Kampung Kuantan Fireflies : Benefits of Ecotourism

- Ecotourism is too often more marketing than environmental good.

- Conservation of threatened animals, even fireflies, takes a lot of effort. Back in the 1970s few people paid   attention to the nighttime antics of glowing bugs. Villagers use the river to obtain food resources and for transport. 

- To supplement their incomes, the government promoted tourism and supported their businesses to buy row boats in the 1990s. 

- Kampung Kuantan fireflies now gets over 2,000 visitors a month. Villagers benefit as boat operators, tour guides or from the sale of handicrafts and food to tourists. 

- Conservation concerns, however, still remain. 

- When fireflies became a tourism hot spot, some villagers used noisy motorized boats that spoiled nature's tranquility and damaged the young shoots of berembang trees.

And constructing the Selangor River dam upstream reduces freshwater flow that allows more saline water coming in from the sea. 

- Now scientists monitor the impact of these developments to keep the ecosystem and ecotourism viable.