The recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico provides a striking example of the dependence of tourism on nature’s attractions. The oil sludge viewed by millions around the world on their television screens was devastating to the fish and the birds, for the white beaches, to the local people and their livelihoods, and to tourism.
The Ecumenical Coalition On Tourism (ECOT) commends the UNWTO for choosing the theme of Tourism and Biodiversity for World Tourism Day in 2010, given that biodiversity is under threat from several directions. Given the size of the tourism sector, it is vitally important that its role vis-à-vis biodiversity is examined.
A close relationship between Tourism and Biodiversity is asserted when the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) term them as ‘the natural allies’ (1). But are they really? ‘Allies’ connote support for one another. Can the tourism sector say that its operations have been beneficial to supporting, nurturing and enhancing biodiversity, and to the local and indigenous communities around the world whose lives and culture are linked with it?
Biological diversity is a broad term which encompasses the wealth of natural ecosystems with the remarkable variety of fauna, flora and microorganisms. Despite the variation, these forms of life are all closely connected and dependent on one another. As humans, we are part of a delicate and integrated natural life system on which we depend for our existence.
Can tourism help biodiversity?
Tourism has turned biodiversity into one of its most marketable assets. Images of the natural environment, unspoiled rainforests, crystal clear waters, wild life in their natural habitat are a standard fare in the myriad tourism advertising programmes such as Incredible India and Amazing Thailand, drawing visitors to all parts of the world.
Biodiversity works like a magnet for tourism. Yet, ironically, it is also one of its greatest victims. Saturation mass tourism with its impact on the environment does not help biodiversity, contributing to the disruption of the delicate balance within ecosystems and in turn to the irreversible loss of forms of life. It is a paradox that while needing biodiversity to flourish, tourism allows its degradation.
There is also a prior question that tourism stakeholders and travellers themselves need to address. According to the Secretary General of UNWTO, Mr. Taleb Rifai, ‘tourism can increase revenues for biodiversity conservation and community development and raise awareness of all biodiversity related issues’ (2). Sadly, this appears like a post factum justification for the tourism industry for doing the ‘right’ thing after the damage it has caused in the first place. The need for conservation efforts envisaged by Mr. Rifai would be much reduced if the tourism industry was more responsible towards and less exploitative of biodiversity already rendered fragile through the uncontrolled use of the earth’s resources and climate change (to which tourism is also a contributor). At the cost of countering the growth without limits economic philosophy, the tourism industry needs to understand that a tourism built on no limits to tourism numbers and destinations that places undue pressure on the environment cannot be sustained indefinitely.
What is the damage done?
According to the UNWTO, the number of tourism arrivals in 2020 will reach 1.561 billion (the estimate for 2010 is 1.006 billion) (3). With its outlays amounting to some ten percent of global GDP, it is one of the largest industries in the world. It is estimated that, as a result of unsustainable human actions - mass tourism being one of them - biological species have been disappearing at 50-100 times the natural rate and an estimated 34,000 plant and 5,200 animal species face extinction in the near future (4).
The tourism industry is notorious for its high consumption of natural resources, creating pollution and causing climate change. It is responsible for contributing up to 9 per cent to global warming (5) (aviation alone causes nearly 5 per cent) (6).
The link between global warming and the loss of biodiversity is illustrated by the following example of Indonesian coral reefs. A dramatic rise in the temperature in Indonesian waters caused by global warming (7) has been causing a large scale bleaching process destroying entire coral populations. Bleaching occurs when algae living within coral tissues vanish as a result of rising water temperature. Consequently, nearly 80 per cent of some species have died out in the waters surrounding Aceh Province, Sumatra (8). The same reefs that resisted the destructive force of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami get wiped out as a consequence of global warming. In the meantime, the news channels cheerfully announce that an Asian low-cost carrier broke the world record by selling over half a million seats in less than a day, thereby adding massively to future carbon emissions, a causative factor in global warming. The fact that such developments leave many poor Acehnese fishermen with no means of subsistence does not seem to be newsworthy.
World Tourism Day and China
ECOT hopes that celebrating World Tourism Day in China will be an opportunity to analyse the type of economic model that China represents. Built on the belief of growth without limits, such a model is pursued by emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and many others with the support of Northern governments and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Such a model also undergirds the development projects undertaken by China for instance in Africa. Given the earth’s finite resources and capacity, can such a model be responsibly and sustainably maintained? This needs to be asked as tourism as an industry is developed within the framework of such an economic model and understanding.
Tourism and the Human Rights perspective
A clean and healthy environment is a prerequisite for a full realisation of human rights. It has been recognised by the UN Environment Program that: ‘Mankind is a part of nature and depends on uninterrupted functioning of the natural systems which ensure the supply of energy and nutrients. Both aspects of man's environment, the natural and the man-made, are essential to his well-being and to the enjoyment of basic human rights the right to life itself (9).
All human beings have the right to enjoy the natural environment. The rights to life, food and water, adequate living conditions, health, property and culture are fundamental, inalienable human rights, enshrined in several UN instruments. States are obliged to take appropriate measures to protect the natural environment which for many people, especially for the indigenous and poor, rural populations, are the source of food and shelter. Tourism activity that is a threat to this is unacceptable, no matter how lucrative.
A positive note
On a more positive note, ECOT welcomes a slowly but steadily growing number of pro-active government initiatives aiming at preserving biodiversity. In Botswana, for example, the Okavango Delta Management Plan has been developed to protect both rich biodiversity of the Delta wetland complex and tourism that provides 7 per cent of its GDP. Two sections of the plan, the Tourism Development Plan and the Integrated Land Use Plan have been merged in order to achieve a better integration of biodiversity protection goals into tourism planning. ECOT also welcomes the disaster preparedness plan which has been developed by the government to coordinate a response to any major fuel or oil spillage in the Delta (10).
The way forward
A complete transition from mass tourism to community based, ‘green’ tourism may be an utopian dream, perhaps simply because in a shortsighted way no one wants to miss out on the tourist dollars. But if tourism is to become sustainable, it needs to undergo a paradigm shift.
ECOT, bringing together church and civil society networks, works towards a just and fair tourism which benefits the local community while helping preserve the natural environment.
ECOT urges governments and the tourism industry to:
Consider urgently small scale, fair and just tourism run by the local communities; a tourism that has the people and their natural environment at its centre.
Develop a fair and just tourism model with an effective legal framework and protection mechanisms for both people and the natural environment.
Control and regulate carbon emissions caused by tourism, and develop accurate and reliable methods to calculate them, including carbon and non-carbon emissions.
Develop alternative industries to provide income in tourism dependent countries.
Give more power to indigenous peoples in decision making on how they want to utilise their land and natural resources
Educate the industry to understand that limits on tourism numbers and destinations are beneficial to the industry and communities in the long run.
The Ecumenical Coalition On Tourism (ECOT) works with civil society in response to the profound impact of tourism on third world communities.
Notes
1. http://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2009/pr-2009-09-04-unwto-en.pdf
2. http://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2009/pr-2009-09-04-unwto-en.pdf
3. http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/vision.htm
4. http://www.cbd.int/convention/guide/?id=changing
5. UNWTO-UNEP-WMO (2008) Climate change and tourism: Responding to global challenges.
6. Lee, D.S., et al. (2009): Aviation and global climate change in the 21st century. Atmospheric Environment, Volume 43, Issues 22-23, Pages 3520- 3537. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
7. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100816170839.htm
8. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100816170839.htm
9. 1972 Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Environment Program and 1982 World Charter for Nature
10. http://www.cbd.int/database/record.shtml?documentid=4070
Para más información
Contact Caesar D’Mello, + 66 53 240 026 + 66 (0)85 145 0741 caesar@ecotonline.org
Magda Klocek, + 66 53 240 026 + 66 (0)82 888 9540 magda@ecotonline.org
Septiembre de 2010