encounter blackmail, a simple but effective twist of the arm that goes something like this: “See it now, before it’s too late.”
From the penguins of Antarctica to the glaciers of Norway, it’s a line that is being repeated and weaponized by cruise ship operators, travel agents, and hospitality companies to generate eco-tourism sales. It works because it’s true—mostly. Climate change is wreaking carnage on natural wonders and the habitats of the world’s most spectral creatures, but the fact is, most of those wonders will still be here long after you’re gone.
“It’s not the environment’s problem, it’s a human problem,” says Court Whelan, a naturalist with NatHab (Natural Habitat Adventures), an eco-tourism industry leader who operates on all seven continents. “The world will be fine. We’ll perish.”
Our melting world is creating a tourism boom—further exacerbating the problems of climate change.
Jordan Riefe
While a place like the Saint-Sorlin glacier in the French Alps is predicted to vanish by 2050, most of the world’s natural wonders will remain long after that. And hidden within this bit of FOMO-based marketing is a paradox: getting there, being there and seeing it now all contribute to the acceleration of the destruction of the very thing you’ve come to catch a final glimpse of.
So is it already too late? Should you simply stick to well worn destinations?
Last summer, I journeyed to East Greenland with a dozen others. We began on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, visiting the Krýsuvík geothermal area, the Raufarhólshellir lava cave and the eruption of the Sundhnúksgígar volcano, which became active for about a week last August.
After a two hour flight to Greenland, we touched down in Kulusuk and coptered to Angmagssalik, a town of about 2,000 on a fjord of the same name. From there, we traveled a little more than an hour by boat through Ikasartivaq Fjord to a basecamp in the remote wilderness operated by NatHab—which is partnered with WWF with the goal of achieving net-zero travel.
With eight tents, a yurt, workshop, showers and mess tent, the camp skirts the edge of comfort offering limited electricity and online access. Gourmet meals were provided by Chef Mary Savage, and guides Colby Brokvist and Eddie Savage were friendly and informative on subjects pertaining to the environment and natural history, as well as anthropological issues concerning the local Inuit population.
Human waste was disposed of in waterless toilets utilizing a biodegradable sleeve. Electricity was produced by a propane and petrol powered generator with a total 0.904 metric tons of CO2e per person. Extra food was consumed by the staff and leftovers devoured by the sled dogs of Tinit, a nearby village of 80. The camp’s tents can be dismantled and removed without a trace, making your stay there a net-zero experience.
Petrol-fueled zodiacs are an unavoidable and environmentally impactful reality.
Jordan Riefe
Zodiac excursions included the Sermilik Fjord, a sprawling sculpture gallery of icebergs the size of office buildings, and visits into nearby valleys marked by hummocks, freshwater streams and breathtaking mountain backdrops. The Apusiaajik Glacier afforded a glimpse of humpback whales that troll the surrounding waters and offered a lesson in the fragility of the country’s massive ice sheet. In the past two decades it has lost 4.7 trillion tons, leading to a sea level rise of 1.2 centimeters, according to Danish Arctic researchers. In addition to rising sea levels, scientists have noted a decline of plant and animal life.
With a land mass roughly a quarter the size of the US and a population of only 60,000, Greenland remains a mostly untouched tundra refuge. But tourist numbers are expected to grow with the addition of new airports in Nuuk, the country’s capital, Ilulissat and Qaqortoq. Greenland’s tourist trade is approximately where Iceland’s was a decade ago. From 2010 to 2018 Iceland’s numbers jumped from 460,000 to over 2 million, yet conservation remains a top priority.
Worldwide travel and tourism is responsible for between 8 to 11 percent of greenhouse gas emissions according to a 2021 report from the World Travel and Tourism Council. The overwhelming majority of visitors are from affluent countries (price tag for the Greenland trip is $13,800 per person). They arrive via fuel-spewing commercial airlines and sail the fjords in fuel-spewing zodiacs, a petroleum based watercraft. All of which begs the question: are companies like NatHab hypocritical enterprises exploiting eco-tourism trends to reap unseemly profits?
Melting glaciers are a marketing goldmine.
Jordan Riefe
“You cannot save what you do not love and you cannot love what you do not know,” says Whelan, adding that NatHab contributes one percent of its gross per year and an additional $176,000 to WWF, totaling $6 million in the past twenty years. It also invests in both direct air capture, a technology that removes carbon dioxide from the air, and sustainable aviation fuel made from agri-waste and cooking oil. “We set up trips that make people comfortable and inspired. How they can save the environment, this is where our partnership with World Wildlife Fund is important.”
The world’s largest conservation organization, WWF has offices in more than 100 countries and supports roughly 3,000 conservation and environmental projects, investing over $1 billion in more than 12,000 initiatives since 1995.
Trips like the one to Greenland, or circumnavigating Iceland on a Lindblad-NatGeo cruise (sister company to NatHab), inspires tourists to give to conservationist organizations by exposing them to natural wonders and hosting specialists for nightly talks on the issues.
“It makes me donate more, and then it makes me more aware,” notes Blake Waltrip of Boulder, Colorado, after visiting Diamond Beach in Iceland, named for the chunks of icebergs that wash out of the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. “And now, glaciers, it’s like oh my God, it hurts—a good hurt that comes from these trips. We do everything we can at home—we drive EVs, we have solar in our house, we make sure we’re doing all the right things in terms of recycling.”
Remote regions are often lack the infrastructure to support the growing number of tourists eager to get a last glimpse.
Jordan Riefe
The Waltrips were already converted before arriving in Iceland, but what about those who are not? To enlist them, some eco-conscious groups like Guardian of the Reef offer 10 to 20 percent discounts on hotels and custom experiences at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef if participants watch informative videos on their website.
Ecoventura, operating in the Galapagos Islands, includes an Environmental Management Plan that ensures against invasive species populating the islands. Waste is sent to certified recycling facilities on the mainland and wastewater is treated in black treatment plants, recycling it into reusable gray water. Their flagship yacht, the Eric, is the first hybrid energy tour boat in the islands with 40 solar panels and two wind turbines helping to make Ecoventura the first carbon neutral operation in the Galapagos.
Yet, despite these efforts, the tourist industry has drawn native Ecuadorans to the islands, increasing the population to an unsustainable level of 30,000. Some say the solution is to cut back on tourism, but Whelan notes that money saved from travel will likely go into purchasing items that are equally hostile to the environment.
“People would probably buy second homes and other things that are probably not great. Even if you could do it, you still have 90 percent emissions still there: industry, heating and cooling and agriculture are contributing 24 percent, 26 percent, 28 percent respectively,” he argues. “Adding the human element creates stakeholders.”
Net-zero basecamps are one path forward.
Jordan Riefe
According to Expedia.com, 90 percent of its users claim to be interested in sustainable travel, although Beverly Hills travel agent Amy Parker, who specializes in eco-tourism, isn’t so sure.
“People don’t ask for it, but I talk about it if I’m booking a property or destination,” she says, “especially with safaris—why prices can be so high is because of what they’re trying to do in the environment and the protection of the environment and the engagement of the community and local culture.”
NatHab does its part by sharing its methods with competitors.
“We’re the world’s first 100 percent carbon neutral travel company. Others in the business know that. I’ve helped a couple dozen travel companies go carbon neutral by sending them spreadsheets, walking them through the process and showing them how it works,” says Whelan, noting that best practices are shared directly, along with NatHab’s annual sustainability report. “We’re at a point where we as an industry can be more profitable by being sustainable. It’s one of the bigger drivers of business. If other companies want to do that, we say come along. A rising tide lifts all boats.”
