Environmental row over 'last chance tourism' in Canada's melting Arctic
Source: The Guardian
Environmental row over ‘last chance tourism’ in Canada’s melting Arctic
Cruise ships offer crucial income to poverty-hit village of Pond Inlet but opponents say it is vicious cycle
Daniel Wizenberg
Fri 8 Mar 2024 13.00 GMT
Last modified on Fri 8 Mar 2024 14.22 GMT
An increase in “last chance tourism” in Canada’s melting Arctic is causing a row between those who warn of the devastation it is causing to the environment and those who rely on income from tourists to survive as hunting becomes increasingly difficult.
Pond Inlet, a village of about 1,600 mostly Inuit people in the territory of Nunavut, received about 3,000 tourists in 2023. Each paid about $15,000 to travel on one of the 25 cruise ships that docked in the village harbour.
Local authorities say they expect the number to rise further next year. In a town where food costs twice as much as the Canadian average, with one of the nation’s highest poverty rates and a median age of 26, cruise ships represent a crucial income source for people who have relied on hunting sea mammals and fishing for subsistence for more than 4,000 years.
Michael Milton, 28, works for Ikaarvik, an organisation through which local young people collaborate with researchers from the south. He said this winter was warmer than usual, the ice was thinner and even experienced hunters were having accidents.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/08/environmental-row-last-chance-tourism-canada-melting-arctic-pond-inlet