The groups members were Anna, Guo Xiong, Justin and Nancy . Our area of tourism was Ecotourism. According to The International Ecotourism Society Ecotourism is: “Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” Four significant activities were:
- One of the examples of the ecotourism is bike tours. You can rent a bike from the Brooklyn Bridge bike rentals and have a bike tour through the Brooklyn Waterfront. The Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway is “a Brooklyn-waterfront route with lots of first-rate new bike lanes, tremendous views of the Manhattan skyline and a great backstory” writes the editor of sustainable transportation news source Streetsblog – Ben Fried. It has been created for the people, who like to enjoy the nature – not to disturb it. During the field trip, we confirmed our expectations that it’s a great activity, because you can not only ride in the park, however, you can observe the view of the city.
- Gowanus: Have you ever seen the garbage in the river? You will see this situation in the Gowanus Canal. For years, the Gowanus Canal has been polluted by the raw sewage waste and industrial waste products. People had created a clean and green program which called “The Gowanus Canal Conservancy. People can be the volunteer to work in the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, such a good choice to make the canal and its watershed more beautiful, clean, and native. The Gowanus Canal Conservancy located in Salt Lot, 2 Second Avenue (between 5th St and the Gowanus Canal), Brooklyn 11215. If people want to do something special and help the Gowanus, it’s a best choice to choose.
- Environmental education center: In the Brooklyn waterfront park, there is an Environment Education Center which offer the conservancy’s environmental education program for public and a public restroom for visitors. The center contains two signature exhibits, a marine aquarium and a discovery station. The aquarium has a 250 gallon showcases fish collected from the East River during the Conservancy popular seining program. And it also offer a child-friendly touch tank where visitors can see the marine animals, such as crabs. Mussels, and fish which are released back into river. The discovery station features a 9’ scale model, it provides an opportunity to look at the ecology, history and sustainable design of Brooklyn Waterfront Park. Children can play puzzles and binoculars showcase the birds, fish, and plant life.
- Parks commissioners building 1.1 million dollar dock is being designed to protect storm surge. Also first to provide educational programming through floating classrooms and also recreational boating opportunities. The building is very creative and meaningful because it like the art work and help people defense the storm surge.
The way that the ecosystem presented in the Brooklyn Bridge Park tells us a lot about of how important the ecotourism is for the city. To keep the ecosystem natural no chemicals are used. During the field trip it was cold and windy at the waterfront, but as soon as we walked into a grove it became nice and warm. We were surrounded by trees and there could be many birds, butterflies, and ladybugs, if the weather was warmer.