Conservation in Galapagos Island - Case Study Example

Balancing Conservation and Toursim Name Class Unit Introduction The tourism industry has been growing at a very fast rate globally. At the moment, tourism sector generates about 11% of the global GDP (Costas, Oliver, Seleni & Jamie, 2003, p.1). The figures thus make tourism one of the largest global industries. Nature and adventure travel are some of the fastest growing sectors in tourism. This involves cruise ships, travelers, and trekking, exploring remote places among other activities that have a direct contact with the environment. Tourism has a direct impact on the environment and its growth presents a challenge in balancing it with conservation. Tourism has three types of environmental impacts which are; direct impacts, upstream impacts and downstream impacts. Direct impacts involve effects on the environment from the travel to the destination of the tourists. Upstream impacts are associated with the service providers’ ability to have an influence to the suppliers. Downstream impacts occur when the service providers have the capability to affect the pattern of consumption among the consumers (Davies & Cahill 2000 p.4). This report will look at the difficulties that exist in balancing conservation and tourism and the strategies that can be employed to lessen the negatives. The essay will analyze a case study based on conservation in Galapagos Island. Tourism and conservation in Galapagos Island Galapagos Islands are one of the world’s premier tourist destinations (Bruce 2007, p. 1). The islands are of volcanic origin with large summit Calderas. The island has an environment which is vulnerable to changes in flora and fauna. Galapagos Islands were declared as national park in 1959. Prior to 1970, tourism in the island was uncontrolled. After tourism became organized in the islands, there was a sudden increase in the visitors. There came a need to come with regulations which would make it possible to control the number of visitors in the fragile Galapagos environment. The park has made many rules to conserve the environment. The park has been divided into 5 parts where only two are freely open for visitors. There are many rules and regulations which the visitors have to adhere to. The rapid economic and population growth in the island has put strain on the available resources. This has led to social unrests and affected the conservation efforts in the islands. As the population continues to grow, more buildings will be constructed and more visitors are also expected (Bruce 2007, p. 8). There are issues on contamination by sewer water. The island also uses fixed vessel schedules where a vessel is only allowed to visit a certain site during specific days to prevent overuse of sites. The steady increase in tourists and invasive species has made Galapagos Islands to be declared in the list of the World Heritage in Danger (Bruce 2007, p. 54). Conservation Conservation is done with an aim of creating an environment that is capable of sustaining tourism for the future. This involves ensuring that tourism is able to make optimal use of the environment while at the same time maintaining ecological balance. This has led to the introduction of ecotourism. Ecotourism refers to tourism that is aimed at giving the visitors a chance to learn on biodiversity, culture and explore nature while at the same time generating income which is used for conservation and helping the local population (Drumm & Moore 2005, p.15). This is the case of Galapagos Islands. Tourism in the islands is carried out with an aim of generating resources for conservation and helping the local population. Galapagos Islands are a protected area and its value is gained from tourism (Bruce 2007, p. 9). For areas with high visitation, viability of ecotourism is high. Challenges in balancing conservation and tourism Despite the efforts to conserve the environment, there are challenges as seen in Galapagos Islands case. The increase in the number of the tourists poses the environment into danger. There is pollution, degradation and erosion of values that makes an area attractive. Those managing the protected areas are thus faced with a challenge of balancing on tourism and how to conserve the area. Wildlife is also affected by the tourism activities. This is due to fact that tourism requires infrastructure which can affect the normal life of the wildlife. In some areas, there is construction of mountain resorts which may block the wildlife migratory paths. There are also situations where the animals feeding habits are affected by tourist feeding them, which may make them to scrounge for food. When tourists move inside the parks, they alter the animals’ habitat through trampling. There is also diminishing of the aesthetic appeal of a place through altering the environment (Davies & Cahill 2000 p. 7). This is seen by construction of structures such as high rise buildings. In Galapagos Islands, the increase in tourism has led to economic development which has encouraged construction. The construction on the islands may lead to visual pollution despite the conservation efforts. Poor tourist control in the islands is a major problem. The large number of tourists disturbs the animals and plant life damaging the fragile Galapagos ecosystem. The disturbance has led to animals avoiding these trails. In some cases, tourists break the rules and collects plants, shells and rocks which interfere with the island ecosystem. There has been an increase in litter in the islands as a direct effect of mass tourism. These effects endanger the islands from introduction of new species to pollution (Bruce 2007, p. 6). Strategies in balancing tourism and conservation Galapagos Islands have been restricting mass tourism as a measure to conserve the islands for tourism. The main aim was to have 12,000 visitors yearly (Bruce 2007, p. 9). The main problem with the directive is the fact that there was no plan on how to control the number of tourists. Poor planning of the conservation system led to the number of the visitors exceeding the number. There are situations where the visitors are congested in the parks. This implies that mass tourism is still evident despite the efforts to curb it due to poor planning (Bruce 2007, p. 52). Poor regulation of mass tourism leads to littering and breaking of other park rules. Tourism control is one of the strategies that can help in balancing tourism and conservation. For example, Galapagos Islands should increase their patrol boats. This would be in a bid to ensure that there are no violations of park rules and the right and exceeding number of tourists (Bruce 2007, p. 55). In areas where the shoreline has a set number of visitors at a time, this should be enforced at all times. The park should introduce fines that target those who violate the rules of the parks. By allowing mass tourism, it is possible to exceed the carrying capacity of an area. The Galapagos Islands have been identified to have fragile ecosystem which can be easily destroyed by the environmental change. This implies that the damage to the islands will also lead to damage to the economy of the area. In most developing countries, the rapid population growth has led to strain on the available amenities. This has led to scarcity of land and the protected areas have been seen as the only remaining areas (Drumm & Moore 2005, p.16). Protected areas such as Galapagos Islands have water, clean air and biodiversity. Farmers and loggers in different countries have been trying to invade parks and other protected areas (Drumm & Moore 2005, p.16). This has been a major challenge especially in the underdeveloped countries. This has led to ecotourism being considered as the solution which can reconcile the local population and conservation of the parks. The local population and their economic situation play a large part in conservation. The locals may be given incentives that will enable them to be part of the conservation efforts. This means that the fees and revenues collected from tourism can be used partly to compensate the local population. The conservation efforts should ensure that the local populations are given other alternatives to look for cash instead of relying on the natural resources. The strategy that has been used in Galapagos is employing the locals as tour guides. By employing the local as tour guides and teaching them on conservation, they are able to abandon other economic activities that endanger the environment. Ecotourism is a strategy that has been adopted to achieve lasting results. The main aim of ecotourism is to have conservation and develop the tourism business (Drumm & Moore 2005 p.15). Despite this, the efforts to create ecotourism often fail. The approach used to create them can lead to consequences that are unanticipated. The community around ecotourism develops high expectations which are hard to be fulfilled. This is the case of the Galapagos Islands where the inhabitants have been unsatisfied by the conservation measures. The efforts also lead to the tourism which destroys the natural attractions. There have also been instances where nature tourism has been conducted without adequate knowledge on conservation. Ecotourism have been identified as the fastest growing sector in international tourism (Drumm & Moore 2005 p.15). For ecotourism to be successful there is need for the conservationists to be aware of the economic considerations as well as management mechanisms. These factors enable the conservation activity to be sustainable. There is need for a planning network that will enable conservation management to be successful. The tourism business should be carried out in a way that it does not endanger the local natural resources but support their protection. The main advantage of adopting ecotourism is the fact that it allows the tourist to use the natural resources which generates income while making sure that the resources are protected (Drumm & Moore 2005 p.4). Another strategy is the sustainable nature tourism. The strategy involves tourism, which does not meet all the criteria for eco-tourism. For example, tourists may use a cable car in their nature travel which leads to conservation revenue, but introduces a barrier between tourists and environment. The strategy can be best utilized in areas which have been affected by mass tourism. Through the initiative may lead to altering part of the environment due to laying the infrastructure, the finances generated leads to conservation (Drumm & Moore 2005, p. 18). Another strategy that can help in maintaining the balance is scientific or research tourism. These are trips which are conducted with investigative objectives. This type of tourism leads to information in the area being visited which can be used in conservation efforts. Green tourism can also be applied in the tourism industry (Drumm & Moore 2005, p.18). This is an initiative that can help in reducing environmental pollution. For example, the cruise ships that visit Galapagos Islands can be more fuel efficient and also recycle their waste. The hotel chains in the islands can also ensure that they follow all rules and regulations on the environment conservation. Through conservation measures, the cruise ships and hotels can benefit from reduced operating costs while at the same time maintaining a greener image. While balancing tourism and environmental conservation using ecotourism, it is important to look for the key areas which are venerable and zoning them (Eagles, McCool & Haynes, 2002 p.9). There is also need to identify the key stakeholders in the area in order to be successful in conservation. For example, the local community, academic community, scientific community and park management are important stakeholders that can help a lot in conservation (Drumm & Moore 2005, p.16). Failure to include all stakeholders may lead to unrests as seen in Galapagos Islands which can derail conservation. Conservation should be an all inclusive activity for it to succeed. Conclusion In conclusion, balancing tourism and conservation have a lot of challenges as seen in case analysis of Galapagos islands. The increase in the number of tourists poses challenges in conservation. Mass tourism has been blamed on negative effects on the environment and biodiversity. Fragile biodiversity, such as the one in Galapagos Islands faces danger if mass tourism is carried out. There are also dangers in economic development caused by revenue from tourism. When an area develops, there is more likelihood of increase in population which puts pressure on the available resources. The increase in population may also lead to encroachment on the parks. To counter these challenges, ecotourism, nature tourism, research tourism, green tourism and tourist control are among the strategies that can be used. For the strategies to succeed, there is a need for those involved to be aware of the economic considerations and management initiatives. There is also need to involve all the stakeholders in conservation to ensure that the policies made are all inclusive. By following these strategies and recommendations, it is possible to strike a balance between tourism and conservation. References Bruce, E 2007, Tourism, the Economy, Population Growth, and Conservation in Galapagos, Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands. Costas, C., Oliver H., Seleni, M & Jamie, S 2003, Tourism And Biodiversity, Mapping Tourism’s Global Footprint, Wahington DC, Conservation International. Davies, T & Cahill, S 2000, Environmental Implications of the Tourism Industry, Resources for the Future, Discussion Paper 00-14. Drumm, A & Moore, A 2005, Ecotourism Development – A Manual for Conservation Planners and Managers (Vol.1): An Introduction to Ecotourism Planning (2nd Ed.), Arlington, Virginia: The Nature Conservancy. Eagles, P. F.J., McCool, S. F & Haynes, C. D 2002. Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas: Guidelines for Planning and Management. IUCN Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. xv + 183pp. Read More