Developing Sustainable Tourism in Yaringa Marine Park - Case Study Example

Name Unit Title Executive Summary This report analysis the sustainable tourism efforts that have been put in place at Yaringa National Marine park in Australia. The research has focused on the areas in which the park has managed to effectively put in place sustainable measures. The impacts of boats, polluted water from Watson creek and tourism activities in the park have been blamed on negative effects on sustainability. The authority has set the speed limit to 5kph to reduce siltation and damage to the coral reefs. The impact by locals and tourists have also been monitored and controlled. Due to sustainability practices at the park, Yaringa National Marine Park has been able to achieve Eco-certification. The park has put tremendous efforts to maintain biodiversity and promote ecotourism. The report has used publications and academic journals which have been supported by desktop research. The report has been able to come at a conclusion that Yaringa Marine Park is on the right path towards sustainable tourism. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 3 Research methods 4 Sustainable development 5 Sustainable tourism 6 Yaringa Marine Park 8 Certification criteria: Eco-certified by Ecotourism Australia (UN List of National parks and protected areas). 9 Sustainability Principles 10 Conclusions 13 References 14 Introduction This report looks at sustainable tourism practices in relation to the Yaringa Marine Park in Australia. The Yaringa National Marine Park is one of the most visited parks in Western Port, Australia. The park has an area of 2,400 acres and is located about 9 kilometers in the southwest direction of Tooradin. The park is well known for its extensive salt marsh habitats and sea grass. The park is also part of the Ramsar wetlands, which enables it to host several types of migratory birds. The park accessibility is achieved through the use of boats (Parks Victoria, 2014). The Yaringa National Marine Park is part of the protection program with the Western Port Ramsar site, East Asian- Australasian flyway and the Mornington Peninsula. The Park has been the main focus in water improvement from the Watson Creek and the land that surrounds it. The park habitat enables the survival for range of species. The types of birds that are found in the park include Red-necked stint which migrates during the warmest months. The park has more than 295 bird species which include 32 migratory birds. The Watson creek integrated catchment management project is carried out through Biosphere-UNESCO to manage the park pollution by water from the Watson creek (Parks Victoria, 2003c). This is meant to ensure that there is sustainability in the park for future and present tourism. Sustainable tourism at Yaringa National Marine Park Creek has been affected by dirty water from Watson Creek, motor boats, fishing and sailing. At the marine park, boat speed have been blamed for pollution and affecting the marine life. This paper will look at the negative consequences of human activities at the Yaringa Marine Park (Parks Victoria, 2014). The paper will then look at sustainable tourism management at the park; this is through analyzing the certification methods, social, economic and environmental strategies that are used in tourism management. Research methods This report will utilize desktop research, publications and academic journals on marine Park Authority. The aim of the analysis will be to give insight into sustainable tourism efforts that have been put in place to protect the Yaringa National Marine Park. Sustainable development Sustainable development has been integrated with the sustainable development goals. This is further intertwined with the millennium development goals which have a deadline in 2015. The concept of sustainable development was started by the United Nations in 1984 (United Nations, 2000). United Nations formed an independent group which consisted of members of the developed and developing nations. The group was tasked with coming up with the long term strategies for the environment in the international community. This led to the definition of the sustainable development as the development that have the ability to satisfy the present without compromising the future needs for the coming generation. The damage that had been done on the environment brought a lot of attention into the matter of sustainability. This made sustainable development to be an important area for the research and a policy for governments (Haughton & Counsell, 2003). Later in 2004, the world summit on sustainable development focused on the global challenge as the interdependence between the social, economic and the environment development. There was a general agreement that there was a need to put practices that enabled environmental sustainability. This included sustainability in the natural resources such as use of energy. As the population grows, there is more pressure that is exerted on the available resources. This affects the quality of the environment and the type of lifestyle led. The potential of the ecosystems is supposed to be maintained despite the growth in population (International Academy of Culture, Tourism & Hospitality Research, 2011). Sustainable development and environment cannot be separated. Inability to manage the environment leads to the country being unable to attain sustainable development. The population growth in the world should be in harmony with the environment to ensure there is sustainability (United Nations, 2000). There have been a rise in environmental problems that poses risk to the whole world. Human actions have been blamed for their impact on the environment. The human activities on the environment have been categorized into two. There are activities that have impacts that lead to global warming and ozone damage (United Nations, 2000). These are environmental changes that have global impacts. The second category consists of s the local issues. These include matters such as loss of the forest cover, soil erosion and impacts on assessing clean water. These are threats to the resources that have a global use. The environmental effects have been identified to have the greatest effect on the attainment of the sustainable development (Haughton & Counsell, 2003). The fact that sustainable development is affected by environmental issues shows how important ecological balance is. Sustainable tourism The Tourism sector is one of the areas that have felt the impacts of sustainable development. This is through development of strategies in the sector that enhances protection of the environment where tourism is practiced (Hoad, 2002). Irrespective of the type of tourism that is practiced, there are impacts on the environment. Mass tourism gave been blamed for its effects on the environment. The modern tourism has tried to eliminate the damage that is caused to the environment by mass tourism (Grant, Lafont, Tzoanos & Zysberg, 1992). This is by avoiding the way mass tourism was carried out and practicing ethical attitudes. This is form of tourism that is based on sustainable development. The concept of sustainable tourism arose in the 90s and gained popularity over the years (Mrak, 2007). The main idea behind the sustainable tourism is shift from the mass tourism and focusing on post mass tourism (Bouazza, 2002). This was meant to reduce the impact the tourism had on the environment and local communities. The main focus of the tourism shifted into regulation and future productivity through caring for natural resources. There should be ecological balance and enhancement of environmental conservation (Clayton, 2002). To enable the concept of sustainable tourism to be implemented, there has been implementation of practical measures. This involves establishing protected areas, visitor management, establishing the capacity for the tourists, access interdiction and restricting access of means of transport among others. The carrying capacity of the environment has also been established. This involves determining the intensity of use in a given time for a certain environment. This established by ensuring that the capacity does not damage the sustainability potential. Carrying capacity has been segmented as ecological carrying capacity, economic carrying capacity and the social carrying capacity (Clayton, 2002). The ecological carrying capacity ensures that the level of use does not have negative impacts on the ecology. Economic carrying capacity is based on the measurement that ensures that the economy does not largely depend from tourism only. The social carrying capacity ensures that tourism does not erode the local culture and become a nuisance to locals (Clayton, 2002). Tourism is subject to environment impact assessment technique. This ensures that the activities that are carried out through tourists do not affect the environment (ANZECC, 2001). Yaringa Marine Park Yaringa Marine Park has been under a lot of pressure to implement sustainable practices. The impacts of boat riding, fishing, coral harvesting and the water from the Watson creek have been the main issues. Sustainability in the park has been cited as the key to the coexistence between the marine life and the tourism activities. The protection of the park in and outside has been the major concerns for the sustainability (Parks Victoria, 2003c). According to Parks Victoria (2003c), Motor boat speeds have been blamed for the silting of the parks. The speed that is used at the channel leads to silting as the park is located in confined water. The park has spent a lot of revenue in maintaining the channel depth and repairing the damage that is caused to the channel banks. The park has a set speed limit for boats as 5 kph and is enforced by the water police. The wash that is generated by the boats causes a costly damage to the park waters (DSE, 2003). The authority has tried in ensuring that the speed of 5kmh is enforced through the channel so that they reduce the costs that are used in maintenance. Another issue arises from the water conservation. The park is faced with droughts leading to clean water shortages. This leads to the restrictions being enforced to the locals and tourists. Water usage in the park has been a major cause of concern in the park. Dust is another issue in the dry berth. The severe drought that constantly faces the park leads to the Dry Berth Boat storage area to be extremely dusty. This leads to the boats becoming dusty which can increase siltation. The construction activity around the dry berth has also increased the dust in the area (Parks Victoria, 2014). Boats may also damage the ecosystem through leakages. Oil spills in the marine life is a catastrophic issue as it may lead to death and affect the breeding of the marine animals. The boats may also scare the fish and other marine life as they pass through the channel (Mihalič, 2007). Tourism has also been blamed on littering the park with different types of wastes. This is a contribution to environmental degradation (EPA, 2001). According to Parks Victoria (2003c), fishing in the marine park is another threat to sustainability. If fishing is not controlled in the park, it may lead to reduction on species available. Yaringa Marine Park has managed to control fishing in the park by restricting to club members. The park has also set the fishing to be done in seasons to avoid depletion. Illegal fishing in the park has been reduced through surveillance and awareness. Certification criteria: Eco-certified by Ecotourism Australia (UN List of National parks and protected areas). Yaringa Marine Park is part of the western Port Ramsar Site and follows the guidelines that are set for sustainability by the Ramsar convention. This has enabled the park to achieve the eco-certification. The certification has been awarded due to the park being able to manage the eco-system and applying the sustainable tourism principles. The park uses zoning, pollution control and controlled licensing to enable sustainable tourism. The park also follows the Ramsar treaty for sustainable tourism. This is an international treaty that outlines how the wetlands should be used for international sustainability. Western port has also been recognized as an important natural heritage due to its outstanding values (Suzanne & Judith, 2013). The uniqueness of the park due to natural features and landscape has made the park to be recognized under the National Trust of Australia. Another aspect of the park is its community attachment. Under the management of Parks Victoria, the marine park recognizes its community and cultural aspects of the Aborigines. The aborigines have been the past users of the park for food through hunting. At the glacial phase that happened 6000 years ago, the western portland was sunk leading to the inhabitants to settle in the islands (Tourism Victoria, 2007). Yaringa Park is managed through the provisions that are set under the National Parks act. The secretary is charged with the responsibility to protect and preserve the park. This is through observing the nature, cultural and environmental impacts on the park. The park has prohibited all manner of extraction (Parks Victoria, 2003c). This includes recreation and commercial fishing and collection of the shellfish. The Aboriginal acts 2006 looks at the aborigine’s places, objects and remains in the park are preserved. The coastal management act is concerned with the development that takes place in the park. The last act that looks at the protection of the park is environmental protection and Biodiversity conservation act 1999. This act looks at the impacts that the actions on the park have on the environment at both local and international perspectives (EPA, 2001). Sustainability Principles To manage the park effectively, the Parks Victoria has been faced with an issue of the local community. The aborigines have increased in population and they have put pressure on the natural resources. The local communities have been hunters and utilized fishing in the park prior to regulations. This trespass by the local communities may lead to the destruction of the ecosystems. This has led to the park adopting standards that enables the locals to understand and partner in park conservation (DSE, 2003). The park has adopted zoning to the park to ensure there is conservation and sustainability. This is a process that is used in defining the park areas and the type of use that is allowed. This is inconsistent with the national parks act and the marine sanctuaries. The park has initiated a management plan that has ensured that the feeding and roosting habitat are preserved for the migratory wader and the shore bird. The natural ecological process is maintained through the floristically rich sea grass (DSE, 2003). According to DSE (2003), Restrictions have also been put in place to protect the vegetated areas. This is a measure that is meant to ensure that the mangrove and salt marsh communities are well protected. Maintainance of the biodiversity has also been set in place to make sure that the natural processes are protected. The process that is looked in this principle includes the predation, competition and disturbance. These are efforts that are directed towards sustainable tourism. According to Blake & Ball (2001), the park has been able to realize the potential benefits that are offered by research and monitoring. Research and monitoring is carried out to help in improving the scientific basis for the management and collection of the data. Habitat threat assessment is carried out to ensure that there is sustainable environment. This is in accordance with the Statewide Management Authority. Another initiative that has been carried out is reducing the negative impacts from the changes in the water quality. Watson creek has been cited to be the dirtiest of all the water that enters Yaringa Marine Park. Watson creek has many tributaries which come from the areas with agricultural activity. The water has a poor quality and consists of high levels of nutrients. The key issues from the Watsons creek were identified in 2003. This led to setting up of complimentary management and call for coordination between different government departments. The water from the creek has been under various efforts and initiative to improve the catchment. This is due to the effects that it has on Yaringa Marine Park. The creek managements have been placed under the development of the integrated catchment managements committee (DSE, 2003). Parks Victoria who is responsible for the management of the Yaringa marine park has contributed to the funding for the initiative. The polluted waterway is now under the maintenance to help in making the quality of water from the park up to standards (Parks Victoria, 2003c). There have been fines and cancellation of licenses for those who violates the park laws. This has been implemented with the help from the water police (Parks Victoria, 2013c). Those found speeding in the water way above 5kph have faced heavy fines and license cancellation. This is due to siltation and damages that are caused by the wakes from the speeding boats. The tourists are also monitored to ensure there is no pollution in the surroundings. The efforts by the park to counter pollution and enable sustainable tourism has been noted (Parks Victoria, 2014). The park has been able to gain access to clean water and the number of fishes has increased as a result. The tourists’ compliance with the set rules and regulations has been enabled through education, awareness and use of the ranger patrols and water police. This has reduced the cases of pollution to the park. The threats are identified and minimized through looking at the outcomes. Risks assessment is also carried out regularly and recommendations made (Parks Victoria, 2003c). The involvement of the community in managing the park has been a great step towards sustainability (Parks Victoria, 2005a). This has been achieved by engaging the registered aborigines’ party to help identifying knowledge, aspirations and interest. The community and volunteers are identified and encouraged to participate in the conservation measures. There have been collaborative efforts by the management with the local schools and agencies in managing the park. This has acted in ensuring strong protection force for the park. Conclusions Yaringa Marine Park is managed by the Park Victoria through the Ramsar listed water land guidelines. The park is an area of international importance due to the presence of unique scenery and the wader-birds. Being part of UNESCO biosphere reserve, the park has been able to gain attention in conservation. This is to ensure there is sustainability in the environment through biodiversity. The park has been able to achieve the certification for eco-tourism. This is due to the authority ability to manage and reduce pollution in the park. The park management has set up guidelines that are followed by the tourists to ensure there is sustainability. Boats which are the main cause of pollution have their speed limited to 5kmh. This enables the effects of siltation and damage to the corals to be reduced. The park also saves a lot of revenue by ensuring that there is reduced siltation. Yaringa Marine Park has introduced restrictions to fishing, which ensures that species are not depleted. To achieve the certification, the efforts to conserve the park inclined the community and environmentalists working together to create a pollution free park. The main challenge to sustainability in the creek is the water from the Watson creek. The polluted water has been a source of reduced quality of water in the park. There have been joint efforts to ensure that the water from the creek is pollution free. This will enable the park to attain the highest standards of sustainability in tourism. References ANZECC (2001). National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biological Diversity. Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council, Environment Australia: Canberra. Blake, S. and Ball, D. (2001). Victorian marine habitat database: sea grass mapping of Western Port. Geospatial Systems Section, Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute: Queenscliff. Bouazza, A. O. (2002). Sustainable tourism and taxes: An insight into the Balearic eco-tax law. European Environmental Law Review, 11(6), 169-174. Clayton, A. (2002). Strategies for sustainable tourism development: The role of the concept of carrying capacity. Social and Economic Studies, 51(1), 34-38. DSE (2003). Western Port Ramsar Site Strategic Management Plan, Department of Sustainability and Environment. Melbourne. EPA. (2001). Best Practice Environmental Management Guidelines for Dredging, Environment Protection Authority. Southbank: Victoria. Grant, M., Lafont, J., Tzoanos, G., & Zysberg, C. (1992). File: Tourism and the environment. Industry and Environment. Unep, 15(3), 57-62. Haughton, G. & Counsell, D. (2003). Regions, Spatial Strategies and Sustainable Development. Routledge: London. Hoad, D. (2002). GATS, sustainable tourism and the international year of ecotourism (IYE 2002). Environmental Politics, 11(2), 159-164. International Academy of Culture, Tourism & Hospitality Research. (2011). The seventh symposium of consumer psychology of tourism, hospitality and leisure and the second international conference on sustainable tourism management. Anatolia, 22(2), p.223. Mihalič, T. (2007). 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