SCI-TERMS

Tourism is often the cause of environment degradation; a particular destination suffers because too many tourists use it. Residents may feel that tourists do not really care about the environment; they may feel that tourists simply come to use it, abuse it, and then move on.

On the other hand, tourism does not have to be destructive. It can be argued that tourism is a positive environmental force since it fosters the preservation of wildlands and wildlife, or historic buildings and structures. Communities can grow and prosper through tourism attractions such as nature areas or historic buildings. City centers, too, can become attractions hen environmental feature are saved for future generations to enjoy.

Environmental Impacts

Environmental impacts are usually measured by degree. To the extent that tourism generates revenue to develop better roads and sewer systems, it is positive. But to the extent that tourism causes roads to fall into disrepair, or strains the waste management system beyond capacity and threatens public health, tourism is negative.

National parks and preserves attract tourists who spend money in the surrounding communities. Here, the effects of tourism are indirect. Animals do not heed park and preserves boundaries, nor do poachers. Originally, the lands for parks or preserves deprive residents of desperately needed resources. This creates a conflict between the tourists, managingagencies, and residents-a conflict which can be destructive and even life threatening.

In most third world countries, tourism is not the primary cause of the environmental degradation. Rather, the ecological balance is strained by the activities of poachers and by the legitimate, survival needs of residents. Conservation of resources may have been the initial reason a park was established. Over time, however, tourist expenditures become important to the government and to te surrounding communities. A classic dilemma ensues between the residents who need the resources within the park to survive and the need of the government to preserve the resources of the park to continue to attract tourists. 

The most significant positive effects related to tourism occur when local citizens are better able to care for their own community and environment. In urban areas around the world, much of the preservation of historical inner cities, waterfronts, and buildings lies in their values as tourist attractions. For example, most of the ancient dwellings in Beijing, China were systematically destroyed to make room for high-rise housing. Now, rehabilitation and conservation techniques are being used to preserve selected old city dwellings-in part, because of their tourism value.

Most people consider an environment is in “top notch” condition when the biological elements-such as plants and animals-are healthy and the water and air are clean and unpolluted. Clearly, there are two levels of analysis: the perceptual and the technical. Perceptually, an environment may look clean and healthy, but when measured technologically, this may not be the case at all.

While tourism sometimes causes environmental problems, other industries can and do damage the environment-and tourism-in the process. The complex inter-relationship between tourism and the environment involves many who are not directly involved in tourism. Other major influences on the environment include industry, regulatory agencies, and the citizenry. The actions of these diverse groups can affect the quality and appearance of the environment and, in turn, influence the decisions of tourists. Tourists will stay away from a destination when it is contaminated or despoiled.

Negative impacts from tourism occur when the level of visitor use is greater than the environment's ability to cope with this use within the acceptable limits of change. Uncontrolled conventional tourism poses potential threats to many natural areas around the world. It can put enormous pressure on an area and lead to impacts such as soil erosion, increased pollution, discharges into the sea, natural habitat loss, increased pressure on endangered species and heightened vulnerability to forest fires. It often puts a strain on water resources, and it can force local populations to compete for the use of critical resources. 

DEPLETION OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Tourism development can put pressure on natural resources when it increases consumption in areas where resources are already scarce.

Water resources

Water, and especially fresh water, is one of the most critical natural resources. The tourism industry generally overuses water resources for hotels, swimming pools, golf courses and personal use of water by tourists. This can result in water shortages and degradation of water supplies, as well as generating a greater volume of waste water..

Local resources

Tourism can create great pressure on local resources like energy, food, and other raw materials that may already be in short supply. Greater extraction and transport of these resources exacerbates the physical impacts associated with their exploitation. Because of the seasonal character of the industry, many destinations have ten times more inhabitants in the high season as in the low season. A high demand is placed upon these resources to meet the high expectations tourists often have (proper heating, hot water, etc.).

Important land resources include minerals, fossil fuels, fertile soil, forests, wetland and wildlife. Increased construction of tourism and recreational facilities has increased the pressure on these resources and on scenic landscapes. Direct impact on natural resources, both renewable and nonrenewable, in the provision of tourist facilities can be caused by the use of land for accommodation and other infrastructure provision, and the use of building materials.


POLLUTION

Tourism can cause the same forms of pollution as any other industry: air emissions, noise, solid waste and littering, releases of sewage, oil and chemicals, even architectural/visual pollution.

Air pollution and noise

Transport by air, road, and rail is continuously increasing in response to the rising numbe reported that the number of international air passengers worldwide rose from 88 million in 1972 to 344 million in 1994. One consequence of this increase in air transport is that tourism now accounts for more than 60% of air travel and is therefore responsible for an important share of air emissions. One study estimated that a single transatlantic return flight emits almost half the CO2 emissions produced by all other sources (lighting, heating, car use, etc.) consumed by an average person yearly. (Mayer Hillman, Town & Country Planning magazine, September 1996. Source: MFOE ).


Solid waste and littering

In areas with high concentrations of tourist activities and appealing natural attractions, waste disposal is a serious problem and improper disposal can be a major despoiler of the natural environment - rivers, scenic areas, and roadsides. For example, cruise ships in the Caribbean are estimated to produce more than 70,000 tons of waste each year. Today some cruise lines are actively working to reduce waste-related impacts. Solid waste and littering can degrade the physical appearance of the water and shoreline and cause the death of marine animals.

Construction of hotels, recreation and other facilities often leads to increased sewage pollution. Wastewater has polluted seas and lakes surrounding tourist attractions, damaging the flora and fauna. Sewage runoff causes serious damage to coral reefs because it stimulates the growth of algae, which cover the filter-feeding corals, hindering their ability to survive. Changes in salinity and siltation can have wide-ranging impacts on coastal environments. And sewage pollution can threaten the health of humans and animals.

Often tourism fails to integrate its structures with the natural features and indigenous architectural of the destination. Large, dominating resorts of disparate design can look out of place in any natural environment and may clash with the indigenous structural design.


Physical impacts of tourism development

•    Construction activities and infrastructure development

The development of tourism facilities such as accommodation, water supplies, restaurants and recreation facilities can involve sand mining, beach and sand dune erosion, soil erosion and extensive paving. In addition, road and airport construction can lead to land degradation and loss of wildlife habitats and deterioration of scenery.
In Yosemite National Park (US), for instance, the number of roads and facilities have been increased to keep pace with the growing visitor numbers and to supply amenities, infrastructure and parking lots for all these tourists. These actions have caused habitat loss in the park and are accompanied by various forms of pollution including air pollution from automobile emissions; the Sierra Club has reported "smog so thick that Yosemite Valley could not be seen from airplanes". This occasional smog is harmful to all species and vegetation inside the Park. (Source: Trade and Environment Database)

•    Deforestation and intensified or unsustainable use of land

Construction of ski resort accommodation and facilities frequently requires clearing forested land. Coastal wetlands are often drained and filled due to lack of more suitable sites for construction of tourism facilities and infrastructure. These activities can cause severe disturbance and erosion of the local ecosystem, even destruction in the long term.

•  Marina development Development of marinas and breakwaters can cause changes in currents and coastlines. Furthermore, extraction of building materials such as sand affects coral reefs, mangroves, and hinterland forests, leading to erosion and destruction of habitats. In the Philippines and the Maldives, dynamiting and mining of coral for resort building materials has damaged fragile coral reefs and depleted the fisheries that sustain local people and attract tourists.

Overbuilding and extensive paving of shorelines can result in destruction of habitats and disruption of land-sea connections (such as sea-turtle nesting spots). Coral reefs are especially fragile marine ecosystems and are suffering worldwide from reef-based tourism developments. Evidence suggests a variety of impacts to coral result from shoreline development, increased sediments in the water, trampling by tourists and divers, ship groundings, pollution from sewage, overfishing, and fishing with poisons and explosives that destroy coral habitat.


Source :

http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/envi/one.html