The economic benefits of protecting wildlife

The document highlights the economic value of wildlife tourism and the critical role of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) in coordinating international efforts to protect migratory animals from threats like habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change.

• Wildlife populations have decreased by 50% over the previous forty years, driven by factors including climate change, pollution, poaching, and habitat destruction.
• Wildlife protection provides substantial economic returns through tourism, particularly for developing countries and Small Island Developing States. Specific examples include the global diving industry's value of over $4 billion, with shark diving contributing $42.2 million annually to Fiji, $18 million to Palau, and $38.6 million to Maldives.
• Wildlife-related activities generate significant national revenue, such as $32 billion annually from birdwatchers in the United States and nearly $1 billion from safaris in Kenya.
• The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) coordinates global policies to allow animals to cross international boundaries and establishes guidelines to combat threats such as illegal hunting, poisoning, by-catch, and the impact of wind turbine locations.

APA

Chambers, B., & Steiner, A. (2014). The economic benefits of protecting wildlife. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/economic-benefits-protecting-wildlife/

Chicago

Chambers, Bradnee, and Achim Steiner. The economic benefits of protecting wildlife. World Economic Forum, 2014. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/economic-benefits-protecting-wildlife/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Chambers |first1=Bradnee |last2=Steiner |first2=Achim |title=The economic benefits of protecting wildlife |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=5 November 2014 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/economic-benefits-protecting-wildlife/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{chambers2014economic, author = {Chambers, Bradnee and Steiner, Achim}, title = {{The economic benefits of protecting wildlife}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2014}, month = nov, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/economic-benefits-protecting-wildlife/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }