Slowing down the destruction of the Earth’s natural resources is essential if the global economy, and the businesses that drive it, are to prosper long term.

The current rate of destruction is estimated to cost the world trillions of dollars every year, and the damage will only get get worse unless wide-ranging measures are taken to stop it. Read the rest of this entry »

Ecotourism is more profitable than other ventures like cattle ranching, timber logging and farming, researchers have shown for the first time for a region of Peru. The findings are likely to give local people the financial incentive to keep neighbouring virgin rainforest pristine, helping to lock away carbon.

This justifies the maintenance of intact rainforest over all alternative uses,’ says co-author of the study, Chris Kirkby from the University of East Anglia, who’s now based in Peru.

The researchers also found that setting aside vast tracts of rainforest for ecotourism hugely outweighs the carbon emissions from air, boat and bus travel by ecotourists within Peru. Read the rest of this entry »