The Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project (LIDP) is a social business supporting the protection of Irrawaddy dolphins in Myanmar’s Ayeyawaddy Dolphin Protected Area. LIDP is developing a model for dolphin conservation through community-based ecotourism and manages an area of dolphin habitat with the support of tourism revenue. The “Good Tourism” Blog invited LIDP co-founder Paul Eshoo to contribute this great “GT” Insight.
Irrawaddy dolphins are listed as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with an estimated population of roughly 6,000 found across Asia. The dolphins can live in rivers and the ocean and are found mainly in coastal areas. The population in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady River, from which the dolphin gets its name (the alternative “Irrawaddy” spelling), now has less than 80 individuals and is considered critically endangered.
What’s unique about Myanmar’s Irrawaddy dolphins is their relationship with local fisherfolk ... Read the full story at https://goodtourismblog.com/2020/01/how-tourism-fishing-are-helping-to-save-irrawaddy-dolphins-in-myanmar/