Recent research shows that the current boom in world tourism is posing a huge threat to some of the planet's most sensitive ecosystems.

Over the past decade, tourism has seen growth of over 100 percent in some of the world's "biodiversity hotspots," which include the tropical Andes and the Guinean forests of West Africa.

The report highlighted the Mexican resort of Cancun, where the world trade talks have just been held, as an example of unsustainable tourism, which is impacting negatively on the environment.

It says that prior to Cancun's development as a tourist resort in the 1970s, only 12 families lived on the barrier island of Cancun, but now, the resort has 2.6 million visitors per year. The local mangrove and inland forests have been cut down, and in the settlement that has sprung up nearby, 75 percent of the sewage of the population is untreated.

Tourism is often said to benefit the environment by creating jobs and other opportunities for poor rural communities who might otherwise exploit local natural resources for survival.

(CRI September 15, 2003)