1. Sustainable Tourism: We are the stakeholders. Richa rd
Farr
2. Contents Motivation The Triple Bottom Line The Greenhouse
Effect Environmental impact how many Earths? Four journeys... four
problems How bad is my carbon footprint? How do we make tourism
more sustainable? Closing remarks
3. Motivation: we are not tree-huggers There are sound business
reasons to be green. Being conscious of the impacts upon
communities and natural systems, we can learn to do things better
and remain in business.
4. There are sound business reasons for sustainable tourism
what were doing, if they are to continue to allow us access. Many
local people work in the tourism business at the destination, or
will meet with your tourists. You need them to be happy about
things. Visitors can spoil the things that they come to experience
killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Ethical spending is on
the rise. In the UK it has grown more than 300% in the last decade.
If you want to go after the green pound, you need to be aware of
the issues affecting the industry.
5. The Triple Bottom Line People, Planet, Profit
6. Carbon Footprint One of the common ways to measure our
environmental impact is carbon dioxide emissions: the carbon
footprint of an activity or product. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse
gas. Greenhouse gases are so-called because they make it warmer on
the inside. The Greenhouse Effect is natural, and life on Earth
would probably be impossible without it. The problem is that there
is now more greenhouse gases than before, and much of the extra gas
is a direct consequence of modern industries. Temperatures are
rising so quickly that
7. What do Greenhouse Gases do?
8. Climate Change, or Global Warming? Scientists expect an
average temperature increase... but this doesnt mean every place
gets warmer. Averages seldom convey a complete picture. Expect
warmer summers, and colder winters. Expect more extreme weather
events.
9. Our environmental impact Things will continue to get worse,
while we exceed Earths biological capacity. How is it possible to
use more than one Earth?
10. Mt. Everest Nepal
11. Trekking in the Himalayas The Everest region sees over
30,000 visitors a year. Not a huge number, but enough to have a
major impact on local villages. Its difficult to clean up after the
trekkers once they are gone. A lack of local infrastructure means
waste such as food packaging is simply dumped outside villages.
Plastics, bottles and cans will remain for centuries, and sewerage
is also a problem. Trekking companies are supposed to carry out
their waste with them, but many do not. The cost to transport empty
beer cans out by yak is prohibitive... and even if they did, there
is no recycling industry in Nepal.
12. Angkor Wat Cambodia
13. Angkor Wat Wat in the first quarter of 2012 an increase of
45% compared to the previous year. The main sites buzz with tour
groups from sunrise to sunset. Once, the main hazard at Ta Prohm
was falling over the roots of the trees which have partially
engulfed the temple. These days a visitor is more likely to be
swallowed up by the crowds striking Lara Croft poses in homage to
Angelina Jolie's exploits in Tomb Raider.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18363636 Would you get the
tourism experience you were
14. Uluru Northern Territory, Australia
15. Uluru The local Aboriginal people, the A angu, dont climb
Uluru because of its great spiritual significance. They request
that visitors do not climb the rock either. From the visitors
guide: The climb is not prohibited, but we prefer that, as a guest
on A angu land, you will choose to respect our law and culture by
not climbing. There are also good safety reasons for not climbing
Ayers Rock / Uluru: at least 35 people have died, making the climb
most from heart failure. Some 100,000+ tourists climb the rock
16. Churchill Manitoba, Canada
17. Churchill, Manitoba Polar bears mainly hunt for food on sea
ice: they fast for half the year. Where the fresh water from the
Churchill River flows out into the Hudson Bay, the sea freezes
first, so for a few weeks from late October every year, Churchill
becomes the polar bear capital of the world. Thousands of tourists
travel to see them. My trip: Flight from London to Montreal, and
then on to Winnipeg. North by train for two days to reach
Churchill, and then out onto the ice in a tundra buggy. Stayed
three nights.
18. Carbon footprints for my journey to Churchill Short-haul
flights: about 0.2897 kg CO2 per mile, per passenger. Long-haul
flights: about 0.1770 kg CO2 per mile, per passenger. Fly from
London to Edinburgh for the weekend and you produce 193kg of CO2,
eight times the 23.8kg you produce by taking the train.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2006/jan/29/theai London to
Montreal: 3248 miles each way Montreal to Winnipeg: 1133 miles each
way
19. How do we make tourism more sustainable? Limit tourist
numbers to a level that wont disrupt the natural systems or
communities in an area. Improve transport links: modern high-speed
trains are much more green than driving, or flying. Consult
communities and respect their wishes, in regard to tourism and
associated industries. Perhaps have an off season when key places
are closed to visitors, allowing animals to mate, hatch, etc.
undisturbed by the public. Base decisions on good science.
Understand modes of harm, levels of
20. Closing remarks We need to do much more to protect sites
that are of particular interest. We need to understand that there
are powerful arguments against tourism (and many other activities).
Our companies need to be as green as possible, to avoid getting a
negative image. Perceptions are changing, and the industry will
need to change as well. Visitors are killing world tourist
spots
21. Further articles from Richard Farr at:
http://capacify.wordpress.com
