Adventure Tourism: Conservation, Restoration and Environmental Impact Issues

1. Adventure Tourism: Conservation, Restoration and Environmental Impact Issues MR. CARLO C. CUSTODIO Chief, Nature Recreation and Extension Division

2. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), tourism has become one of the most important, economic, social, cultural and cultural phenomena of the 20th century. It is considered by some to be a more reliable source of foreign exchange than minerals, raw materials, cash crops and manufactured goods (Ghimire 1997).

3. The travel and tourism industry claims that it is well placed to contribute to sustainable development on the following grounds: • Travel and tourism industry has less impact on the environment than many other industries; • It is based on an enjoyment of the natural and cultural environment and so is motivated to protect them; • It can play a positive role in awareness raising and consumer education through its vast distribution channels; and

4. Travel and tourism industry claims… • It provides an economic incentive to protect habitat that might otherwise be converted to less environmentally friendly land uses. (WTTC and IHRA1999)

5. Tourism Benefits to Conservation • A source of financing for biodiversity conservation, esp. in legally protected areas; • Economic justification for protected areas; • Economic alternatives for local people to reduce overexploitation of wildland and wildlife resources on protected areas;

6. Tourism Benefits to Conservation • Constituency-building, which promotes biodiversity conservation; and • An impetus for private biodiversity conservation efforts. (Brandon 1996)

7. HOWEVER, Tourism Development … • Can result to negative consequences without management standards and guidelines to promote nature conservation and deliver tangible benefits to local communities • Can result in total landscape transformation often leading to deforestation and drainage of wetlands

8. HOWEVER, Tourism Development … • Can result in significant loss of biodiversity due to habitat disruption. • Can be the root cause of coastal degradation today as can be seen from the effects of mass tourism (UNEP 2002).

9. Adventure Tourism Wildlife watching trekking/mountaineering Boating/kayaking camping Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau

10. ADVENTURE TOURISM DEFINED - A broad spectrum of outdoor touristic activities often commercialized and involving interaction with the natural environment away from theparticipant’s home range and containing elements of risks in which the outcome is influenced by the participant, setting and management of the tourists’ experience (Hall 1989).

11. Adventure travel has been growing and increasing in biodiversity hotspots including the Philippines Map of Biodiversity Hotspots

12. Mass tourism, as well as nature-based and adventure tourism, is a significant revenue generator in many of the biodiversity hotspots.

13. Given the rapid growth in nature and adventure travel within the global tourism industry during the past 2 decades, it is reasonable to assume that tourism’s growth in these high biodiversity areas is linked to their relatively unique natural environments.

14. Adventure travel is being promoted by many regions such as ASEAN where tourism resources are heavily dependent on less-developed, natural environments. (Halls, 1989). Source: The International Adventure Travel & Outdoor Show, 1996-97

15. Direct Impacts of Adventure Tourism on the Environment

16. Direct Impacts of Adventure Tourism on the Environment • x On geological exposures, minerals and fossils • Spelunking : Collection of minerals, rocks formation and fossils for souvenir • Rock Climbing: abrasion and damage of rock faces due to metal pegs hammered into the rock

17. Direct Impacts… • On soil and vegetation • Trekking: Soil compaction or erosion of trails and trampling of vegetation • Camping: Accumulation of non-biodegradable wastes in campsites i.e. Mt. Apo, Mt. Banahaw & other mountain protected areas where waste collection can be logically difficult; cutting of trees for fuel

18. Direct Impacts … • On water resources Boating: release of oil and fuel from boat engine (chemical contamination); turbidity in shallow waters; disposal of litter in rivers, lakes or sea.

19. Direct Impacts … x On animals Boating : disturbance of feeding and breeding patterns of animals due to noise or other disturbance - Change in wildlife behavior due to habituation to humans - Injure aquatic animals due to propellers and the like

20. Direct Impacts … • xOn animals • Kayaking: stirs up litter beneath the waters that can be ingested by other aquatic animals • Diving and Snorkeling : damage to coral reefs as divers kick and stand on corals • Dive/snorkel boat operators throw the anchors into corals

21. Direct Impacts … • x On Culture • Tourists can introduce “bad habits” to local populations, such as drug and alcohol addiction • Tourists’ behavior may be offensive to the locals. For example, in Indonesia, backpackers dress skimpily and often expose their belly buttons. This is offensive to the local people as this body part has great spiritual significance in their religion.

22. Direct Impacts … • xOn Culture • Tourists giving local people gifts and money may encourage a “culture of begging”, which will harm the ability of the community to develop economically. • Adventure tourists, with their apparent greater wealth than the locals, may unwittingly stimulate an increase in crime.

23. Direct Impacts … • xOn Culture • Tourists can become role models for local young people because they are perceived to come from “advanced” countries. The copying of the habits of the tourists by the young people can cause “cultural degradation”.

24. It should be remembered that the ecological and social effects of tourism activities rarely occur singly. IMPACTS ARE LIKELY TO OCCUR TOGETHER , OR FOLLOW IN SEQUENCE.

25. Government Regulations Governing Adventure Tourism in Protected Areas

26. Republic Act 7586 National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992 • Protected Area Management Board approves proposals, projects on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development and issues permits or clearances for the conduct of such • Establishment of management zones i.e. strict protection zone where no human activity is allowed except for scientific or religious use • Preparation of management plan where sustainable tourism is a management strategy

27. Republic Act 9147 Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act • Prohibits collecting, hunting, or possessing wildlife, their by-products and derivatives; gathering or destroying of active nests, nest trees, host plants and the like; and killing and destroying wildlife species

28. Republic Act 9072 National Caves & Cave Resources Management and Protection Act • Penalizesthe destroying, disturbing, defacing, marring, altering, removing, or harming the speleogem or speleothem of any cave or altering the free movement of any animal or plant life into or out of any cave • Prohibits the gathering, collecting, possessing, consuming, selling, bartering or exchanging or offering for sale any cave resource without authority -

29. P.D. No. 1586 The Philippine Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System - an assessment of the direct and indirect impacts of a project on the biophysical and human environment and ensuring that these impacts are addressed by appropriate environmental protection and enhancement measures -

30. Multilateral Environmental Agreements Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau

31. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands - an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources • 4 sites in the Philippines listed as Wetland of International Importance: • Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary • Naujan Lake National Park • Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary • Tubataha Reef Natural Marine Park

32. - Serves as the key coordinating, catalyzing and monitoring mechanism for international biodiversity conservation The CBD Guidelines on Sustainable Tourism in Vulnerable Ecosystems address the planning of tourism activities in vulnerable ecosystems which governments, developers, decision-makers and local communities should consider when planning for tourism development in PAs.

33. BONN CONVENTION - Provides protection for endangered species of wild (terrestrial, marine and avian) migratory animals throughout their range by protecting both species and their habitats

34. Challenge of Adventure Tourism For Protected Area Managers& LGUs • Ensure that visitors have opportunities to participate in desired adventure and are made aware of and maintain the values of the natural environment. • Enforce existing protected area or local policies, national laws and international commitments • Forge partnership with the local communities and the private sector in developing responsible and ecologically-friendly adventure tours in PAs

35. Challenge of Adventure Tourism For Adventure Tourism Operators • Adopt responsible environmental management practices and technologies that minimize the local impacts of tours • Observe and follow environmental guidelines and on-site policies • Respect local and indigenous culture • Become STRONG ADVOCATES FOR CONSERVATION.

36. GOOD DAY!