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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you go with a local, ethically managed safari company like the one my friend runs in Tanzania, I can't imagine a less destructive vacation.

She previously worked at a non-profit that had quite a bit of ethical tourism and she oversaw the program.

Could safaris be unethical?  Yes.

But it's not the same as voluntourism which is basically taking day labor jobs from locals.  It's about learning about another part of the world, seeing nature, and giving money to a likely impoverished local economy.  All good things to do.

I'd have more ethical concerns about the flight over.[/quote]

Some voluntourism is crap, but your statement is childishly black and white. A great many voluntourism jobs are things that would never be done if foreigners weren’t doing them.  Do you honestly think the governments of impoverished nations would provide free sports camps for kids if only foreigners weren’t there doing it?  That they’d be funding massive river clean ups, language tutoring, or malaria prevention programs with all that extra money they have lying around if foreigners would just stop interfering. This is the ridiculous blanket statement that a certain kind of liberal has come up with in order to feel superior to people who are trying to help others.

Regarding safaris, people in less affluent countries need to make money from their natural resources—including the animal populations—one way or another. Photo safaris and ecotourism are a much better way to do so than poaching or leading hunting safaris.  Support for ethical photo safaris has long been seen as a way to decrease poaching and ill-advised environmental policies.  [/quote]

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