Lonely Planet - In the news about a controversial cover Featured Hot

Thank you for highlighting this situation. I am a member of the Belize Wildlife Conservation Network and run a humane education programme in Belize. I was both disappointed and appalled by the use of a tied Green Iguana on the front of the Honduras & Bay Islands edition. Not only is this company profiting from and promoting illegal activity in Honduras by using this photograph but this has a knock on effect on conservation work being done in other Central American countries. I can only assume that this was a huge editorial boo boo and that someone will be held responsible for making this terrible and clearly badly researched error. I hope they choose to do the responsible thing and make a sizeable donation to Green Iguana conservation efforts in Honduras while recalling this book.

Colette Kase
Be Kind Belize

If it were clear that the intention was to raise awareness I would certainly be all for it. The fact of the matter is that we all know that is not the case. And further when I contacted them, stating that I am a member of the IUCN Iguana Specialists Group, concerning this issue my concerns were dismissed. Clearly they do not care about what they did.

I took the advice of a friend and tried to post this to their facebook page but somehow the posts disappear immediately. Hmmmm...

As author of the first and leading travel guide to the Amazon rainforest, I appreciate that you raised this important point. The fact is that wild creatures in tropical countries are widely exploited (although there is some legal farming of iguanas as "chicken of the forest"). And travel authors have an obligation and responsibility to highlight this issue. In any case, I agree that the author and publishers messed up choosing this image for the photo. The publishers are always looking for the photo that stands out on the bookshelf in the store. To choose an image that shows a tied up animal shows poor judgment and lack of taste at the very least. In the three issues of my own book the cover has always depicted a wild animal taken in its natural habitat. Why Lonely Planet couldn't have done similar I don't know. But to look at the other side, they could argue that they're trying to show the plight of Honduran wildlife. But that would be post-hoc disingenuousness.

- Roger Harris, Author: The Amazon, The Bradt Travel Guide (1997, 2003, 2007)