Tourism and Protected Areas:
Benefits Beyond Boundaries
The Vth IUCN World Parks Congress
Edited by Robyn Bushell
University of Western Sydney Australia
and
Paul Eagles
University of Waterloo Canada
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ii
Table of Contents
Foreword xii Achim Steiner, IUCN
David Sheppard, WCPA
Preface xiv Eugenic Yunis, WTO
Contributors xvii Section 1: Tourism and Conservation in the 21st Century
Chapter 1 - Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries 1 Robyn Bushell, Russell Staiff and Paul F. J. Eagles
Chapter 2 - Tourism as a Tool for Conservation and Support of Protected Areas: 12 Setting the Agenda
Robyn Bushell and Stephen F. McCool
Chapter 3 - Global Trends Affecting Tourism in Protected Areas 27 PaulF.J. Eagles
Chapter 4 - Key Principles and Directions for Tourism in Protected Areas: 44 A Review of Existing Charters, Guidelines and Declarations
Jasmine Foxlee
Section 2: Management Issues and Case Studies
Chapter 5 - Tourism, Indigenous and Local Communities and Protected Areas in 71 Developing Nations
Lea M. Scherl and Stephen Edwards
Chapter 6 - Joint Management: Aboriginal Involvement in Tourism in the Kakadu 89 World Heritage Area
Peter Wellings
Chapter 7 - Tourism as a Tool for Community-based Conservation and 101 Development
Penelope Figgis and Robyn Bushell
Chapter 8 - The World Heritage Tourism Programme: Lessons Learned 115 Art Pedersen
Chapter 9 - Trans-frontier Conservation Areas and Sustainable Nature-based 129 Tourism
Anna Spenceley
ill
Chapter 10 - Sustainable Nature Tourism in Europe: An Overview of NGOs 141 Marielies Schelhaas
Chapter 11 - Capacity-building for Ecotourism: Training Programmes 150 for Managers of Protected Areas
Wolfgang Strasdas, Brent Corcoran and Thomas Petermann
Chapter 12 - The Role of Certification and Accreditation in Ensuring 168 Tourism Contributes to Conservation
Martha Honey
Section 3: Economic Issues and Case Studies
Chapter 13 - Tourism-based Revenue Generation for Conservation 191 Andy Drumm
Chapter 14 - Economic Impacts of Parks on Surrounding Communities: 210 Findings from New South Wales
Nicholas Conner
Chapter 15 - Management Information Tools for Setting Visitor Fees 231 Kreg Lindberg
Chapter 16 - Conservation and Community Development: 244 The Conservation Corporation Africa Model
Les Carlisle
Chapter 17 - Sabi Sabi: A Model for Effective Ecotourism, Conservation 264 and Community Involvement
Rael Loon, Ian Harper and Patrick Shorten
Chapter 18 - Financing Parks through Marketing: A Case Study of Ontario Parks 277 Elizabeth Halpenny
Chapter 19 - Concessions and Commercial Development: Experience in South 301 African National Parks
Peter Fearnhead
Chapter 20 - Tourism on the Great Barrier Reef: A Partnership Approach 315 Andrew Skeat and Hilary Skeat
Section 4: Conclusion
Chapter 21 - Tourism, Protected Areas and the World Parks Congress: 329 Fundamental Lessons, New Horizons and Promising Directions
Stephen F. McCool, Paul F.J. Eagles, Robyn Bushell and Jeff McNeely
Index 347
IV
List of Figures Chapter 1
Figure 1 Urban parks, such as Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada, are valued by local citizens
Figure 2 National parks contain some of the most attractive tourism sites in the world such as this site, Tendele, in Royal Natal National Park in South Africa
Figure 3 The 'Virtuous Circle' influencing parks, visitation and attitudes Chapter 2
Figure 1 Yellow Water Lagoon in Kakadu National Park.
Chapter 3
Figure 1 Costa Rica national park visitation
Figure 2 Percentage of the 25-64 populations with tertiary-level education Figure 3 Average age of retirement in Canada
Figure 4 Rondovels in Skukuza Bush Camp in Kruger National Park, South Africa Figure 5 Maya Mountain Ecolodge in Belize
Figure 6 Global oil and gas production Chapter 4
Figure 1 A simple fence protects sensitive dunes from the heavy nearby beach use in Prince Edward Island National Park in Canada
Chapter 5
Figure 1 Indigenous Chachi at the Cotocachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve Figure 2 Artesinal fisheries in Mozambique are an important livelihood security Figure 3 Local community dependence on traditionally used plants for their
survival in India
v
Figure 4
Figure 5 Chapter 6
Figure 1 Figure 2
Chapter 7 Figure 1
Figure 2
Chapter 8
Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Chapter 9 Figure 1
Figure 2 Chapter 10
Figure 1 Figure 2
Chapter 11 Figure 1
A small family inn bordering Sierra de la Culata National Park, Venezuela
An Achuar community member with a tourist at Kapawi Lodge, Ecuador
Jim Jim Falls, in Kakadu National Park
The Bowali Cultural Centre presents the visitor with an 'underwater' perspective, highlighting the ecology of the wetlands
Turtle Island's 'waste' wood is collected and milled for transformation into furniture
Turtle Island's 'waste' wood is collected and milled for use on the island and for sale to resort guests
The Great Wall of China Machu Picchu
Local guides
South Africa and Lesotho are partners in the Maloti-Drakensberg TFCA, which incorporates the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa
The Delphi consultation process
Tourists trekking through the Aletsch area of The Alps
A proposal to build a ski lift across the Aletsch Glacier reveals the fragility of the co-operative relationship between stakeholders
Workshops with protected area managers help to build awareness and capacity for participatory, multidisciplinary ecotourism planning and management
VI
Figure 2 The structure of InWEnt's ecotourism training seminars Chapter 12
Figure 1 Types of certification programmes
Figure 2 Geographical distribution of certification programmes Figure 3 PAN Park's guiding principles
Figure 4 Toth's three-legged stool of certification programmes Figure 5 Characteristics of process-based certification methodologies Figure 6 Characteristics of performance-based certification methodologies Chapter 13
Figure 1 A fee programme in Bolivia is paying for a plan to control off-road vehicle access and other visitor pressures that threaten such wildlife as the Andean flamingo at the Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve
Figure 2 Predicted impact on visitation levels in response to alternative fee levels Figure 3 Actual revenue generated by pilot entrance fee program and potential
revenue had fee been collected in US$ instead of local currency Figure 4 Distribution of reserve budget, 2003
Figure 5 Whale sharks gather in the Gladden Spit Marine Reserve at certain times of the lunar calendar
Figure 6 Contingent behaviour analysis price responsiveness Figure 7 Virtuous Cycle of tourism user fees
Chapter 14
Figure 1 Provision of benefits to individuals and communities from protected areas
Figure 2 Location of protected areas in New South Wales referred to in text Figure 3 Protected areas and local businesses
Figure 4 Lizard tracks in the sand at Mutawintji National Park
VII
Figure 5 IUCN protected area categorization Chapter 15
Figure 1 Foreign park visits and fees in Costa Rica
Figure 2 Price responsiveness at Belizean MPAs - Yes/No question Figure 3 Effect of price on park visits
Figure 4 Predicted visitation at HUP (Foreign Overnight Visitors) Chapter 17
Figure 1 The Amber Suite at Earth Lodge, Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, is an example of the unique accommodation and high-quality facilities offered at private ecolodges
Figure 2 Private ecolodges often provide high-quality education programs with specialized equipment and guides and amazing opportunities to view big game
Figure 3 The sale of rhino horn has been proposed as one way of financing efforts to conserve rhino
Chapter 18
Figure 1 Data from Ontario Parks' consumer survey provided data for the formulation of its strategic marketing plan
Figure 2 The Ontario Parks logo
Figure 3 General opinions on Ontario Parks
Figure 4 Campsite 24 - An interactive environmental education tool
Figure 5 Market research identified water as a primary draw for tourists when making travel decisions. It is a dominant image in Ontario Parks' marketing literature
Figure 6 Information sources used for planning overnight trips Figure 7 Information sources used for planning day trips Figure 8 Opinions on park fees
Figure 9 Fee-related opinions held by different users' groups viii
Figure 10 Willingness-to-pay camping and day-use fees Figure 11 Campsite reservation trends
Figure 12 Corporate sponsorships Chapter 19
Figure 1 Net profit/loss (Rand) for all operations (commercial and conservation) in Addo Elephant National Park for period 2000-2004 showing the impact of a range of commercial interventions
Figure 2 South Africa National Parks charges fees and earns income from tourism services
Chapter 20
Figure 1 Map of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Figure 2 Photo of historic tourist use
Figure 3 Yearly totals for reef-wide visitor days from data compiled from the Environmental Management Change database at the GBRMPA Figure 4 Annual Environmental Management Charge income
Figure 5 Income sources for GBRMP management Chapter 21
Figure 1 Vth World Parks Congress Resolution 5.2: Tourism
Figure 2 Linkages between communities and protected areas. Both are connected;
what happens in one affects the other. Utilitarian linkages involve economics and subsistence values
Figure 3 Park tourism gives rise to innovation in accommodation, equipment and information technology, such as van hire in the Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand
Figure 4 Visitation to the Volcan Poas National Park, in Costa Rica is an important cultural activity for citizens from the nearby capital city of San Jose
IX
List of Tables Chapter 4 Table 1
Chapter 5 Table 1 Chapter 9 Table 1 Table 2 Chapter 11 Table 1 Chapter 12 Table 1 Table 2
Chapter 13 Table 1 Table 2
Table 3 Chapter 14 Table 1 Table 2
Table 3
International charters, guidelines and declarations relevant to tourism and protected areas
Tourism management models and local communities
Southern African Transfrontier Conservation Areas
Consumer attitudes to the environment and sustainable tourism
Types of local people's economic participation in tourism
Costa Rica's Certificate for Sustainable Tourism (CST)
ECO Certification - Formerly known as the Nature and Ecotourism Accreditation Program or NEAP
Types of fees and charges in protected areas
Projection of visitation levels and income generated for different fee levels
Examples of entrance fees (US$)
Some techniques for valuing protected area benefits
Examples of some direct and consequential benefits of Protected Areas (PAs)
Economic value of recreation and tourism in selected NSW protected areas
x
Table 4
Table 5
Chapter 15
Table 1 Table 2 Chapter 16 Table 1
Direct and indirect regional economic impacts of park management expenditure and visitor expenditure
Benefits typically associated with different IUCN categories of protected area
Estimated visitation and revenue at various price levels, Costa Rica Sample choice experiment task
Summary of results
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Foreword
David Sheppard, Secretary General Vth IUCN World Parks Congress; and Head IUCN Programme on Protected Areas
Achim Steiner IUCN
IUCN convenes the World Parks Congress (WPC) every ten years. These Congresses involve the key players in protected areas from around the world and are instrumental in setting the future agenda for the world's protected areas and for reviewing past progress.
The Vth IUCN World Parks Congress, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2003, celebrated an amazing achievement - the establishment by countries of the world of more than 11.5% of the earth's surface as protected area. Co-Congress Patron, Her Majesty Queen Noor, noted this as "one of the most significant collective land use decisions in history" and further noted that such areas "protect our ecosystems, providing clean air and clean water...thus making a major contribution to sustainable development". This significance was also echoed by Co-Congress Patron, the Honourable Mr Nelson Mandela, who noted "a sustainable future depends on a caring partnership with nature as much as anything else".
However, the Congress also noted the many threats and problems these precious areas face and urged all involved to reach out - beyond the boundaries of these areas and beyond their traditional constituencies - to ensure they are protected for future generations.
Tourism was a vital and recurring theme throughout the Congress. Not surprisingly when one considers its reach and impact: tourism and related activities now contribute to over 10% of global GDP and over 8% of global employment1. Clearly, tourism has major influence and impact. This is an industry which can positively or negatively impact the world's economy, environment, and culture, in a very significant way.
The tourism sector is characterized by considerable diversification. Tourism based in and around protected areas is one of the future growth areas over the coming decades, particularly as leisure time, mobility and environmental awareness increase. As noted by Bushell et al. in Chapter 1: "natural and cultural heritage conservation hotspots are draw cards for tourism development both within and outside protected areas".
Tourism was highlighted at the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress in a number of ways - through a range of side events, major plenary sessions and also in the key outcomes from the Congress - the Durban Accord and Action Plan. The results as well as some of the key papers are summarized in this invaluable publication - "Tourism and Protected Areas:
Benefits Beyond Boundaries".
Congress delegates underlined that tourism is a critically important issue for protected area managers and stakeholders at many levels and that this importance will only grow in the future.
Global tourism is growing rapidly and is significantly outpacing the growth of global Gross Domestic Product. Tourism focused on protected areas is increasing at a relatively greater rate within this overall global growth. In many countries this growth poses many challenges - on the one hand tourism provides a vital source of revenues for park agencies which, in some cases, are seeing their revenues from traditional government sources decreasing. It also provides a key means for protected area agencies to realize their
1 World Travel and Tourism Council http://www.wttc.org/framesetsitemap.htm xii
objectives relating to visitor appreciation and enjoyment. On the other hand poorly planned and unregulated tourism can cause many negative impacts such as environmental degradation of ecosystems within and around protected areas and can also impact negatively on the livelihoods of poor people.
Delegates to the Congress called for increasing recognition on the part of all involved in tourism - from the side of the protected area agency and from the side of the tourism industry. There is a need to learn from past experience and, in this light, publications such as this which share the rich experience from around the world in relation to tourism and protected areas - both good and bad - are particularly important. There is also a need for much more effective dialogue between the tourism and protected areas sectors, and Congress delegates called for forums to be set up to facilitate and encourage such interaction.
The Vth IUCN World Parks Congress was a landmark event for both protected areas and World Heritage. Presentations at the Congress were marked by passion, excitement and energy. These attributes are well captured in this publication on "Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries".
xiii
Preface
Today's tourism represents an indisputable social and economic component of most societies. Its growth was impressive during the second part of the 20th century and all indicates that it will steadily continue in the future, as developing countries achieve better standards of living. Yet, more important than this growth has been the diversification of destinations that has taken place during the last 30 years or so, both in geographical terms as well as in terms of the type of destinations favoured by tourists. This is illustrated by international tourist arrival figures for 2003, during which the traditional destinations of North America and Europe experienced, respectively, a decrease and a stagnation, while many destinations in Latin America, South Asia and even the Middle East saw an important growth in their international arrivals, in spite of uncertainties resulting from wars, epidemics and economic instabilities in the main generating markets.
In the case of nature-based tourism, including ecotourism, there is a lack of accurate and reliable statistical data, due to the dispersal of destinations and their usually small capacity, as well as to the wide range of, and often mixed motivations of, tourists.
However, the fragmented reports collected by the World Tourism Organization in the framework of the International Year of Ecotourism corresponding to a number of countries confirm the trends: nature-based destinations, rural hotel establishments, ecolodges, independent hotels and small operators handling independent travellers or small groups are doing better than ever before, and usually better than larger establishments in neighbouring cities or in traditional coastal destinations.
This goes hand in hand with another interesting and highly relevant trend, namely the increased awareness of consumers worldwide in respect to environmental and, more recently, socio-cultural issues. Public awareness on these two crucial issues, including their relation with extreme poverty, has been growing and is likely, hopefully, to intensify in the coming years, in part as a result of actions undertaken by some governments, the United Nations system and some NGOs, and partly due to new, more sensitive generations coming into the market.
In both these concerns, environmental and social, nature-based tourism in general and ecotourism in particular, if they are respectful towards the natural environment and the local cultures, can become powerful tools for sustainable development, ecosystem and biodiversity conservation, and poverty alleviation.
Similarly, nature-based tourism and ecotourism products and services present the peculiarity of offering the tourists the possibility of better and more human contacts, not only with local populations, but also with other tourists met during trips. Such encounters are appreciated nowadays, as a reaction to the strongly impersonal life practised in most large urban areas.
From the destinations' point of view, tourism often represents the only opportunity for natural areas to develop an economic activity without deteriorating their environment or disturbing the ecological balance. Unlike other economic activities that are intrinsically based on an irreversible modification of nature (e.g. mining, modern agriculture), tourism can and must take special care not to deplete natural ecosystems, since such depletion would reduce its capacity to attract tourists in the long term. Indeed, if properly planned and managed according to sustainability criteria, tourism can not only be the least harmful
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industry for ecosystems, but also can positively contribute to their preservation and enhancement, thanks to the economic benefits it generates and to the educational component it carries with it.
The World Tourism Organization has, since its creation in 1975, been advising governments on the need to establish national strategies and policies to guide the development of tourism and its management, so as to generate benefits for the people and the territories where it takes place. Tourism needs policies and plans to ensure its long-term sustainability. Tourism needs also regulatory frameworks and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the expected benefits are being produced and are being fairly distributed among all actors in the process, including of course local host communities. All these principles, policy guidelines and practical management tools have, more recently, been specifically adapted to the needs of the growing ecotourism segment.
Key beneficiaries of tourism activities should include protected natural areas. Most protected areas constitute a prime tourist attraction and can, therefore, benefit from this fact, both financially and in terms of awareness creation. Indeed many protected areas have successfully achieved their conservation objectives thanks to the financial resources that have been obtained through tourists'/visitors' expenditures.
But it is equally important to recognize that some protected areas have suffered and their delicate natural values have been altered as a result of an unregulated and often massive flow of visitors. Tourist numbers in these areas have usually been beyond the sites' ecological carrying capacity, which have not been monitored; and in some parks visitors use the resources for recreational purposes without any concern for the natural and conservation values, because no directives or guidelines or on-site management have been provided. Intervention in these protected areas has been limited, inadequate or inappropriate in many instances.
It is fundamental, therefore, to strengthen the cooperation between those responsible for tourism development, including private operators and public authorities, and those responsible for nature conservation and protected area management. Among the priority areas for cooperation is to reinforce the capacities of protected area managers to handle tourism in a more sustainable way. Reciprocally, it is of high priority to develop a more detailed understanding of biodiversity conservation and environmental management among tourism officials and private sector operators. Mutual understanding and shared objectives are necessary to plan and develop sustainable tourism activities in protected areas that will result in substantial benefits for all stakeholders concerned.
It is with this aim in mind that the World Tourism Organization, in its new capacity as Specialized Agency of the United Nations, will continue collaborating with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and other agencies to steer nature tourism development and management to more sustainable outcomes. Joint publications on sustainable tourism in protected areas have already been issued by these two organizations. The World Parks Congress provided another opportunity for collaboration, and much more can be done in the future.
This current publication identifies important issues and provides examples and tools that national and local tourism authorities, protected area authorities and park managers, as well as private nature tourism operators will find helpful to improve the sustainable outcomes, and the equitable distribution of benefits of tourism activities in protected areas.
It proposes many helpful, general and specific recommendations, with case studies in all continents, that provide a valuable source of information that can serve to generate ideas
xv
and assist in adapting sustainable tourism practices to specific local conditions elsewhere. It is a good complement of the existing literature on this topic, promoting partnerships between tourism and conservation. It will encourage the support of tourism worldwide to conservation.
Eugenio Yunis
Head, Department of Sustainable Development of Tourism World Tourism Organization
xvi
Contributors
Dr Robyn Bushell is Head of Tourism for Healthy Futures at the University of Western Sydney in Australia. She is Vice Chair, International Task Force on Tourism for Protected Areas for IUCN;
Board Member of Booderee National Park, and Advisory Council, Blue Moutains National Park & World Heritage Area. Her research is in the area of tourism planning; for health, well-being, quality of life and host communities; protection and conservation of cultural and biological diversity; the role of interpretation in conservation education; values of protected places.
Les is Environmental Manager for Conservation Corporation Africa.
He grew up in Nelspruit and spent much of his life in the bush. He became involved in game capture in the 1970s during the South African boom in private game reserves. He has been involved since the beginning of CC Africa's plans in 1991 to return bankrupt farmland to wildlife. He has overseen the reintroduction of lion, cheetah, rhino, elephant, buffalo and countless antelope species and for the implementation of ongoing environmental audits at all their properties and lodges, ensuring that CC Africa remains at the forefront of the ecotourism industry.
Nicholas Conner is Principal Conservation Economist with the New South Wales Department of Environment and Conservation in Sydney, Australia. He has a particular interest in the contribution of protected areas to catchment management and sustainable rural development with several publications for NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service on the economic impact of protected areas.
xvii Robyn Bushell
Les carlisle
Nicholas Conner
Brent has an MPhil in Environmental Planning (University of Cape Town). His work experience includes facilitation of a tourism capacity- building programmeme for conservation agency staff in Eastern and Southern Africa; and tourism planning for protected areas in the KwaZulu-Natal Province (South Africa). He is presently involved in conservation and development planning in a transboundary bioregional initiative in Southern Africa.
Environmental and ecotourism specialist with 17 years' experience in both private and non-profit sectors principally in Latin America and the Caribbean. Coordinated multi-sectoral alliances, created award-winning ecotourism business, developed conservation finance, tourism planning and management tools and provided technical assistance to partner organizations internationally. Since July 1998 is Senior Ecotourism Specialist at The Nature Conservancy and based in the Washington, DC area.
Dr Paul F.J. Eagles is a Professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He is a biologist and a registered professional planner, specializing in environmental planning. Over a span of 30 years Dr Eagles worked on a wide variety of planning projects, with a strong emphasis on the planning and management of parks and protected areas.
His international work in nature-based tourism is based on experience in over 25 countries. He has over 300 publications. Chair of the IUCN Task Force on Tourism and Protected Areas.
Stephen Edwards works for Conservation International and is responsible for the management of ecotourism projects in the Andes Region. He works collaboratively with CI's country programmes and partners in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Mr Edwards has overseen ecotourism projects in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and has facilitated numerous workshops. He is author of several publications on ecotourism, policy, communities, and protected areas.
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Brent Cocoran
Andy Drumm
PaulF.J.Eagles
Stephen Edwards
Peter is one of the key proponents of introducing commercial thinking into the conservation sector in South Africa and the region. He was responsible for the conceptualization and implementation of SANParks' successful Commercialization Strategy which has seen the establishment of an enabling environment for private sector participation in national parks, for more than 50 commercial ventures. He is a co-founder and Director of African Parks, a private initiative which enters into partnerships with African Governments for the long-term management and financing of its protected areas principally through tourism.
Penelope Figgis is a key figure in the Australian environment movement, and is Vice Chair for Australia and New Zealand of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. A political scientist and lobbyist she has held many different offices including Vice President of the Australian Conservation Foundation and Board membership of the Environment Protection Authority of New South Wales, the Australian Tourist Commission, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the Great Barrier Reef Consultative Committee. She is an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for her services to conservation and in 2003 was awarded the Centenary Medal for outstanding contribution to the environment.
Jasmine is a PhD student at the University of Western Sydney, undertaking research in heritage tourism and interpretation at Uluru- Kata Tjuta National Park. She has a research background in environmental management, sustainable tourism and heritage interpretation. Prior to undertaking her doctoral studies Jasmine won the Tourism Council Australia and British Awards Scholarship for Tourism and Environmental Management, and worked for Park Service in Tasmania.
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Peter Fearnhead
Penelope Figgis AO
Jasmine Foxlee
Elizabeth Halpenny is a PhD student in the Department of Recreation and Leisure at the University of Waterloo. Her research examines the relationship between individuals' attachment and visitation to parks and its affect on their environment attitudes and behaviours. She operates a Canadian-based consulting firm specializing in nature and cultural heritage tourism research and planning. Previously she worked with The International Ecotourism Society (TIES). She has researched ecotourism in Canada, Belize, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Malaysia and
the Caribbean, examining nature and cultural tourism.
Dr Martha Honey is Executive Director of TIES and Centre for Ecotourism and Sustainable Development (a joint project of the Institute for Policy Studies and Stanford University). She has written widely on ecotourism as a tool for development and conservation and is an internationally regarded expert on ecotourism certification. For 20 years she worked as journalist, based first in Tanzania and then in Costa Rica.
She holds a PhD in African History from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and is a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.
Dr Lindberg is the head of the Outdoor Recreation Leadership and Tourism programme at Oregon State University. He previously held positions in the Colorado State University Department of Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism and at universities in Australia and Norway. He has a PhD in forest social science. His research includes pricing, economic impact analysis, and inter-visitor conflict in outdoor recreation and tourism, and the social impacts of tourism development in rural communities. He is widely published, and on the editorial board of Journal of Sustainable Tourism and Journal of Ecotourism.
Rael Loon is an independent consultant specializing in the fields of Sustainable Tourism, Conservation Economics and Community-based Natural Resource Management in South Africa. He has been involved in consulting in Sabi Sabi on a number of Conservation and Development issues.
xx Elizabeth Halpenny
Martha Honey
Kreg Lindberg
Rael Loon
Dr Stephen F. McCool is Professor in the Department of Society and Conservation at The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA.
Dr McCool emphasizes social science aspects of protected area stewardship in his instruction, research and service, including public engagement, sustainability, and protected area planning processes. He is widely published in this field as author and editor of many books and journal articles.
Jeffrey A. McNeely is Chief Scientist at IUCN, where he has worked since 1980. Priorly, he worked in Asia for 12 years in conservation. He has been involved in the development of the Convention on Biological Diversity from its beginnings, and was co-founder of the Global Biodiversity Forum. He is author or editor of over 30 books, and numerous articles on biodiversity and protected areas. He serves on the editorial advisory board of seven international journals. His current research focuses on linking biodiversity to sustainable agriculture, human health, energy, species management, protected areas and ecosystems.
Arthur Pedersen is the Sustainable Tourism programme specialist with UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, working on visitor management and tourism issues. He is the World Heritage Centre representative of UNESCO on the UNEP, RARE Centre for Tropical Conservation project entitled, 'Linking Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Tourism at World Heritage Sites'.
Marielies Schelhaas works for the Tourism & Biodiversity Programme, Netherlands Committee for IUCN. The Netherlands Committee for IUCN is carrying out a programme on Biodiversity & Tourism with the aim of stimulating a more sustainable form of tourism that can make a contribution to nature conservation. Cooperation with Dutch tour operators, NGOs in the field, school children and is the secretariat for the initiative on sustainable outbound tourism.
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Stephen F,Mccool
Jerry McNeely
Arthur Pwedersen
Marielies Schellhas
Dr Lea Scherl has been an advocate for social justice in the practice of natural resource management, with particular interest in participatory and governance models and the linkages between conservation and sustainable development. She has worked with a variety of indigenous and local communities in several continents, many of those involved with ecotourism.
Andrew Skeat is an Executive Director with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority with responsibilities including Tourism, Water Quality, and Science. Andrew has more than 25 years' experience developing conservation policy and managing protected areas. A current key task is managing the interaction with the Reef tourism industry.
Hilary Skeat is a Manager in the Tourism and Recreation Group of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. The Tourism and Recreation Group is one of four critical issues groups within the Authority and aims to improve the management of tourism and recreation on the Great Barrier Reef. Hilary has worked in a wide range of Commonwealth policy development areas, focusing on natural resource management.
Dr Anna Spenceley undertakes research and consultancy on sustainable tourism particularly in Africa, and specializes in tourism that promotes biodiversity conservation, sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation.
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Lea M.Scheri
Andrew Skeat
Hilary Skeat
Anna Spenceley
Dr Staiff is a Senior Lecturer in Cultural and Heritage Tourism at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. He established the postgraduate programme in tourism and the visual arts at the University of Melbourne in conjunction with the art curatorship and museum studies in the School of Fine Arts, Classics, Archaeology and Cinema Studies. He works in cultural interpretation within a tourism and museum context, having taught art history, been a tour director in Italy and more recently working with National Parks in Australia and currently undertaking research in World Heritage Sites in Australia and South East Asia.
Dr Wolfgang Strasdas is the Director of the Sustainable Tourism Management Master's Programmeme at the Eberswalde University of Applied Sciences near Berlin, Germany. He has extensively worked as an environmental planner, tourism consultant and trainer in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Central Asia. He is also on the Board of Directors of The International Ecotourism Society.
Dr Thomas Petermann is Senior Project Manager: Natural Resources Management with InWEnt Capacity-building International, a German Government Institution for dialogue and training under the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Work experience in Africa, Asia and Latin America since 1978 in the fields of land and water management, rural development and nature conservation.
Peter was Assistant Secretary, Parks Australia North spending over 20 years working in national park management, mostly in the Northern Territory. His interests include appreciation and protection of natural and cultural values of landscapes, working with Indigenous land owners in joint management of national parks and policy development to progress economic futures to sustain conservation programmemes. A current major focus is working on issues relating to tourism futures in national parks and strategic futures for Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Parks.
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Russell Stariff
Wolfgang Strasdas
Thomas PEtermann
Peter Wellingza
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Chapter 1
Tourism and Protected Areas:
Benefits Beyond Boundaries
Robyn Bushell, Russell Staiff and Paul F.J. Eagles
We know that the key to a sustainable future for Protected Areas lies in the development of partnerships. It is only through alliances and partnerships that Protected Areas can be made relevant to the needs of
society.'
- Nelson Mandela, Congress Co-Patron Opening Speech
More than 3000 delegates gathered in Durban, South Africa for the Vth World Parks Congress,1 held every ten years by the World Commission for Protected Areas (WCPA), of the World Conservation Union (IUCN).2 The 11 years since the previous Congress witnessed accelerated global change and the rapid loss of priceless ecosystems due to deforestation, desertification, war and innumerable other natural and human forces (WCPA, 2003). The Congress theme Benefits Beyond Boundaries and the sessions highlighted many achievements and new directions since the 1992 Congress in Caracas, Venezuela. The most significant achievement for protected areas is the increase in total area to 18.8 million km2
across just over 100,000 sites. The area now under protection extends to 11.5% of the surface of the earth, doubling the protected estate since 1992 (Chape, 2003). Conversely, this achievement intensifies the critical issues facing protected areas, and in order to address these, new approaches and new partnerships are essential. Among the challenges:
The loss of biodiversity is still accelerating within and beyond the boundaries of protected areas, with serious systems shortcomings, inappropriate adjacent land use, and increasing human expectations and commercial interests.
Biodiversity conservation extends beyond the 'artificial' boundaries of parks and thus extends the conservation mandate. This has major implications for the role of protected areas, their management agencies and neighbouring communities.
The reality that national borders cut across ecosystems and the management challenges of political geography.
The role of society outside protected area boundaries; the need to plan for protected areas as part of development strategies; the need to create biophysical links, corridors and buffer zones; and to engage the support of all sectors that affect protected areas.
© CAB International 2007. Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries (eds R. Bushell and P.F.J. Eagles)
1
The need to engage local communities, especially in urban areas (see Fig. 1) and particularly young people.
The lack of funding for future developments and maintaining existing protected areas.
The increasing recognition of the multiple values of protected areas alongside the current primacy of biodiversity conservation goals.
Conservation constituencies beyond the management regimes of protected area agencies are increasingly recognized, often via the confluence of cultural, social, ecological, political and economic agendas.
The low profile of visitation and tourism in the planning and management of parks and protected areas.
No global inventory of park tourism exists, resulting in an incomplete understanding of the scale, impacts and trends of visitation.
Rising visitation to parks over much of the world.
Many parks having insufficient visitation and therefore insufficient income to cover the costs of management.
Parks are increasingly seen as icons of society, but must often be managed without concurrent increases in funding.
Many parks and park systems are poorly funded because of inadequate tourism development or insufficient income derived from tourism.
Despite the achievements of the past decade, there are ominous signs, a harbinger of the enormous challenges ahead. For example, beyond the continued loss of biodiversity are the global realities of wealth distribution, AIDS and localized epidemics, war and civil disorder, population growth and population mobility, global warming, material and energy consumption, trade inequities and debt - to name a few.
Fig.1. Urban parks, such as Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada, are valued by local citizens.
(Photo: P.F.J. Eagles) 2 Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries
The main objectives of the Congress were to forge renewed commitment and policy guidance for protected areas and identify the greatest challenges, as listed above. A key conclusion emerging from the conservation discourse leading up to and at the Congress was that protected areas are a crucial element in achieving sustainable development. Protected areas contribute to global aspirations such as the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and those set at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)3; and are delivering goods and services well beyond their boundaries. Yet much more effort - and adequate funding - is needed to support biodiversity conservation and to assist in the struggle to alleviate poverty.4
Nine days of workshops, plenary sessions, field trips and side events at the Congress involved representatives of government; conservation agencies; funding bodies; private sector interests; academics and research institutions; indigenous, community-based, international, and non-government organizations (NGOs); and the media. The outcomes can be measured in several ways. The official outputs consist of the Durban Accord, the Action Plan', the Congress Recommendations and the Message to the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).5
Tourism was not a workshop stream. However, it was the focus of a critical plenary session addressing strategic alliances and featured in the key outputs. Tourism was a current running through many of the challenges outlined above. Interestingly, requests to the Congress organizing committee to designate tourism as a stream were declined. Yet the majority of keynote presentations and many other discussions included tourism in their deliberations. The WCPA Task Force on Tourism and Protected Areas was responsible for and coordinated the integration of tourism-related issues into various Congress sessions.
Tourism's presence was evident at several significant side-events and concurrent sessions. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)- World Heritage Centre sponsored Tourism and World Heritage Sites. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) sponsored a workshop with The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) and the Rainforest Alliance. Speakers at these and other forums gave an overview of tools available to support sustainable outcomes; means of monitoring tourism;
and a range of certification programmes. In particular, there were presentations offering case studies on the value of certification programmes worldwide as a means to ensure the protection of sensitive ecosystems that are a focal point - and essential resource - for tourism.6 UNEP and Conservation International co-sponsored the launch of Tourism and Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism's Global Footprint,1 a manual and CD-ROM about research undertaken to date, with input from a number of partners. This important publication maps the impact of tourism in a number of key biodiversity hotspots.
The Past Decade
At the IVth World Parks Congress in Caracas, Venezuela (February 1992) the theme Parks for Life aimed to reach out to and influence sectors beyond those directly concerned with protected areas. The IVth Congress included two workshops on tourism, one focusing on the role of tourism in expanding support for protected areas, and the other concentrating on managing tourism in protected areas, with a marked emphasis on ecotourism (Ceballos- Lascurain, 1996).
Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries 3
In the decade since, much has changed globally. The big issues of climate change/global warming, terrorism/security, information technology (IT) and mass communication - the combination of IT and the media - affect tourism as they do all other areas of human activity. The relationship between tourism and natural heritage is certainly much stronger now, given the greater emphasis internationally, nationally and locally on sustainable tourism. The tourism industry, government agencies, academia and NGOs involved in tourism research, policy and development have all embraced the sustainability concept, largely due to heightened awareness since the Rio Earth Summit (1992).8 Indeed, tourism strategies stressing the urgent need for policies and practices that ensure tourism will develop in line with the principles of sustainable development have been recommended by a wide range of international agencies and instruments including the World Tourism Organization (WTO), UNEP, UNESCO, the CBD, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, regional UN commissions, and the international banks. Chapter 4 examines key declarations and guidelines and their relevance to protected areas.
The International Year of Ecotourism (IYE) in 2002 brought together the largest ever gathering of stakeholders involved in, or affected by, ecotourism. This focused much attention on the ecological, social and cultural costs and benefits of tourism by stimulating a deeper interest in the nexus between them. In 2002 the WSSD also concentrated some energy on tourism and its potential to support the Millenium Development Goals (Bushell, 2004). As part of IYE, the WTO, IUCN and UNEP jointly published guidelines for sustainable tourism in protected areas (Eagles et al., 2002). The Quebec Declaration (May, 2002)9 embodies the efforts of IYE participants and stakeholders and was followed up by the Cairns Charter on Partnerships for Ecotourism in October, 2002.10
Despite all this progress, the WTO sees the road to achieving the goals of sustainable tourism as much longer than it was in 1992 (Yunis, 2003). In the main, this is due to the strong growth of tourism around the world, and the more liberal attitudes that most governments and peoples have adopted towards tourism development. According to WTO statistics, the number of international tourist arrivals reached nearly 700 million in 2000, well over 10% of the world's population. Compared to 1999 figures, this represents a growth of 7.4%, a much higher rate than expected and twice the 3.8% rate of 1998/1999. As the demand for tourism, both international and domestic (and domestic is much higher than international visitation in most countries), continues to grow, particularly from the rapidly rising middle class of the Asian region, so too is an interest in the development of the most ecologically fragile, bio-diverse, aesthetically, culturally and spiritually rich locations.
Natural and cultural heritage conservation hotspots are draw cards for tourism development both within and outside protected areas. The challenges and the opportunities this represents have never been so great. The shift in emphasis from eco- to sustainable tourism has not displaced ecotourism as the preferred conceptual model for tourism in protected areas. In other words, regardless of descriptors, the goal in terms of protected areas is to move towards tourism that is specifically designed - in content, modes of transport, accommodation, activities undertaken, and associated services - to make a positive contribution to the protection of natural and cultural heritage, and to local community, as well as providing an educational role.
Sustainable tourism could be perceived as demanding that all tourism, recreation and leisure activities (which are commonly aggregated and described generically as tourism) comply with the principles of sustainability.11 Tourism, recreation and leisure collectively bring visitors to protected areas - be they local people, from interstate, or international 4 Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries
visitors, and regardless of how long they stay, whether they are independent travellers, members of any type of interest group, or 'on tour'. These visitors do not necessarily identify with either the sustainable or ecotourism models.
Throughout this book the terms 'tourist' and 'visitor' are used interchangeably and both are intended to cover all visitors to parks.
The various tourism sessions at the Congress strove to engage with the broader WCPA and conservation community across the key streams. The intention was to highlight, firstly, the importance of tourism issues most closely aligned to the work of the WCPA, and, secondly, the role for IUCN if these issues are to be addressed and managed in a way that:
Facilitates effective methods of park tourism planning and management;
Encourages sustainable levels of tourism use;
Harnesses the potential of tourism to help finance conservation;
Supports local communities; and
Fosters a greater level of support for and awareness of the many values of protected areas.
Fig. 2. National Parks contain some of the most attractive tourism sites in the world such as this site, Tendele, in Royal Natal National Park in South Africa.
(Photo: P.F.J. Eagles)
Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries 5
Tourism Issues Covered at the Congress
As noted by many speakers at the Congress, tourism and recreation provides considerable benefits to protected areas and their communities. These benefits are economic and social, creating greater appreciation of cultural and natural heritage. High quality experiences for park visitors increase interest in the protection and conservation of protected area values.
When poorly managed, visitation can contribute to the deterioration of cultural biodiversity, and ecosystem resources, and impact negatively on local communities.
Tourism in and around protected areas should be a tool for conservation: building support and raising awareness of the many important ecological, cultural, sacred, spiritual, aesthetic, recreational and economic values of protected areas. In addition, tourism generates much-needed income for conservation work in the places that it operates. It should also contribute to the quality of life of local communities; support indigenous people's traditions, respect sacred sites; and recognize the legitimacy of indigenous knowledge and law. Moreover, tourism provides opportunities for local employment and education of visitors. These tourism issues are found in all the key messages of the Congress.
Strategic policy implementation with effective management of visitation is essential to ecological integrity. For tourism to be an effective conservation tool, increased understanding of its beneficial effects and its negative consequences is required. This means a considerable capacity-building effort for park staff and communities to ensure the desired outcomes. It also requires a much better level of understanding of park visitation patterns, numbers and trends; and a more sophisticated understanding of effective conservation awareness, education and interpretation strategies.
Park visitation and nature-based tourism are vital to gaining support for parks and their conservation work. When used to underpin conservation, tourism becomes an essential component of the processes needed to implement the Convention on Biodiversity and other agreements concerning biodiversity, cultural heritage and sustainable development.12 To achieve the desired outcomes for conservation, local people, the tourism industry, and visitors must collaborate and cooperate with natural resource management agencies, the scientific community, government bodies and international agencies concerned with biological and cultural heritage policy and tourism planning. For the effective development of public-private partnerships involving tourism, there is a corresponding need for guidance in many management issues, such as policies on licensing, concessions and permits.
The Congress brought together conservation practitioners, policy-makers, environmentalists, social development activists and industry representatives seeking to influence the debate on the future of sustainable development. Within the debate tension exists between the hard edge, single objective conservation mindset and those seeking much broader outcomes than biodiversity conservation. This has been acknowledged as an important aspect of the debate for some time.
'Conservation now has the challenge of developing strategic responses and substantive inputs to global debates ... One of the lUCN's most important roles is that of fair broker between those whose activities might threaten nature - whether for profit or for sustenance - and those whose main concern is the unprecedented global extinction crisis we now face... [The lUCN's role] is bridging the gap between the heart and mind of conservation.' (Steiner, 2002).
6 Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries
The themes of the presentations and discussions emphasized the significance of the Congress for tourism, and the relevance of tourism to the current conservation agenda.
Some of the tourism issues taken up by the Congress included:
If there is to be diversity of stakeholders and a de-emphasis on governments as the sole providers of resources with a divestment of power to other interests (including local communities, private parks and natural resource user groups), then there is a considerable role for the tourism industry. However, there is a proviso: that the industry is responsible and constrained by a committed use of informed guidelines such as those embodied in the Tourism Recommendation adopted by the Congress.13
Similarly, if biodiversity conservation is to be linked to development agendas in the spirit of sustainable development, as articulated at the UN Summits14 the tourism industry will inevitably be part of this. However, it is less clear how the negotiation of global agendas will produce specific conservation outcomes and how to ensure that tourism will assist, rather than exacerbate, these efforts. For example, how can tourism assist with the urgent need to build networks of protected areas rather than islands!
Africa leads the way in this aspect of sustainable tourism: networks, corridors and buffer zones are being established and tourism is a crucial contributor, unlike under the traditional developed nation systems where park administration is almost wholly government funded.15 Tourism can assist with pressing conservation problems - such as halting the rate of species extinction16 - and advancing the protection of a much larger number of dry-land ecosystems and marine ecosystems, both of which are greatly under- represented among the world's protected areas. Less than 0.5% of the sea is currently under protection (Chape, 2003). In Chapter 20, Andrew and Hilary Skeat look at the role of tourism in the largest marine protected area in the world, the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in Australia.
At the forefront of the development relationship is the expectation that parks provide benefits to communities: health benefits, poverty alleviation, cultural and spiritual sustenance, education outcomes and so on, as well as the provision of ecosystem services such as clean water and air. The potential role that tourism can play is obvious, especially ecotourism and other forms of community or natural and cultural heritage- based tourism. But the ideal, low environmental impact, high-income earning, efficiently managed sustainable tourism scenario, with its attendant expectations, verges on the Utopian. The fundamental idea that nature will only survive if people will it is, a priori, explicitly acknowledged. However, to couple the equally daunting challenges of survival of the natural environment and poverty alleviation is enormously complicated.
Is this asking too much of the benefits side of parks and of vehicles, like tourism, that are expected to deliver all these benefits?
The role and responsibilities of indigenous communities, which often are or were nomadic, with regard to the conservation and maintenance of landscapes deserves special attention. Indigenous cultural and ecological connection to country is acknowledged. The Congress discussion responded to the widespread colonial and post-colonial practice of removing indigenous peoples from their lands during the establishment of some parks. Equally, delegates responded to the idea that conservation outcomes are better achieved, and with an otherwise unachievable integrity, when Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries 7
indigenous people and their land rights are central to the management regime. The Congress further acknowledged that the extension of protected and community conserved areas could arise through reconciliation between indigenous and non- indigenous people in postcolonial contexts, and the extension of indigenous land rights elsewhere. Worldwide, tourism draws on traditional cultures. However, tourism can either enhance or hinder the roles indigenous peoples carry out in heritage conservation.
Chapters 5 and 6 discuss this issue with examples of tourism supporting co- management strategies and community-based conservation areas.
The emphasis on the relationship between protected areas and people, and notions of benefits for communities, partnerships with the private sector and financial sustainability prompted extensive discussion about the primacy of biodiversity conservation, and whether this had been overshadowed. There was muted tension between those closest to the hotspots of species extinction and those articulating the need for more effective management of participation, local knowledge, livelihood, security and human well-being. Tourism, when conceptualized as a vehicle for conservation, obviously has a role in the promotion and understanding of the nature/culture/people triad. Sustainable tourism has a higher order responsibility when the attraction is in 'wilderness'17 or other ecologically sensitive areas. Chapters 16 and 17 highlight this issue, with examples of successful, high-yielding tourism ventures in Africa that significantly contribute to both conservation and poverty alleviation.
The urgent need for more sustainable financing of conservation work, with park management increasingly dependent on visitor fees and charges, and the need for better mechanisms to capture more economic benefit from tourism. Section 3 of this book devotes eight chapters to examining the issue of consistent funding, economic self- sufficiency and the financial benefits of tourism.
All parties agreed on the need for more reliable data and research that bridges epistemologies and is inclusive of traditional knowledge; and that through collaborative partnerships greater understanding of issues, priorities, practices and strategies is essential.
The UNEP/CI partnership and book/CD-ROM Tourism and Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism's Global Footprint serves as an excellent example of this essential work. The maps in this publication starkly reveal the overlap between tourism development and areas of greatest biodiversity threat. To prevent tourism cannibalizing itself by destroying the very resources upon which its viability depends, there needs to be greater efforts to strategically bring tourism development, biodiversity conservation and local communities together (Christ et al, 2003).
In Chapter 12, Martha Honey (Executive Director, TIES) points out that while tourists desire a safe and quality experience, sustainability is barely registering as a factor in their travels. Consequently progress on sustainability is contested, highlighting the need for certification. Again, partnerships between conservation bodies, government agencies and industry invariably yield the most productive outcomes.
The key issues discussed in tourism sessions and reflected in the Congress outputs and this book include:
Sources of financial support for protected areas;
Supporting sustainable use of natural and cultural diversity;
8 Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries
Linking practice to conventions and guidelines;
Fostering attachment to heritage through visitation and effective conservation education;
Encouraging a stewardship ethic amongst the public;
Working with local stakeholders and industry;
Supporting local and indigenous community development and poverty alleviation;
Co-management of protected areas; and
Contributing to civil society, engendering respect for others and for natural and cultural heritage.
These issues are discussed in Chapter 2 and form the focus of the following chapters by drawing on case studies presented at the Congress from different regions of the world, by a range of conservation-focused organizations and businesses. These chapters provide insights to the challenges and opportunities for benefits from tourism to protected areas and beyond.
In the last days of the Congress, the WPC Recommendations were formally presented.
Recommendation 12, Tourism as a Vehicle for Conservation and Support of Protected Areas (www.iucn.org/wpc2003) was adopted. This phrase from the opening paragraph sets the tone and the agenda:
'In this context, visitation, recreation and tourism are a critical component of fostering support for parks and the conservation of biological and cultural heritage. Careful and strategic implementation of policy together with pro-active and effective management of tourism is essential' (WPC, 2003).
The Recommendation is detailed in the concluding chapter, together with the social and political context within which the next ten years of stewardship will evolve. This chapter draws together the principal 'lessons learned' from examining tourism as a tool for biodiversity conservation (as described in the preceding chapters). In closing, the final chapter reviews discussion of the challenges and some of the promising directions in the often uneasy relationship between tourism and conservation.
The World Parks Congress dealt with broad and sweeping themes. The underlying and micro-themes received less attention than global perspectives. One of the most interesting omissions was a realistic discussion of the citizen, the person who spends their time and money visiting a park. There was scant attention paid to the goals, the loves, and the needs of the visitor. Why does a person visit? Why does s/he return or go elsewhere? What makes for a satisfied visitor? How does a satisfied visitor become a park supporter?
There was scant attention paid to the critical fact that the political environment that enables parks and protected areas to exist is inherently tied to the personal values individual citizens gain through attendance at a park. Without individuals gaining personal benefits, no tourism will occur. Park visitation is fundamental to an individual's understanding and appreciation of a park and its resources (Fig. 3). Without visitors, without satisfied visitors, parks and protected areas will cease to exist. Political support for parks only exists if sufficient numbers of satisfied park visitors are influential enough to affect societal decision-making. Park tourism is therefore fundamental to developing a pubic and political constituency for parks and protected areas. We wish to emphasize that successful park visitation is a critical function of parks and protected areas, for without it all other goals Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries 9
become unfeasible. Parks will only flourish with an appreciative and mobilized public constituency.
Notes
1. 8th-17th September 2003
2. The RJCN-World Conservation Union was founded in 1948 as the International Union for the Protection of Nature (IUPN), and became the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in 1956. This was abbreviated to the current title in 1990.
3. For reports and outcomes, go to http://www.johannesburgsummit.org/
4. Poverty alleviation is now a concurrent aim of UN resolutions, see for example COP7 of the Convention on Biological Diversity and International Biodiversity Day website linking WSSD, MD goals, biodiversity and poverty alleviation, http ://www.biodiv. org/programmes/outreach/awareness/biodiv-day-2003. asp 5. The complete outputs from the Congress are available at URL www.iucn.org/wpc2003. Comprehensive
summaries can be found at the International Institute for Sustainable Development page on the IUCN website http://www.iisd.ca/sd/worldparksV/sdvol89num8.html
6. Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Policies and Certification Programmes can be found at the UNEP website (www.uneptie.org/pc/tourism/wpc_workshop.htm)
7. Tourism and Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism's Global Footprint is available on the UNEP website at www.uneptie.org/pc/tourism/library/mapping_tourism.html and the Conservation International (CI) website at www.conservation.org.
8. The UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit), Rio de Janeiro, 1992. Details at http://www.un.org/geninfo/bp/enviro.html
9. The Quebec Declaration is available at:
www.world-tourism.org/sustainable/rYE/quebec/anglais/declaration.html 10 Tourism and Protected Areas: Benefits Beyond Boundaries
Fig. 3. The 'Virtuous Circle' influencing parks, visitation and attitudes.
10. Links to the Charter can be found at http://www.ecotourism.org.au/cairnscharter.asp
11. The four principles of sustainability are commonly listed as intergenerational equity, the precautionary principle, and conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity.
12. For example, the World Heritage Convention (see Chapter 7), Millennium Development goals, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
For a complete list of multilateral environment agreements, see United Nations Environment Programme at http://www.unep.org/dec/index.html
13. see Chapter 20
14. Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, 1992; World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002 15. The African network building is discussed in chapters 7, 15 and 16 of this book.
16. For example elephant habitat threatened by the timber industry and agricultural needs. Well-managed protected areas may be the only solution to preserving large enough areas and corridors for elephants to remain viable outside zoos and safari parks. Tourism can invest in and contribute to economic self- sufficiency for elephant habitat in a way that complements philanthropy and government. While public and private sectors are subject to the politics and economics of growing populations, these forces act in different ways on each. It is stressed that tourism can assist with these types of conservation concerns, and is not a panacea, in the developing or the developed world.
17. The debate over the term 'wilderness' has received some press in Australia. The renomination and ascription of two indigenous-oriented and co-managed parks, Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Kakadu, as cultural landscapes on the World Heritage list would suggest that 'wilderness' as an ideal for remote and 'untouched' natural sites is losing favour. The redirection is towards an improved understanding by inheritors of colonial era
management (or lack thereof) that indigenous natural and cultural knowledge - science and philosophy - is integrated with the sustainable use of land practised for so many thousands of generations.
References
Bushell, R. (2006) Protected Areas and Tourism. In: McNeely, J.A. (ed.) Friends for Life: New Partnerships in Support of Protected Areas. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: 141-154.
Ceballos-Lascurain, H. (1996) Tourism and Ecotourism and Protected Areas. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
Chape, S. (2003) Monitoring Global Commitment. World Conservation: The IUCN Bulletin 34(2) IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: 8-9.
Christ, C., Hillel, O., Matus, S. and Sweeting, J. (2003) Tourism & Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism's Global Footprint. United Nations Environment Programme and Conservation International, Washington D.C.
Eagles, P.P., McCool, S.F. and Haynes, D. (2002) Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas: Guidelines for Planning and Management. United Nations Environment Programme, World Tourism Organization and World
Conservation Union, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
Steiner, A. (2002) Between Mind and Heart. World Conservation - The IUCN Bulletin 33(3), IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: 35.
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