SPECIAL SECTION
Used with permission from the author.
BIOTROPICA 41(5): 545–548 2009
10.1111/j.1744-7429.2009.00562.x
Canopy Walkways for Conservation: A Tropical Biologist’s Panacea or Fuzzy Metrics
to Justify Ecotourism
Margaret Lowman1,2,3
1
New College of Florida, 5800 Bayshore Road, Sarasota, FL 34243-2197, U.S.A.
2
TREE Foundation, PO Box 48839, Sarasota, FL 34230-5839, U.S.A.
DESPITE EXTENSIVE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH undertaken in tropical ecosystems over the last few decades, approximately half of tropical forests have been destroyed and rates of deforestation continue to
accelerate worldwide (Curran et al. 2004). Thousands of indigenous
cultures and millions of local people need these deteriorating forest
resources for their livelihoods, and the challenges of tropical forest
conservation looms as a global priority (Laurance & Perez 2006).
Meanwhile, the conventional metric used to gauge the success of
professional academics in tropical biology is the publication of technical papers, which seems all too disconnected from the metrics of
forest conservation. A new consciousness is sorely needed (Leisero¨
witz & Fernandez 2008; but see Webb 2005, Buscher 2008). Most
tropical biologists admittedly enter the profession with a hope to
contribute to conservation of these systems, but their hundreds of
thousands of hours dedicated to field research and publications do
not seem proportional to reversing conservation. If conventional
business formulae were applied to tropical research, a likely outcome
would be downsizing the industry. New metrics that incorporate
conservation benchmarks and facilitate sharing best practices between professional scientists and local stakeholders could foster forest
conservation through actions that create sustainable economies.
Canopy research appeared to offer an ideal case study to examine the socioeconomic plus scientific metrics of success, with its
spin-off ecotourism operations such as skywalks and ziplines providing data sets to quantify their benefits to local stakeholders
(Lowman 2004a). In short, can canopy access tools contribute to
local economies and stimulate forest conservation? And second, can
projects that promote forest conservation provide acceptable metrics to gauge success among scientific researchers (see also Garnett
et al. 2009, Sunderland et al. 2009)?
Canopy ecology is a relatively new component of tropical forest research, with a toolkit of creative access techniques developed
over the last two decades (Lowman 2004b). Business ventures involving canopy exploration are often incorporated into large-scale
eco-developments that include bird-watching, education-based nature tours, spas, and holistic medicine (Weaver 2001). These ecotourism opportunities usually meet with generic approval under the
guise of ‘green businesses’. In this commentary, I grapple with the
apparent oxymoron of working as a biological researcher yet buildReceived 12 January 2009; revision accepted 23 January 2009.
3
Corresponding author; e-mail: canopymeg@aol.com
ing canopy walkways to achieve conservation. Such structures are
not the conventional metrics of academic success, but can conservation actions gain traction as metrics of success in our admittedly
rigorous academic community of scientists?
Ranging in cost from US$100 to US$3000/m, canopy walkways generate revenues for local stakeholders, and provide ecology
education to a broad visitorship (Lowman & Bouricius 1995, Lowman 2004b). Over 20 canopy walkways currently operate in tropical forests around the world serving research, education, and
ecotourism (Lowman 2009). Most sites are operated by local
stakeholders without sophisticated spreadsheets to quantify their
operations. Some sites received initial grants from NGOs or other
well-meaning organizations in developed countries to undertake
construction in the name of conservation, and others attract ‘operators’ from developed countries that spawn additional ecotourism
activities, thereby making the metrics of the canopy attraction impossible to analyze in isolation.
The first canopy walkway in the world was built in Lamington
National Park, Queensland, Australia, at O’Reillys Rain Forest
Lodge (Lowman et al. 2006). In a developed country such as Australia, one would expect a rigorous business plan calculating the
economic success of this structure. However, when asked to provide
metrics about the economic success of his skywalk, owner Peter
O’Reilly commented, ‘I am certain that the canopy walkway contributed greatly to the increase in visitors to our lodge. But it is impossible to isolate the walkway from other amenities that were built
simultaneously—improvements to the road, our liquor license,
expanding the dining services, and better marketing. We could not
create metrics to assess it (canopy walkway) in isolation, but we
locals felt strongly that it was critical to our ecotourism success’.
In short, the Australians could not generate enough data to
satisfy even a brief note in a journal, but yet they are intuitively
confident that their walkways aided conservation. If an expertly run
business in a developed country cannot provide accurate metrics
about the exact formulae for commercializing rain forest conservation, then how can indigenous villages do so?
Today, over 1.6 billion people from all cultures and all walks
of life participate in different avenues of tourism, spending over
US$2 trillion (Hawkins & Lamoureux 2001). On a global scale,
ecotourism is growing because of its international appeal, educational opportunities, and social appeal to advocate a conservation
ethic. As human-dominated ecosystems become the norm,
r 2009 The Author(s)
Journal compilation r 2009 by The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation
545
SPECIAL SECTION
546
Lowman
ecological research and its education outreach through ecotourism
become critical at both continental and local scales to inspire the
sustainability of earth’s dwindling resources (Palmer et al. 2005,
Peters et al. 2008). Canopy research promotes forest conservation at
three scales: through biological discoveries published in the scientific literature, by offering innovative sustainable economic opportunities for local stakeholders such as canopy walkways, and
through educating a broader visitorship through ecotourism. Despite the existence of over 20 canopy walkways around the world for
research and education, and several dozen more for ecotourism
alone, accurate records are not often kept by local operators. In addition, local labor and materials mask the true costs of the structure;
other amenities cloud the ability to isolate economic metrics; and
the broader-scale impact of educating a global audience of visitors is
¨
not easy to quantify. Although Buscher (2008) reminded conservation biologists not to ignore their ‘rigorous empirical research’
training, should we sometimes rejoice about conservation ‘wins’
such as canopy walkways despite a lack of rigorous data sets to justify their existence (see also Sunderland et al. 2009)?
In 1993, a canopy walkway was constructed along the Sucasari
tributary of the Rio Napo downstream from Iquitos, Peru
(Table 1). Hardwood canopy trees were utilized as supports for a
series of 13 connected bridges, at a cost of approximately US$100/m
(P. Jenson, pers. comm.). With the use of local labor and materials, this cost was significantly less expensive than structures built
on telephone poles or other imported structures that can cost up to
US$3000/m (http://www.canopyconstruction.com). Explorama
Lodges, partnering with CONEPEC (a Peruvian conservation
group), maintains this canopy walkway as an ecotourism and research destination called Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies (ACTS). In 2007, 2625 eco-tourists paid US$150 to tour the
canopy, totaling US$393,750 (with approximately US$30/person
distributed to travel agents). The remaining profit (estimated at
US$315,000) and associated services provided jobs for approximately 212 local villagers representing over 100 families (P. Becur
& P. Jenson, owners of Explorama Lodge, pers. comm.). Over
8000 visitors come to Explorama annually; by rough calculations at
US$150 per visitor, gross revenues for the walkways exceed US$1
million. This not only employs local people but also provides career
livelihoods from ecotourism instead of logging (Fig. S1). Even
more difficult to quantify, this cadre of international visitors return
to their home countries with a first-hand education about the complexity of tropical rain forests. The ACTS walkway also inspired a
major science education program called the Jason Expedition,
where approximately 3 million middle school students around the
world studied canopy ecology via satellite technologies (Lowman
et al. 2006; http://www.jason.org). As a consequence, the ACTS
walkway is now the destination of choice of countless teachers,
families, and school groups (http://www.environmentalexpedi
tions.org). The metrics are fuzzy, but the conservation success is
evident.
AMAZON CASE STUDY
In the Amazon, tropical rain forests are disappearing at unprecedented rates. But the Amazon provides essential ecosystem services
on a global scale: pollination, flood control, carbon sequestration,
regulation of fresh water, regulation of atmosphere, amelioration of
disease, genetic libraries that include food and other biodiversity,
and prevention of soil erosion (Foley et al. 2007). Almost 10 yr ago,
nearly 15 percent of the Amazon basin was already cleared (Nepstad
et al. 1999). Perhaps more urgently than other tropical forests, economic incentives for local stakeholders to conserve forests in the
Amazon represent a win-win.
TABLE 1. Metrics for three canopy walkways illustrating the variability with regard to obtaining accurate metrics from which to gauge success. Potential benefits: 1 = conservation education; 2 = income; 3 = employs locals; 4 = reduced logging or clearing pressure. Potential drawbacks: 1 = destruction of local ecosystems; 2 = extinction
of species; 3 = addition of human infrastructure; 4 = no drawbacks observed.
Site
Samoa
Peru
Florida
US$75,000
240/yr
US$250,000
4 8000/yr
US$120,000
4 298,749/yr
US$12,000a
US$1.2 millionb
2, 3, 4
1, 2, 3, 4
US$750,000c
Drawbacks
4
4
3
Reference
Elmqvist et al. (1993)
P. Jensen & P. Betencur, pers. comm.
Lowman et al. (2006)
Initial cost
Visitors
Revenue/yr
Major benefits
a
1, 4
Walkway organizer Paul Cox estimated a revenue of US$12,000/yr. With a fee of US$50 per visitor, the estimated number of visitors was calculated based at 240.
b
Explorama charges US$150 for a one-day trip to their walkway. If 8000 lodge visitors paid this fee, the revenue would be US$1.2 million. But again, this revenue has
many ancillary costs attached. A better metric might be to cite employees, ‘200 families who do not earn their living by cutting down trees to provide their food or earn
their money to survive’ (Peter Jensen, co-owner of Explorama Lodges).
c
Approximately 300,000 visitors come to the park in 2005; if each car holds two visitors, the revenue (at US$5/carload) is estimated at US$750,000. Obviously many
factors such as weather and family size and marketing will influence these estimates. Hence, even at a state park in a developed country, it is difficult if not impossible to
calculate the isolated economic benefits of one ecotourism operation in the midst of a region with existing tourism. In short, rigorous metrics are hard to come by.
SPECIAL SECTION
Commentary
FLORIDA CASE STUDY
North America’s first public canopy walkway was constructed in
Florida in 2000 (Table 1). Similar to tropical rain forests, the subtropical hammocks of Florida are declining due to human activities,
and hence conservation education was an important goal. Built in
10 d, the Myakka River Canopy Walkway cost US$90,000 for a
33 m bridge (approximately US$3000/m) connecting two platforms, plus approximately US$30,000 for a tower (Lowman et al.
2006). Maintenance has been minimal with the exception of graffiti
cleaning (P. Benschoff, pers. comm.). Perhaps the biggest success of
the Florida canopy project was a significant increase in park visitorship. During a decade where visitors to both state and national parks
declined precipitously (Louv 2005), the Myakka state park visitorship increased by at least 26 percent from 236,552 in 1995 to
298,749 in 2005, including repeated visits by local schools,
churches, and other citizen groups to the walkway. On weekends,
volunteers have logged up to 200 canopy visitors/h (totaling over
US$500 in gate fees at US$5/car and assuming two people/carload).
Despite best efforts, even Florida state government math was fuzzy
for the skywalk. Issues such as staff shortfalls, weather, cutbacks in
park infrastructure, and inability to separate walkway visitors from
fisherman or boaters precluded a rigorous analysis. Like its Australian
counterpart, the Myakka walkway has proven enormously successful
in education outreach (http://www.treefoundation.org).
Despite its shortfall in rigorous metrics, canopy access has been
embraced by local stakeholders as an economic opportunity for
forest conservation. Two priorities are important as tropical forests
continue to undergo deterioration: (1) promote a new ethic,
whereby biologists are encouraged to contribute their tools and discoveries to inspire sustainable economic ventures for local stakeholders; and (2) configure metrics for success in conservation
activities in terms of socioeconomic as well as scientific acceptance.
When constructed and operated locally, canopy access systems may
inspire useful outcomes: to facilitate critical ecological research, to
bolster local economy, to inspire environmental education, and ultimately to encourage forest conservation at both local and global
scales.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks are due to the operators of the canopy access sites in Western Samoa, Peru, and Florida who scrambled to collect some metrics for their ecotourism operations, despite the enormity of this
request. Also, thanks to the following community foundations:
TREE, Triad, Gulf Coast, Selby, Schoenbaum, and Seacology, who
have funded canopy walkways and outreach to foster conservation
and education in local communities.
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online
version of this article:
FIGURE S1. Willy Sanchez Flores, a local villager from the Rio
Napo region in Peru, supports his family with employment as a
547
fulltime guide for a growing local ecotourism industry centered
around the canopy walkway.
Please note: Wiley-Blackwell are not responsible for the content or
functionality of any supporting materials supplied by the authors.
Any queries (other than missing material) should be directed to the
corresponding author for the article.
LITERATURE CITED
¨
BUSCHER, B. 2008. Conservation, neoliberalism, and social science: A critical
reflection on the SCB 2007 annual meeting in South Africa. Conserv.
Biol. 22: 229–231.
CURRAN, L. M., S. N. TRIGG, A. K. MCDONALD, D. ASTIANI, Y. M. HARDIONO,
P. SIREGAR, I. CANIAGO, AND E. KASISCHKE. 2004. Lowland forest loss in
protected areas of Indonesian Borneo. Science 303: 1000–1003.
ELMQVIST, T., P. A. COX, W. E. RAINEY, AND E. D. PIERSON. 1993. The rain
forest and the Flying foxes. Fa’asao Savai’i, The Conservation Society,
Savai’i, Western Samoa.
FOLEY, J. A., G. P. ASNER, M. H. COSTA, M. T. COE, R. DEFRIES, H. K. GIBBS, E.
A. HOWARD, S. OLSON, J. PATZ, N. RAMANKUTTY, AND P. SNYDER.
2007. Amazonia revealed: Forest degradation and the loss of ecosystem
goods and services in the Amazon Basin. Front. Ecol. Environ. 5:
25–32.
GARNETT, S. T., G. M. CROWLEY, H. M. HUNTER-XENIE, W. KOZANAYI, B. SITHOLE, C. PALMER, R. SOUTHGATE, AND K. K. ZANDER. 2009. Transformative knowledge transfer through empowering and paying community
researchers. Biotropica 41: 571–577.
HAWKINS, D. E., AND K. LAMOUREUX. 2001. Global growth and magnitude
of ecotourism. In D. B. Weaver (Ed.). The encyclopedia of ecotourism,
pp. 63–72. CABI Publishing, New York, New York.
LAURANCE, W. F., AND C. A. PEREZ. 2006. Emerging threats to tropical forests.
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois.
LEISEROWITZ, A. A., AND L. O. FERNANDEZ. 2008. Toward a new consciousness:
Values to sustain human and natural communities. Yale School of
Forestry & Environmental Studies, Publication Series, New Haven,
Connecticut.
LOUV, R. 2005. Last child in the woods—Saving our children from naturedeficit disorder. Algonquin Books, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
LOWMAN, M. D. 2004a. Ecotourism and the treetops. In M. D. Lowman and
H. B. Rinker (Eds.). Forest canopies, pp. 465–474. Elsevier Publishers,
San Diego, California.
LOWMAN, M. D. 2004b. Tarzen or Jane? A short history of canopy biology. In
M. D. Lowman and H. B. Rinker (Eds.). Forest canopies, pp. 453–465.
Elsevier Publishers, San Diego, California.
LOWMAN, M. D. 2009. Biodiversity in tropical forest canopies as a ‘‘hook’’ for
science education outreach and conservation. J. Trop. Ecol., 50:
125–136.
LOWMAN, M. D., AND B. BOURICIUS. 1995. The construction of platforms and
bridges for forest canopy access. Selbyana 16: 179–184.
LOWMAN, M. D., E. BURGESS, AND J. BURGESS. 2006. It’s a jungle up there—
more tales from the treetops. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.
NEPSTAD, D. C., A. VERISSIMO, A. ALENCAR, C. NOBRE, E. LIMA, P. LEFEBVRE, P.
SCHLESINGER, C. POTTER, P. MOUTINHO, E. MENDOZA, M. COCHRANE,
AND V. BROOKS. 1999. Large-scale impoverishment of Amazonian forests by logging and fire. Nature 398: 505–508.
PALMER, M. A., E. S. BERNHARDT, E. A. CHORNESKY, S. L. COLLINS, A. P. DOBSON, C. S. DUKE, B. D. GOLD, R. B. JACOBSON, S. E. KINGSLAND, R. H.
KRANZ, M. J. MAPPIN, M. L. MARTINEZ, F. MICHELI, J. L. MORSE, M. L.
PACE, M. PASCUAL, S. S. PALUMBI, O. J. REICHMAN, A. R. TOWNSEND,
AND M. G. TURNER. 2005. Ecological science and sustainability for the
21st century. Front. Ecol. Environ. 3: 4–11.
SPECIAL SECTION
548
Lowman
PETERS, D. P. C., M. GROFFMAN, K. J. NDELHOFFER, N. B. GRIMM, S. L.
COLLINS, W. K. MICHENER, AND M. A. HUSTON. 2008. Living in an
increasingly connected world: A framework for continental-scale environmental science. Front. Ecol. Environ. 6: 229–238.
SUNDERLAND, T., J. SUNDERLAND-GRIVES, P. SHANLEY, AND B. CAMPBELL.
2009. Bridging the gap: How can information access and ex-
change between conservation biologists and field practitioners
be improved for better conservation outcomes? Biotropica 41: 549–
554.
WEAVER, D. B. 2001. The encyclopedia of ecotourism. CABI Publishing, New
York, New York.
WEBB, C. O. 2005. Engineering hope. Conserv. Biol. 19: 275–277.
