Usually a celebrity sighting is a boon for tourist spots; if a pop star snaps an Instagram in a certain place, it can lead to a welcome surge in popularity. You’d think that’s a good thing, but not so in Iceland, according to a new report by the Associated Press; according to local wildlife conservationists, the uptick in tourists to the Fjadrárgljúfur canyon after Justin Bieber set a video there has devastated the local area.
The Icelandic Environment Agency estimates that since the release of his Fjadrárgljúfur-set “I’ll Show You” video in 2015 around 1 million people have visited the canyon, which has devastated the area’s ecology. This year, it’s only been open for tourists for a total of five weeks, with the majority of the area roped off and guarded by rangers for most of the time.
Iceland’s environment Minister Gudmundur Ingi Gudbrandsson says it’s “simplistic” to chalk the entire devastation to Justin Bieber, but the director of Visit Iceland, Inga Palsdottir, says that “[Bieber] decided to dance on [Fjadrárgljúfur] and now it’s one of the most popular places in the country.”
In their report, the AP also interviewed a group of tourists who said they were visiting Fjadrárgljúfur because of seeing the “I’ll Show You” video. Read the AP’s full report here.
