Negative Impacts of Tourism and Their Mitigation through Planning - Essay Example

Negative Impacts of Tourism and their Mitigation through Planning Name Course Instructor Date Negative Impacts of Tourism and their Mitigation through Planning The negative impacts of tourism have been attributed, among other things to inadequate or nonexistent planning frameworks for tourism destination development. Tourism planning based on the philosophies of sustainability has emerged as one of the most comprehensive approaches to minimising negative tourism impacts. Discuss this proposition in terms of current environmental planning practices. Consider how environmental planning can address the challenges of tourism impact management. The tourism industry plays a critical role in increasing economic activity in tourist destinations all over the world. The industry creates jobs in communities of all sizes and in some places; it is the main economic activity. While tourism industry is mainly looked at from the perspective of economic impacts; its potential impacts are wide ranging and the effect goes beyond the areas traditionally associated with the said activity. In order to ensure long-term sustainability, these issues should be of great concern to all stakeholders involved particularly community leaders, tourism professionals and policy makers (Eagel & Hillel, 2008). Negative impacts of tourism may be caused by both tourists and also by the destination communities. An understanding of what the impacts may be on both sides would enable the potential perpetrators of the ills that cause the consequences to integrate the industry in a positive way. While the negative impacts of tourism are wide ranging, not all of the impacts are applicable to all communities due to difference in conditions and resources. Stakeholders must be able to look at issues pertaining to their situation critically and understand what needs to be done while, at the same time, avoiding the temptation to gloss over some of the negative consequences that would later negatively affect the industry and the environment. The possibility of overlooking potential problems is particularly great in communities where tourism is the only lucrative activity causing leaders and tourism professionals to fall into temptation to make tourism the solution to all local problems. Such a view is likely to either lead in passing of overbearing rules or lead to failure to impose any rules at all. Negative impacts by tourism on the environment may be as a result of infrastructure; in order for tourism to thrive, it demands infrastructure including roads, train tracks airports etc. Construction of these important amenities leads to significant alterations of the ecosystems in which they are constructed through destruction of flora and disruption of fauna. Development of other supporting infrastructure e.g. hotels and other accommodations leads to great sewerage pollution for water sources which can have a huge impact especially in areas where there are coral reefs (Burchel & Listokin 1975). The case is particularly significant owing to the fact that the most significant tourist activity happens in areas of high biodiversity. Tourism is also likely to cause depletion of resources, UNEP (2005) found that tourism consumes as much energy, annually as the energy consumed in Japan and consumes 10 million cubic meters of water over one year. This shows that there is great possibility of tourism concentrating local resources use in only small areas thus undermining resource management systems put in place locally (UNEP and CI, 2003). Every day activities related to tourism may also lead to negative impacts on biodiversity, particularly on coral reefs which may be damaged by boats, and business people who sell pieces of the reefs as souvenirs to tourists. A lot of solid waste is generated from tourism related activities UN & Cl (2003) estimate that tourism generates a total of 35 million tonnes of waste every year. Activities related to tourism including transport, accommodation among others account to 4 to 6% of all carbon dioxide emissions in the world these emissions are equivalent to the total emissions produced by Canada, Brazil and South Korea combined (UNWTO et al. 2007). This is a significant contribution to climate change Balancing interests while planning on the impacts of tourism is delicate as different stakeholders have different interests which are often completely opposite each other. It is for this reason that generalized planning would not work in the case of tourism. Yet when interests are as divergent as they are, consensus on specific aspects of the plans might be difficult. There, however, are instances where groups with interests in different areas have some overlapping concerns. These make planning easier as commonalities can be found (Cizmar and Lizjak, 2007). Negative impacts of tourism need to be reduced to ensure that the industry is sustainable. Sustainability is important in order to sustain the positive impact tourism has on communities. The positive impacts include raising revenue for the communities in which tourism related activities take place through providing opportunities for businesses, these businesses lead to job creation as well as spurring investment and supporting of services in the locality. Since it is relatively labour intensive, tourism employs many youth and women while not being import intensive. With good linkages between governments and the private sector, tourism can yield a lot of pro poor benefits, while the private sector can provide the requisite investments, the government may adapt their licensing, concessioning and marketing policies to support the said policies (ODI, 2005). Tourism also has the potential of raising awareness on matters pertaining to conservation among members of the surrounding communities. They would be happy to undertake conservation activities as a way of ensuring that the benefits they receive from tourism are sustained. Visitors with the help of proper systems for interpretation can also learn conservation. The sustained activities of locals as well as those of visitors on conservation in all tourist destinations would greatly contribute to raising the profile of conservation activities on the psyche of communities, both locally and at a national level. Another reason why negative impacts from tourism should be reduced is in order to strengthen appreciation of culture. This because if sustainably managed, tourism can provide confidence in traditions including arts and crafts and practices which were largely geared towards maintaining the environment and sustains biodiversity. Together with traditional impacts sustainably managed tourism provides continuous financial incentives for the protection of habitats. This is because tourism provides direct income from visitors whose reason for spending money in the communities in question is because of the habitats. In this way tourism makes a significant contribution in poverty reduction (WLT n.d). In many instances, tourism develops on an ad hoc basis. It has, however, become important for focused planning to be done in order to ensure that tourism is able to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to benefit from it (WECD, 1987). This is what sustainability is. Concerns for environment emerged as collective aspirations of the people from all over the world in the second half of the twentieth century (Eagles et al. 2002; Hilel, 2009) These aspirations led the establishment of the World Commission on Environment and Development by the United Nations in 1987 (WCED, 1987). As a result, an entire body of planning principles has emerged concerning where relationships exist between natural systems and human systems. This planning is important to tourism because a large part of tourism is ecotourism where tourists go specifically to see environments that are different from their own. Different states in the Commonwealth of Australia have put in place legislation to ensure proper environmental planning. The measures taken are in order to ensure that tourism does not have negative impact on biodiversity if it is conducted without due regard to the management of natural assets. There is a big correlation between tourism, biodiversity and wealth creation. There are many benefits provided by ecosystem services including the large dependence of tourism o them. These services include coral reefs, fish, birdlife etc. All of them require healthy ecosystems to survive and support the existence of the species that tourists find attractive. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) after conducting research in 95 countries examining 24 services that have a direct role to play in human well being, concluded that 15 of them were on the decline including critical environment related ones like provision of fresh water, production of fish in seas among others. The research also uncovered an issue of concern which was the possibility of tourism which revolves around viewing wildlife suffering, owing to the fact that it requires healthy ecosystems in order to support the species that are the attraction. Many natural features have been degraded thus taking away their allure as part of recreation or led to their disappearance all together. To ensure that tourism remains sustainable, it is important for climate change adaptation policies be implemented at every level this is because they are a corollary of poor environmental management and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. The current environmental planning movement in Australia began when principles were developed in reference to planning and human activity. Principle 13 which advocated for compatibility of planning with protection of the environment; different states in the Commonwealth of Australia have developed their own planning practices as a result. New South Wales was the first state to respond to this principle when it came up with the EP&A Act of 1979. The Act established three levels through which the environment, state, regional and local. The law requires environmental impact assessment for all projects that would affect the environment. It also establishes a judicial mechanism that is entirely dedicated to resolving environment disputes known as the land and environment court it is charged with the responsibility of arbitrating disputes related to the act. The state of Victoria has the Planning and Environment Act (1987) whose stated objective is “The protection of natural and man- made resources and maintenance of ecological processes and genetic diversity” The Act created Victoria Planning Provisions which provides a policy framework that provides for the identification of environmental values and assets depending with their nature i.e. they could be flora and fauna, water, beaches etc. VPP also allows planning at local level which includes zone designation to identify uses of land. The Act also provides for mapping as a method of knowing which management action may be needed in a particular locality depending on the environmental problems associated with that locality. These may include soil erosion, forest fires, degradation of the environment among others. While planning for development in the state, the law requires that an Environmental Impact Assessment be conducted in order to establish whether the project might have adverse effects on the environment and whether the effects may be adverse enough to require termination of the project. Development Act of 1993 coordinates planning in South Australia and it requires public consultation over and above an Environmental Impact Assessment for all major projects. In Queensland, planning and environmental issues are coordinated by the local government according to the provisions of Sustainable Planning Act 2009 . Environmental Planning of tourism facilities and assets especially hotels and transport vehicles can address the challenges posed on the environment by tourism. Planning would help in making of choices between different conflicting interests in order to come up with modalities of making tourism and sustainability compatible. A deliberate effort to use vehicles that do not emit carbon as much as possible would make a great contribution towards this end. This includes the use of balloons instead of airplanes or the use of trams where applicable. It may also be arranged such that the animal transport be used, where it can be applied, instead of motor vehicles. In cases where this is not possible, tourists can be asked to pool together and use bigger vehicles instead of using many small ones which would only lead to more emissions, more noise, more soil erosion and increase the need for construction of more roads which alter the ecosystem (Conacher & Conacher, 2000). There should be legislative remedies to the sale of pieces of coral reefs as souvenirs to the tourists. While these sales are a source of income for the local communities, they lead to degradation of the reefs thus destroying the environment and making tourism less and less sustainable. Instead of such souvenirs, tourists should be encouraged to purchase souvenirs which do not depend directly on endangered elements of the ecosystem to be manufactured (Conacher & Conacher 2000). References Burchell RW and Listokin D (1975). The environmental impact handbook Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers, the State University, New Brunswick, N.J. Cizmar, S. and S. Lisjak. 2007. Tourism master plans: An effective tourism destination management tool in SEE. South East European Journal of Economics & Business, 2(1): 48-57. Conacher A & Conacher J (2000)., Environment planning & management in Australia, Oxford University Press. Eagles, Paul F.J., McCool, Stephen F. and Haynes, Christopher D.A. (2002). Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas: Guidelines for Planning and Management. IUCN Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. xv + 183pp. Eagles, P. and O. Hillel. (2008). Improving protected area finance through tourism. In Protected areas in today’s world: their values and benefits for the welfare of the planet. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Technical Series no. 36: p 77-86. Accessed on 11th April 2013 at: www.cbd.int/doc/publications/cbd-ts-39-en.pdf. Hillel, O. (2009). Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Programme Officer (Sustainable Use, Tourism and Island Biodiversity). (MEA) Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Current State and Trends. Volume 1. Island Press, Washington, DC. (ODI) Overseas Development Institute. (2005). Can tourism accelerate pro-poor growth in Africa? Accessed on 11th April 2013 at http:// www.odi.org.uk/resources/odi-opinions.asp. UNEP and CI (2003) United Nations Environment Programme and Conservation International. Tourism and Biodiversity. Mapping Tourism’s Global Footprint. Accessed on 11th April 2013 at: www.unep.org/PDF/Tourism_and_biodiversity_report.pdf. UNWTO. 2008. Tourism Highlights. Accessed on 11th April 2013 at www.unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/highlights/ UNWTO_Highlights08_en_LR.pdf. World Commission on Environment and Devel­opment (WCED), Our Common Future (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 8. Read More

Negative impacts by tourism on the environment may be as a result of infrastructure; in order for tourism to thrive, it demands infrastructure including roads, train tracks airports etc. Construction of these important amenities leads to significant alterations of the ecosystems in which they are constructed through destruction of flora and disruption of fauna. Development of other supporting infrastructure e.g. hotels and other accommodations leads to great sewerage pollution for water sources which can have a huge impact especially in areas where there are coral reefs (Burchel & Listokin 1975).

The case is particularly significant owing to the fact that the most significant tourist activity happens in areas of high biodiversity. Tourism is also likely to cause depletion of resources, UNEP (2005) found that tourism consumes as much energy, annually as the energy consumed in Japan and consumes 10 million cubic meters of water over one year. This shows that there is great possibility of tourism concentrating local resources use in only small areas thus undermining resource management systems put in place locally (UNEP and CI, 2003).

Every day activities related to tourism may also lead to negative impacts on biodiversity, particularly on coral reefs which may be damaged by boats, and business people who sell pieces of the reefs as souvenirs to tourists. A lot of solid waste is generated from tourism related activities UN & Cl (2003) estimate that tourism generates a total of 35 million tonnes of waste every year. Activities related to tourism including transport, accommodation among others account to 4 to 6% of all carbon dioxide emissions in the world these emissions are equivalent to the total emissions produced by Canada, Brazil and South Korea combined (UNWTO et al. 2007). This is a significant contribution to climate change Balancing interests while planning on the impacts of tourism is delicate as different stakeholders have different interests which are often completely opposite each other.

It is for this reason that generalized planning would not work in the case of tourism. Yet when interests are as divergent as they are, consensus on specific aspects of the plans might be difficult. There, however, are instances where groups with interests in different areas have some overlapping concerns. These make planning easier as commonalities can be found (Cizmar and Lizjak, 2007). Negative impacts of tourism need to be reduced to ensure that the industry is sustainable. Sustainability is important in order to sustain the positive impact tourism has on communities.

The positive impacts include raising revenue for the communities in which tourism related activities take place through providing opportunities for businesses, these businesses lead to job creation as well as spurring investment and supporting of services in the locality. Since it is relatively labour intensive, tourism employs many youth and women while not being import intensive. With good linkages between governments and the private sector, tourism can yield a lot of pro poor benefits, while the private sector can provide the requisite investments, the government may adapt their licensing, concessioning and marketing policies to support the said policies (ODI, 2005).

Tourism also has the potential of raising awareness on matters pertaining to conservation among members of the surrounding communities. They would be happy to undertake conservation activities as a way of ensuring that the benefits they receive from tourism are sustained. Visitors with the help of proper systems for interpretation can also learn conservation. The sustained activities of locals as well as those of visitors on conservation in all tourist destinations would greatly contribute to raising the profile of conservation activities on the psyche of communities, both locally and at a national level.

Another reason why negative impacts from tourism should be reduced is in order to strengthen appreciation of culture.

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