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Many people resist local conservation efforts because it compromises their income or safety. This human tendency is especially relevant for the conservation of whale sharks. Marine wildlife biologists recognize that whale sharks are gentle, fascinating creatures currently facing endangerment because of unethical human interference. However, the general population sees all sharks as dangerous species whose killing is justified in order to prevent future attacks. Furthermore, whale sharks are immensely profitable both for poaching and as a source of entertainment (Warne, 2018). A single shark can be sold for tens of thousands of dollars, and shark viewing is becoming an increasingly popular sector of the tourism industry (Warne, 2018). People generally resist whale shark conservation because of shark phobia and the profitability of poaching or shark viewing.
It is important to overcome this initial resistance and get the local community on board. Community participation is the strongest predictor of pro-environmental behavior (Zhang et al., 2020). Many communication strategies can be utilized to turn a resistant stakeholder into an ally of a conservation project. The most applicable in this case is incentive-based conservation, which provides incentives such as employment, healthcare, and tourism promotion to local communities in order to gain support (Ziegler & Dearden, 2021). The primary motivation of people involved in shark tourism is money, with no regard for animal welfare. Therefore, the most effective strategy is to convince them that conservation efforts will be more profitable than their current model. For example, it could be shown that many people avoid shark tourism because of ethical concerns. Therefore, implementing a more sustainable conservation project would attract more attention and a new customer base. The most compelling strategy to garner local support is to prove that conservation would be more profitable than exploitation.
References
Warne, K. (2018). Inside the chaotic world of whale shark tourism. National Geographic. Web.
Ziegler, J., & Dearden, P. (2021). Whale shark tourism as an incentive-based conservation approach. In A.D. Dove & S.J. Pierce (Eds.), Whale sharks: Biology, ecology, and conservation. CRC Press.
Zhang, Y., Xiao, X., Cao, R., Zheng, C., Guo, Y., Gong, W., & Wei, Z. (2020). How important is community participation to eco-environmental conservation in protected areas? From the perspective of predicting locals pro-environmental behaviours. Science of the Total Environment, 739, 139889.
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