Whether it is termed eco-tourism, agro-eco-tourism or some related name, tourism clearly provides a significant means for making biodiversity products worth more through preservation and enhancement rather than exploitation for short term gain. At present, it would appear that this still exists more as potential than reality; the challenge is in finding ways to make it happen. The oft quoted example in eco-tourism is the converting of the poacher to a game warden where his income is guaranteed from a positive rather than a negative contribution to biodiversity preservation and enhancement.

As planners of tourism regions and destinations, one of the central questions constantly confronting our practice relates to the definition of the carrying capacity of any given location and the kinds of controls that need to be put in place to ensure sustainability of the development or project and its surroundings. I am not familiar with any comprehensive material that deals with tried and tested techniques for effectively measuring the impact, positive or negative of tourism on biodiversity at a project level, integrated with an environmental management program. There is no shortage of definitions of the need to do this kind of thing but little to show how it is done.

There is clearly a relationship between the carrying capacity of a given area and the type of environmental management being practiced there. For example, a trail that is regularly patrolled and maintained will be able to carry more visitors without significant environmental degradation than one which is not; the difference between the two situations could possibly be measured in hundreds of percentage points.

In plans in which I have been involved, we have defined the requirement to carry out environmental management according to given sets of criteria but have not been able to back it up with comprehensive examples of successful practice. This must surely be a major focus for applied research. It certainly affects planning and implementation decision-making.

Regards,

Desmond Kaplan.

Desmond Kaplan Architects and Sustainable Development Planning Consultants