At a time when the world is plagued with pandemics, natural disasters, wars, and resulting hardships, nature-based tourism is on the decline, disrupting essential funding streams for protected areas where biodiversity and human vulnerability are highest and at greatest risk, especially in Africa and Latin America.

This new book presents case studies from around the world that demonstrate the importance of naturebased tourism and sustainable development through tourism. The book explores various areas of sustainable development goals (SDGs) that exemplify the contribution of sustainable tourism to cultural heritage, protected areas, and community benefits. It explains how ecotourism can benefit the economy and wildlife in a mutual manner. It also emphasizes the importance and benefit of involving local communities in tourism planning.

Key features:

• Includes timely case studies demonstrating sustainable tourism
• Offers strategies for addressing sustainable tourism issues and challenges faced around the world
• Presents practical applications of sustainable development strategies through ecotourism
• Considers the impact of ecotourism on local communities

Kelly S. Bricker, PhD, is a Professor and Director of the Hainan University–Arizona State University International Tourism College, located in ASU’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. She is also a practitioner in ecotourism and a consultant. She has applied research experience in the subjects of ecotourism, visitor and protected area management, and the impacts of tourism. She has authored books on sustainability that highlight case studies in tourism that meet environmental and societal issues, such as Sustainable Tourism and the Millennium Development Goals: Effecting Positive Change; on adventure education, such as Adventure Programming Travel for the 21st Century; and on graduate education, as in Demystifying Theories in Tourism Research. She completed her PhD at Penn State University, USA, where she specialized in sustainable tourism and protected area management.

Jacqueline Kariithi, PhD, is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist broadly working on the intersection of conservation and development, specifically addressing community livelihoods. She is in the process of starting a research center on the Kenyan side of the Mount Elgon ecosystem, addressing mountain social-ecological systems with a holistic model, including research, observations, capacity building, and connections to policymakers. She holds a PhD in Environmental and Geographical Science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Recently, she completed a postdoctoral research program in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, New Jersey, USA.