We’ve all visited neglected, underfunded and high-traffic tourist parks where wild and endangered animals have become almost tame. Sites such as these, where regulations are inadequately enforced, are unfortunately far too common. On the sunny flip side of this is well-planned ecotourism, the kind that helps conserve many outdoor and wilderness spaces that may be a last hope for endangered species.

Visiting a rainforest is a unique nature experience. During the day, these unique biomes burst with a busy buzz and bright flashes of colour, while at night, the air comes alive with the shrieks and calls of the forest’s many nocturnal creatures. Amidst all this natural beauty, it’s important to tread lightly. Rainforests are home to an estimated 40 to 75 percent of all the world’s plants and animals, including many still just being discovered.

For centuries, high-minded travellers, wise men and ladies alike, have sought out the world’s mountains, revelling in the challenge of the climb and capturing in photographs and ink the terrific views and exaltation that come at the end of long and strenuous hikes. Ridge-rambling adventurers are, if anything, more numerous today than ever before. Fortunately, mountain treks abound, gauged to hikers of all abilities.

Today, Tayrona proudly displays its true nature as a safe environment for tourists. Since its elevation in status to a national park in 1969, this biodiversity area covering 12,000 hectares of land and 3,000 of sea has been growing in popularity. Within its territory are sandy beaches, dazzling blue/azure ocean waters, tropical dry jungle and a rainforest up to 900 metres in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Vast areas were destroyed by a fire that forced the closure of Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park between December 29, 2011, and January 4, 2012, and caused permanent environmental damage in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Unfortunately, it was not the first time that a fire has started as a result of a tourist’s irresponsible conduct.