Hawaii: paradise under pressure?
Hawaii is the stuff of dreams. Volcanic beaches, coral reefs, tropical forests, and species unique to the world.
But behind the picture-postcard image lies an essential scientific question:
Does tourism endanger island ecosystems?
In this video, we explore:
🌋 The visible impacts of tourism: erosion, trampling, artificialization of coastlines
🐢 Invisible disturbances to wildlife and endemic species
🌊 The extreme fragility of island ecosystems
🌍 Is it possible to travel without destroying biodiversity?
🔬 Why are islands so vulnerable?
The islands are home to exceptional biodiversity, but also:
- A high rate of endemism
- Low resilience to disruptions
- A history marked by extinctions
More than 75% of documented extinctions have occurred on islands.
So, is island tourism compatible with conservation?
🌱 Understand to protect
In this video, I offer an accessible scientific analysis to help you better understand the environmental issues surrounding tourism in Hawaii, and more broadly across all the islands of the world.
Because protecting begins with understanding.
Some references:
Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) — December 2024 Visitor Statistics
Rönnfeldt A. et al. (2026) — Climatic niche conservatism in non-native plants depends on introduction history and biogeographic context
Nature Communications, 17:416
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-68023-6
Cardoso M.R. et al. (2025) — Urbanisation Is Related to the Prevalence of Threatened Species on Islands Across the Globe
Global Ecology and Biogeography
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.70125
In this video, you'll learn more about..:
00:00 Island ecosystems: beauty under pressure
02:27 The visible footprint of tourism: what our presence immediately changes
05:28 Silent but profound pressures: the invisible forces transforming the islands
09:10 Traveling without destroying: is it possible?