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According to Beaver, “tourism is the temporary, short term movement of people to destinations outside the places where they normally live and work, and their activities during their stay at these destinations; it includes movement for all purposes as well as day visits or excursions” (313).
Beaver argues that tourism arises from a number of factors (313). “Tourism arises from the movement of people to and their stay in, various destinations” (Beaver 313). Tourism is made up of two major components: “the journey to the destination and the stay including the activities at the destination” (Beaver 313). Usually, the journey and the stay take place in an area that is different from the normal place of work or stay.
As a result, tourism gives rise to activities which are different from those done while at work or at home. On the other hand, “Dickson defines ecosystem as a community of living organisms with the physical processes which occur within an environment” (2).
Ecosystems often interact in a variety of ways through their biotic and abiotic components. Ecosystems often encounter stresses imposed by human activities and physical environments. In addition, they encounter changes which may be caused by human activities.
An example of human activities which cause changes in the ecosystem is tourism. One of the most difficult problem facing environmental scientists is diagnosing the nature of environmental change.
Not only is the extent and rate of change often hard to detect, and even harder to predict, but it may also be very difficult to distinguish between those components of change which are part of a natural process and ecosystem dynamics, and those which are as a result of human impacts.
Yet unravelling all of these issues is vital if ecosystem function is to be sustained and irreparable damage to the biosphere avoided. This paper attempts to analyse the impact of tourism on the ecosystem.
According to Bio Intelligence Service, “people are great consumers when on holiday” (1). Recent studies have indicated that the ecological footprint in some parts of the world is almost same as that of residents. Bio Intelligence Service notes that, when arrival transport account is put into consideration, this ecological footprint escalates. Tourism forms the backbone of many economies around the globe.
However, it has been found to exert indirect and direct pressure on species and habitats and, as a result, it poses a significant threat to conservation. Furthermore, tourism often disturbs wildlife and heightens environmental pollution due to increased transportation of people. The negative impacts of tourism on ecosystem are aggravated by the fact that tourists tend to consume more than the local communities.
In addition, tourists tend to consume more when they are on vacation. A study was conducted recently in Val di Merse, Italy, to determine the ecological footprint of tourists in this region. This study found out that Val di Merse receives a total of 685 tourists per day. As a result, the local population is increased by 5 percent.
The researchers “gathered data on arrival transport, on food and fibre consumption, on accommodation, on land use, utilities and waste, on local transport and on activities of tourists on holiday in Val de Merse region” (Bio Intelligence Service 1).
The study revealed that arrival transport contributes 86 per net of the total tourist impact on ecosystem. The study indicated that “the total impact of one tourist is 38.08 gha/per year” (Bio Intelligence Service1).
RAMP notes that “while recreational activities that take place in lakes, streams, wetlands, and their riparian areas are most likely to negatively impact the aquatic environment, land based activities can also impact the environment” (1).
RAMP indicates that tourist activities such as fishing and hunting of sea animals often lead to the decline in the pollution of aquatic species (1). Tourist activities also alter the aquatic habitat. For example, predator prey interactions are likely to be altered. Aquatic habitat is likely to be distorted by pollution and alterations in the neighbouring habitats.
“Off highway vehicles, including all terrain vehicles, Argos, dirt bikes, and off road vehicles, driven trough or across steams and other water bodies can lead to habitat destruction and degradation, including loss of stream bank stability and erosion” (RAMP 1). On the other hand, when tourists come into contact with wildlife, wildlife behaviour is often affected.
Johnson notes that the growth of tourism around the globe has overlooked concerns of increasing ecological resource use (2). Of late, various tourist attraction sites and infrastructures have been identified as sites of resource overconsumption.
Johnson argues that ecological footprint is essential in the evaluation of different types of tourist behaviours and choices. According to Johnson, “an ecological footprint examines the amount of natural resources required to support a specific type of behaviour, business or process” (2).
A recent study funded by World Wildlife Fund sought to evaluate the use of ecological footprint in the evaluation of the impact of tourism on ecosystem. The study collected data “on bioreproductive land, Bioreproductive Sea, built land, energy land, and area for biodiversity” (Johnson 6).
During the study, “the ecological footprint of each resort was broken into a number of key areas of ecological impact; air travel, waste, food, and hotel energy use” (Johnson 6). The research was conducted in Ontario. The study revealed that tourism has a total impact of a 45.79 gha/per year on the selected region (Johnson 6).
On the other hand, GDRC indicates that tourism has a number of physical impacts (1). It causes trampling. In this case, vegetation and soil are often disturbed when tourists use the same route over and over again. Anchoring activities also degrade the ecosystem.
“Anchoring, snorkelling, sport fishing, scuba diving, yachting and cruising, are some of the activities which can cause direct degradation of marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, and subsequent impacts on coastal protection and fisheries” (GDRC 2).
In addition, tourist activities might alter the ecosystems in a number of ways. “For example, wildlife viewing can bring about stress for the animals and alter their natural behaviours when tourists come too close” (GDRC 2).
As noted earlier, tourism forms the backbone of the economy of many countries in the world. Many governments have invested heavily in the promotion of their tourist destinations. Some of these developments have a significant impact on nearby ecosystems.
For example, many natural lands located close to wildlife ecosystems are being cleared to create space for the construction of centres which will accommodate the growing number of tourists. In addition, most governments have converted natural wildlife ecosystems into national parks and game reserves. Confining wild animals in national parks and game reserves significantly affects their behaviours.
The reproduction of these animals is restricted and this can result into the extinction of the confined species. In addition, their natural feeding habits are affected. Some of these animals are fed on synthetic foods which might hamper their health. Furthermore, the confining of wild animals into national parks alters food chains and food webs in the natural world.
Hotels and recreational centres which are located close to water bodies often discharge wastes into these water bodies thus affecting the aquatic ecosystem.
Moreover, there is an increase in the consumption of sea foods. Many resorts located close to water bodies often offer sea food to visiting tourists as one of their special meals. Tourism contributes to the increase in the demand of sea food and indirectly affects the aquatic ecosystem due to overfishing.
In summary, this paper has noted that “tourism is the temporary, short term movement of people to destinations outside the places where they normally live and work, and their activities during their stay at these destinations; it includes movement for all purposes as well as day visits or excursions” (Beaver 313).
Beaver argues that tourism arises from a number of factors. “Tourism arises from the movement of people to, and their stay in, various destinations” (Beaver 313). Tourism is made up of two major components: “the journey to the destination and the stay including the activities at the destination” (Beaver 313).
Ecosystems often encounter stresses imposed by human activities and physical environments. In addition, they encounter changes which may be caused by human activities. An example of human activities which cause changes in the ecosystem is tourism.
One of the most difficult problem facing environmental scientists is diagnosing the nature of environmental change. Not only is the extent and rate of change often hard to detect, and even harder to predict, but it may also be very difficult to distinguish between those components of change which are part of a natural process and ecosystem dynamics, and those which are as a result of human impacts.
Yet, unravelling all of these issues is vital if ecosystem function is to be sustained and irreparable damage to the biosphere avoided.
Experts argue, “people are great consumers when on holiday” (Bioscience Intelligence 2). Recent studies have indicated that the ecological footprint in some parts of the world is almost same as that of residents. Bio Intelligence Service notes that, when arrival transport account is put into consideration, this ecological footprint escalates. Tourism forms the backbone of many economies around the globe.
However, it has been found to exert indirect and direct pressure on species and habitats and as a result it poses a significant threat to conservation. Furthermore, tourism often disturbs wildlife and heightens environmental pollution due to increased transportation of people.
The negative impacts of tourism on ecosystem are aggravated by the fact that tourists tend to consume more than the local communities. In addition, tourists tend to consume more when they are on vacation.
Tourist activities such as fishing and hunting of sea animals often lead to the decline in the pollution of aquatic species (RAMP 1). Tourist activities also alter the aquatic habitat.
For example, predator prey interactions are likely to be altered. Aquatic habitat is likely to be distorted by pollution and alterations in the neighbouring habitats.
“Off highway vehicles, including all terrain vehicles, Argos, dirt bikes, and off road vehicles, driven trough or across steams and other water bodies can lead to habitat destruction and degradation, including loss of stream bank stability and erosion” (RAMP 1). On the other hand, when tourists come into contact with wildlife, wildlife behaviour is often affected.
Works Cited
Beaver, Allan. A Dictionary of Travel and Tourism Terminology. Derby: Macmilan, 2010. Print.
Bio Intelligence Service. Environmental Impacts of Tourism. 2010. Web.
Dickson, Gohr. Ecosystems. Vancouver: Oxford, 2010.
GDRC. Tourism’s Three Main Impact Areas. 2012. Web.
Johnson, Allan. Exploring The Ecological Footprint Of Tourism In Ontario. Waterloo, Ontario: Oxford Press, 2010.
Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP). ‘Potential Effects from Tourism and Recreation on Aquatic Ecosystems.’ 2012. Web.
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