How to fund conservation with visitor green fees
As countries around the world race to achieve net zero emissions, cultivate climate positive economies, and scale conservation efforts locally, the looming question of how to finance this work continues to limit meaningful initiatives while facing our closing window of opportunity. Simultaneously, we’re seeing a striking increase in travel and sustainability as a priority for millennials and younger generations. Yet, beautiful visitor destinations are finding a way to marry the two by leveraging their tourism industries as a way to finance environmental conservation work through visitor green fees.
Visitor green fees are an innovative financing solution being utilized at top destinations all around the globe. From the Mentawais to the Galápagos Islands to the Maldives and Palau, these unique regions rely on their tourism economy for community livelihoods and job opportunities. And they share the same recognition that their tourism economies are not possible without the sustainable care and stewardship of their healthy ecosystems and irreplaceable natural resources that draw visitors in the first place.
When looking at the gold standard of green fee programs, Palau might be the best place to reference. Palau is a leading dive and tourist destination for its incredible underwater ecosystems and biodiversity. The green fee that visitors pay upon arrival is returned back to protecting, restoring, and sustaining these exact marine resources. It’s paired with an effective education campaign for tourists to see their “green fee funds at work,” and a pledge that invites visitors to participate in stewardship during their stay. The result? Capacity to scale conservation work in the face of climate change, provide job opportunities to local people, and a shared vision of sustaining their coastal resources into the future. This solution can be replicated over and over.
While the framework details vary based on the region’s specific needs and regulations, visitor green fees remain a financing solution that could be utilized across the globe. In addition to the ability to fund effective conservation initiatives, it also creates sustainable funding for green jobs, transforms tourism industries towards reciprocity, and invests in protecting environmental resources for future generations in a regenerative way.
For those looking to dive deeper into this as a conservation financing solution, refer to this comprehensive report from Conservation International as a resource.
At FutureSwell, we’ve had the privilege of being part of the Hawai’i Green Fee campaign to build community support around a visitor green fee here. The passage of this program would help us mitigate our ecological challenges, protect endangered species, create green jobs, invest in climate resilience, and fund community work through a grant program.
