The push to turn Trinidad’s wet­lands and oth­er nat­ur­al at­trac­tions in­to high-val­ue eco­tourism prod­ucts is fac­ing grow­ing con­cern among tourism op­er­a­tors and en­vi­ron­men­tal­ists: whether some new-style boat tours are putting en­ter­tain­ment ahead of con­ser­va­tion.

The is­sue has sur­faced around the Ca­roni Bird Sanc­tu­ary, where op­er­a­tors have in­tro­duced on-wa­ter din­ing and oth­er ex­pe­ri­ences, but com­plaints have emerged about al­co­hol con­sump­tion, noise, lit­ter and vis­i­tor be­hav­iour.

Tourism op­er­a­tors are not call­ing for the end of these ex­pe­ri­ences. In­stead, they want clear rules gov­ern­ing what can and can­not hap­pen in­side pro­tect­ed ar­eas, along with stronger en­force­ment.