9.0 Tourism Development as Environmental Protection

The age old question does Tourism Development protect or harm the natural environment?  Of course the answer is yes and no.  It is dependent on a number of factors such as the specifics of the ecosystem involved, the type of tourism, the carrying capacity of the ecosystem based on the type of tourism and the actual planning, design and execution of the tourism.

One example I can sight that was planned, designed and executed successfully to manage this sensitive ecosystem is the Bintan Resorts Mangrove Discovery Tour which was subsequently awarded a PATA Gold Award in 2003.

Mangrove Discovery Tour Map (source Bintan Resorts Web Site)

The tour located on the island of Bintan in Indonesia was set up to give tourists a look into the wonders of the mangrove ecosystem.  The marvels of the mangrove are explained during the tour as well as the human interaction by the local inhabitants.  This includes the how the resources have traditonally been used for fishing, medicine, building materials, as well as the production of charcoal and infact  beehive shaped mud kilns still exist within the river environments.  The tour has an insignificant impact to the ecosystem as it is limited in trips per day and even runs occasionally at night to view fireflies. 

Sebong Mangrove, Bintan Resorts Indonesia

So the question one might ask is how does this tour contribute to protecting the environment?  As with most forest environments the greatest impact is human impact.  And the only way to avoid this is to have eyes watching what’s going on.  What better way than to have paying tourists enjoy its wonders of the mangrove in the process!  The tour guides are also trained in basic ecosystem monitoring so they record animal sightings, report logging activities and the health of the ecosystem can be regularly assessed.  This of course is best to be complemented by periodic professional environmental surveys.  The Mangrove Discovery Tour can be a model for other places that can make use of tourism to help protect the environment.  

Jiwa Studio
Singapore, October 2011
http://jiwastudioweb.blogspot.com/