Acceptable Change and Environmental Impact Assessment - Assignment Example

?Conceptual tools and sustainable forms of tourism Our sylvan earth is ‘home’ to many natural and human made wonders. From time immemorial, people were always on the move visiting and exploring uncharted. With advancement in transportation and communication, this visiting of new places as a form of exploration, relaxation, profession, etc has gained all new meanings, mainly coming under term of Tourism. Tourism is playing a more and more significant role on many countries’ economies and importantly elevates a country’s or a place’s image optimally in the minds of many people. Tourism can be defined as travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The WTO, World Tourism Organization, defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited"(emoiz.com). Thus, mankind’s fascination with experiencing the unknown, coupled with improvements in technology and rising standards of living around the world have ensured that tourism has percolated into every strata of society, and resulted in rapid growth of that industry. However, tourism to view and admire natural environment and natural wonders (apart from the man-made ones) has started having major negative impacts on the natural environments, even leading to sizable destructions. These destructions not only damages those natural wonders, but also wide range of flora and fauna, whose habitats get destroyed in the process. Thus, with the positive activity of tourism turning into a nightmarish activity, there have been calls for sustainable form of tourism. As stated by Hens and Ni (cited in Nath, 1999) no form of tourism exists that does not cause environmental stress, and so the challenge is to find a ways towards sustainable tourism development that harmonises economic benefits importantly with the protection of natural diversity. Implementing sustainability in tourism involves a series of steps that has to be taken by various stakeholders. To actualize that, few conceptual tools can be used particularly “Carrying Capacity”, limits of acceptable change and environmental impact assessment. Each of these tools can protect the environment and its habitants, even while allowing human exploration of the environment in the form of tourism. So, this paper will discuss how these conceptual tools can be optimally utilized to create sustainable forms of tourism. “Carrying Capacity” and how it can help to create sustainable form of tourism The term or concept ““Carrying Capacity”” can be used in various contexts, however it basically “refers to the number of individuals who can be supported in a given area within natural resource limits, and without degrading the natural social, cultural and economic environment for present and future generations.” (gdrc.org). Every environment including a tourist environment or spot can have a limit on how many people and how much of their activities, it can support and sustain. If that limit is breached and more people enter that particular area, it could lead to instability and could cause repercussions to the already existing people. Although, the “Carrying Capacity” for any specified area is not a fixed one, and it can be altered through various means including technology, it is not a positive step. Because any alteration or modification of the “Carrying Capacity” will always result in problems to both the existing people as well as the entering people. Any restriction in the resources, when the “Carrying Capacity” increases beyond limit will lead to dearth of land, shortage of food, or decline in water quality and availability, which will quickly put the brakes on both types of growth. (Chant 2011). Thus, the tourist department and the authorities can come up with a tentative “Carrying Capacity” limit, and accordingly manage the state of affairs in that tourist spot. The first step is planning and fixing the ““Carrying Capacity”” and that involves evaluating the size as well as the character of the tourist sites and thereby predetermining the maximum levels up to which that place or site can support tourist arrivals. Then the site design and development will be carried out, as it assigns “activities to areas according to natural limits, and identifying suitable position between the activities.” (McArthur). For example, in Australia, the Green Island in Queensland has a “capacity of 1,900 visitors per day or no more than 800 at any one time.” (McArthur)). Australia with its vast expanse, varied habitats and numerous species of animals is an excellent holiday destination. Australia implements innovative ideas to attract tourists from all over the world. “Tourism Australia and the internationally renowned film-maker Baz Luhrmann and his team have created a new sophisticated destination campaign to make Australia the 'must visit' destination for travelers around the world.” (Tourism Australia). However, it can have plenty of negative impacts on a wide range of environments, including pollution of air and water. For example, increase in number of tourists visiting the country means increase in the number of vehicles on the roads and that increase could also damage the tourist spots, as high overflow of tourist could make it difficult for the administrators of those spots to manage and oversee them. However, this limitation in Green Island will minimize this damage, even at the same time encouraging the tourists and maintaining the tourist flow. That is, Green Island currently receives some 300,000 visits per year, and if the maximum daily level was reached every day, it would receive 693,500 visitors in a year, which is actually over twice the current level, thus proving that imposing “Carrying Capacity” may not restrict the tourist flow. (Sharma 2004). Although, these aspects of “Carrying Capacity” show its strength and the opportunities, it does have certain weaknesses and threats, particularly regarding its application. That is, “application is far from easy, being limited by the extensive gaps in knowledge of ecological systems, and the lack of universally accepted indicators of Carrying Capacity.” (Koeman). That is, all the environment sites or tourist spots can be fully studied to come up with apt “Carrying Capacity” limit, as there may be some physical as well as other impediments. When the correct limit is not figured out, the tourism administrators could allow overflow or even underflow of tourists, again leading to problems. In those cases, it will be based on trial and error method to come up with a feasible and sustainable limit. Eberlee (1998) in his IDRC Report on Managing Tourism with a Sustainable “Carrying Capacity” has this to say, “for tourism managers, one of the most challenging tasks is to estimate the “Carrying Capacity” of an attraction of destination -- in other words, how many tourists are too many” (cited in egyankosh.ac.in). Thus, when the basic level “Carrying Capacity” figure is ascertained, the administrators can create a sustainable form of tourism. Limits of acceptable change and how it can help to create sustainable form of tourism “Limits of acceptable change” (LAC) is another conceptual tool for sustainable tourism, and was firstly was developed by The U.S. forest service in 1980s. It is a variation or even up-gradation of “Carrying Capacity”, as it is more flexible and ‘concurrent’. That is, instead of fixing a limit, as in the case of “Carrying Capacity”, under “Limits of acceptable change”, the administrators will be able to study as well as oversee the environmental spot on a daily basis and thereby come up a flexible limit. As the tourist activities will be variable and could flow with the times, the administrators has to constantly monitor the place and activities, and then come up the objectives, including the number of people that can be allowed, the type of activities that can performed, etc. As Jamal and Robinson (2009, pg.341) states LAC “assesses the probable impact of an activity, decides in advance how much change will be tolerated, monitors what’s happening systematically and regularly, and determines what actions are appropriate if agreed-upon quality standards are surpassed.” The key differentiating factor of LAC is that it does not try to stop change or limit the number of visitors, as in the case of “Carrying Capacity”, “but focuses on deciding how much change is appropriate and acceptable for each natural area and importantly how it should be managed”(Mckay 2006). To actualize that scenario, the administrators has to implement a series of steps and processes, which as mentioned above, will be flexible and will be in tune with the change scenarios. Firstly, they will study the desired current as well as the future conditions for park resources and visitor experiences, then will develop and implement a set of standards that define minimum acceptable conditions, then importantly will come up with a monitoring mechanisms to test the conditions and finally come up with management actions that must be taken to keep conditions within standards. (hfrr.ksu.edu). LAC is being implemented in many places around the world, especially in New Zealand to safeguard and at the same time promote its natural areas. LAC was implemented at the natural areas of Paparoa National Park, Pancake Rocks and Fox River Caves, and has been included in the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign. Tourism is an art, the people of New Zealand have perfected over the years. Over 100 years ago, New Zealand, the youngest country in the world, opened its borders to travelers from around the world. New Zealand, home to the oldest tourism marketing department in the world is always looking for new vistas and avenues to market it, and lure tourists from every demographic regions. (tourismnewzealand.com). In 1999, Tourism New Zealand, the national entity tasked with promoting New Zealand to the world, brought forth the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign, mainly with the intention of promoting New Zealand’s natural areas. As the campaign name itself puts forward, its about the pure natural areas of NZ. All activities the Tourist department carries out internationally- online communications, advertising, work with the travel trade, PR, etc - carry the 100% Pure New Zealand message. As stated by Tourism New Zealand, “The 100% Pure New Zealand message is a simple one. It encapsulates all that is unique about New Zealand as a destination: our landscapes, our people, and the stories that link the two.” (tourismnewzealand.com). The campaign sends out a strong message of eco-friendly and importantly sustainable form of tourism, thereby focusing mainly on the natural wonders the island nation has to offer rather than promoting it under other images like shopping hot spot, fast frenzied life style, etc. In that direction only, LAC was implemented in the above mentioned three places, with the department studying those natural areas as well as the tourist flow, then coming up with updated strategies. “The first stage of the LAC process was implemented to examine issues and concerns for the area and identify indicators of acceptable change.” (Mckay 2006). They even surveyed the visitors to incorporate their inputs into the strategies. Visitors to the Pancake Rocks and Fox River Caves were interviewed to record “their views on the values and issues, as well as asking them to suggest indicators for measuring change at the sites.” (Mckay 2006). However, the slight weakness of this conceptual tool is that it cannot work all the time, particularly through busy seasons. That is why even in New Zealand, it is implemented only in the above mentioned three places, and not widely. For example, with the Rugby World Cup going to take place in the second half of 2011, there will be heightened flow of tourists, and if this tool is implemented, it will not work. As the administrators will be ‘deluged’ with high tourists, they may not have the time and possibilities to effectively control the monitoring mechanisms, thereby collapsing the entire structure. However, on the positive side, LAC can work effectively in other times and this was validated by McKay (2006), who stated that LAC has the “potential to be useful in the management of visitor impacts in New Zealand’s natural areas as it provides a way of deciding what levels of visitor impact are acceptable.” Environmental impact assessment Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) like in the case of “Carrying Capacity” and LAC can also play a crucial role in actualizing a sustainable form of tourism. Like in the case of the other two, it also can be used to assess the environmental feasibility of a tourist spot from various angles. However, unlike the above two conceptual tools, which mainly focuses on the environment, and not on other aspects, Environment Impact Assessment also focus on how the tourist spot will have an impact on the social and economic aspects, along with the environment. Thus, EIA encompasses all the major aspects, which may be influenced by a tourist spot. The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) defines EIA as “The process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made.” (cited in iaia.org 1999). So, this tool can be used by the tourism administrators and planners before establishing a tourist spot, or before doing new additions in an existing tourist spot, also before allowing an industry or commercial enterprise to construct a new infrastructure in a tourist spot. By carrying out this assessment, maximum potential problems could be foreseen, so all the mitigating solutions can be formulated beforehand. Tourism is both advantageous and disadvantageous to the host country. It can provide a momentum to the economy of the host country but if it fails to generate sufficient income then it can cause economic problems. The fragile economies which are totally dependent on the tourism industry can collapse. Tourism also causes damage to the physical environment of the host country. The natural habitat of the host country is harmed by the tourism. Another negative impact of tourism is the effect it has on the local culture. When international companies invest as part of tourism development in a region, the local companies could suffer loses, as the tourists, who form the major part of their customers, are taken away from them by the shops run by international companies. To prevent all these problems and to create a sustainable form of tourism from not only the environment front, but also economic and culture front, many countries and tourism bodies are carrying out EIA. In Europe, the European Union has stipulated its member countries to carry out EIA in its tourist spots. “To ensure that new tourism infrastructure is built with a view to sustainable development, different systems of checks and balances have been established by a number of Member States.” (europa.eu 2008). For example, in Spain, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands, new tourism development projects must be accompanied by an environmental impact assessment and infringements are severely punished through fines. (europa.eu 2008). Although, the assessment through EIA could have some weak spots and could have missed key aspects, which could arise in the future, it is a valuable conceptual tool to carry out environment impact. Thus, it will go a long way to promote sustainable form of tourism. The future trend of tourism should be balancing all these aspects and achieve an effective, long-run sustainable development. After all, the impacts brought by tourism are positive as it can generate the multiplier effect and bring income to national revenue and increase GDP. References emoiz.com, Tourism, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.emoiz.com/tag/international-tourist-arrivals europa.eu, Tourism, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/archives/env-act5/chapt1-5.htm egyankosh.ac.in, ECONOMIC IMPACTS: CARRYING CAPACITY, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/35744/1/Unit-6.pdf. Chant, TD 2011, Tourism’s carrying capacity, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://persquaremile.com/2011/04/05/tourisms-carrying-capacity/ gdrc.org, What is Carrying Capacity? viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.gdrc.org/uem/footprints/carrying-capacity.html hfrr.ksu.edu, Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC), viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.hfrr.ksu.edu/DesktopModules/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=2146. iaia.org 1999, PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT BEST PRACTICE, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.iaia.org/publicdocuments/special-publications/Principles%20of%20IA_web.pdf Jamal, T and Robinson, M 2009, The SAGE handbook of tourism studies, SAGE Publications Ltd. Koeman, A, Sustainable Tourism and Eco-Tourism, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.mekonginfo.org/mrc_en/doclib.nsf/0/1A03035194C194664725692800174AC3/$FILE/FULLTEXT.html McArthur, S, Carrying capacity – it's time to let it go, Planeta, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.planeta.com/planeta/05/0508cc.html Mckay, H 2006, Applying the Limits of Acceptable Change Process to Visitor Impact Management in New Zealand’s Natural Areas, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.tourismresearch.govt.nz/Documents/Scholarships/HeatherMcKayLimits ofAcceptableChange.pdf. Nath, B 1999, Environmental Management in Practice: Compartments, stressors and sectors. Routledge. Sharma, KK 2004, Tourism and Regional Development, Sarup & Sons Tourism Australia Website 2006, Tourism Australia, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.tourism.australia.com tourismnewzealand.com, About Us, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.tourismnewzealand.com/about-us tourismnewzealand.com, 100% Pure New Zealand, viewed on April 7, 2011 http://www.tourismnewzealand.com/campaigns Read More