Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 11-15.
Elbl
g canal, northern Poland. A. Tour boat is riding on a trolley carriage that travels up a ramp
from the lower canal to a higher level. The trolley is pulled by a cable that runs over the large wheel in the
background. B. Power to move the cable and trolley is provided by a water wheel. Photos by J.S. Aber.
ą
Figure 11-17.
Tour group travels in small boats to
view plants and animals on the Amazon River near
Manaus, Brazil. Photo courtesy of K. Buchele.
Figure 11-16.
Falkirk Wheel in Scotland, United
Kingdom. The rotating wheel connects the Forth and
Clyde Canal (below) with the Union Canal (above), a
24-m (
80-foot) vertical difference at the wheel. These
canals had been linked by a series of locks that had
fallen into disrepair and been abandoned. The wheel
was opened in 2002. Photo courtesy of S. Jones.
∼
also market key megafauna such as the Bengal
tiger (
Panthera tigris tigris
) of the Sundarbans,
the white rhino (
Ceratotherium simum simum
)
in the Okavango, and the more elusive jaguar
(
Panthera onca
) of the Pantanal.
Smaller and perhaps lesser known wetland
sites also market themselves as niche areas for
particular activities such as birding and wildlife
watching. For instance, the comparatively small
2800-hectare Keoladeo National Park in western
India is a famous World Heritage site that draws
large numbers of international tourists during
the winter bird migration season by marketing
itself as the home of the majestic Sarus crane
The popularity of wildlife and ecotourism in
recent decades has meant that wetlands have
become particularly desirable sites for visitors
interested in birding, wildlife, and other recrea-
tional activities. The recreation industry and
tourism have always been signii cant economic
earners for the grand wetland sites of the world
including the Everglades, Pantanal, Sundarbans,
Amazonia (Fig. 11-17), and Okavango (Fig. 11-
18), among others. These areas boast a great
variety and abundance of l ora and fauna and
