Environmental Impact Assessment of Ecotourism on Mangroves
[1]
Davood Mafi-Gholami, Department of Forest Science, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran.
[2]
Akram Nouri-Kamari, Department of Environment, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.
Ecotourism, to be successful, must promote sustainable development by establishing a durable productive base that allows local inhabitants and ecotourist service providers to enjoy rising standards of living. However, to achieve this goal, the adverse effects of visitor activity on the natural environment and the tourism experience must be identified to guide management actions and thus to sustain the resources on which ecotourism ultimately depends. This study, conducted in Iran, efforts to identify the impacts of ecotourism from the perspective of visitors. Environmental conditions of greatest influence on visitors’ experiences included litter and biophysical conditions such as soil erosion and vegetation damage. These conditions were of greater concern to visitors than social conditions, such as the number of people. These results suggest that management efforts can be directed towards indicators of greatest concern such as litter, soil erosion and vegetation damage. The broad support given by those surveyed for a range of management actions provides managers with a choice of strategies to sustain ecotourism in Hara biosphere reserve in Iran. This study, with its sociopolitical approach, contributes to a greater understanding of the implications of the ecotourist experience for ecotourism management in Iran.
Ecotourism, Environmental Impacts, Hara Biosphere Reserve, Iran
[1]
Eagles PJF. Key issues in ecotourism management. Paper presented at the State of Western Australia Annual Tourism Conference. Perth, Western Australia. 2001.
[2]
WTO. Tourism market trends”. www.unwto.org, 2006.
[3]
Weaver D. Ecotourism. Wiley & Sons, Australia, 2nd ed., 2008.
[4]
Ceballos-Lascurain H. Tourism, Ecotourism and Protected Areas. Gland, Switzerland: World Conservation Union. 1996.
[5]
Prosser G. The limits of acceptable change: An introduction to a framework for natural area planning. Australian Parks and Recreation, 1986; 22: 34-45.
[6]
Graefe AR, Kuss RR, Vaske JJ. Recreation Impacts and Carrying Capacity: A Visitor Impact Management Framework. Washington, DC: National Parks and Conservation Association., 2008.
[7]
McNeely JA, Thorsell JW, Ceballos-Lascurain H. Guidelines for the Development of Terrestrial and Marine National Parks and Protected Areas for Tourism. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. 2001.
[8]
Morin SL, Moore SA, Schmidt W. Defining indicators and standards for recreation impacts in Nuyts Wilderness, Walpole-Nornalup National Park, Western Australia. CALMScience, 2007; 2 (3): 247-266.
[9]
Lindberg K, Furze B, Staff M, Black R. (eds). Ecotourism in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues and Outlook. Rome: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization., 1998.
[10]
Andereck KL. Environmental consequences of tourism: A review of recent research. In S. F. McCool and A. E. Watson (eds) Linking Tourism, the Environment and Sustainability. Topical volume of compiled papers from a special session of the annual general meeting of the National Recreation and Park Association, 1Ő–14October 2005. USDA Forest Service: Minneapolis.
[11]
Preece N, Van Oosterzee P, James D. Two Way Track – Biodiversity Conservation and Ecotourism: An Investigation of Linkages, Mutual Benefits and Future Opportunities. Canberra: Department of the Environment, Sports and Territories., 2005.
[12]
British Columbia Forest Service. North-Eastern British Columbia Recreation Survey”. British Columbia: Recreation Section, Range Recreation and Forest Practices Branch, Ministry of BC Forests, 1993.
[13]
Roggenbuck JW, Lucas RC. Wilderness use and user characteristics: A state-of-knowledge review”. Ogden: Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, US Department of Agriculture., 2003.
[14]
Ross S, Wall G. Ecotourism: towards congruence between theory and practice. Tourism Management, 1999; 5: 35-48.
[15]
Fennel DA. Ecotourism: An introduction. Rutledge, New York, 2009.
[16]
Watson AE, Williams DR, Roggenbuck JW, Daigle JJ. “Visitor Characteristics and Preferences for Three National Forest Wildernesses in the South”. Research Paper INT-455, 1999. Ogden, Utah: United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station.
[17]
Wearing S, Larsen L. Assessing and managing the sociocultural impacts of ecotourism: Revisiting the Santa Elena rainforest project”. The Environmentalist, 2011; 16: 117-133.
[18]
Buckley R, Pannell J. Environmental impacts of tourism and recreation in national parks and conservation reserves”. Tourism Studies, 2002; 1 (1): 24-32.
[19]
Lindberg K. McCool S, Stankey G. Rethinking carrying capacity”. Tourism Research, 1997; 24 (2): 461-465.
[20]
Dehghani M, Farshchi P, Danekar A, Karami M, Aleshikh AA. Recreation value of Hara Biosphere Reserve using willingness-to-pay method. International Journal of Environmental Research, 2010; 4 (2): 271-280.
[21]
Lucas RC. Wilderness use and users: Trends and projections in wilderness recreation management: an overview. In Hendee, J. C., Stankey, G. H. and Lucas, R. C. (eds) Wilderness Management. Golden, Colorado: North American Press, 2000.
[22]
McArthur S. Beyond the limits of acceptable change - developing a model to monitor and manage tourism in remote areas. Proceedings of a Towards a More Sustainable Tourism Down Under Ő Conference. Centre for Tourism, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 2001.
[23]
Dowling RK. An environmentally based approach to tourism planning. PhD thesis, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Murdoch University, Western Australia., 2008.
[24]
McCool SF. Limits of acceptable change: Evolution and future”. In Towards Serving Visitors and Managing Our Resources. Proceedings of a North American Workshop on Visitor Management in Parks and Protected Areas. 14–17 February. Waterloo, Ontario: Tourism Research and Education Centre, University of Waterloo and Parks Canada, Environment Canada, 2004.
[25]
Anderson DH, Manfredo MJ. Visitor preferences for management actions”. In R. C. Lucas (ed.) Proceedings of the National Wilderness Research Conference: Current Research. 1998, 314-319. Ogden, Utah: US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station.
[26]
Shackley M. Wildlife Tourism. London: International Thompson Business Press, 2006.
