Re: The Problem With...Tourism
- From: amacmil304@xxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 23:36:09 +0100
On Thu, 24 Aug 2006 23:13:55 +0100, "Earth Blog"
<earth-blog@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The human race is a race of travellers; we have imagined, discovered,
explored, charted and opened up almost all of the Earth's land surface, and
are rarely content to stop moving. Given the time and (usually) money, we
have an instinctive urge to travel; whether this be to feed our
imaginations, stimulate our senses or satisfy some less clear urge that we
do not fully understand, we travel. Six and a half billion humans with itchy
feet is not something we should take lightly.
Whilst tourism originally began with cultural and educational trips for the
wealthy, it is almost always referred to now as an economic operation
involved with moving large numbers of people to different places for short
periods of time. The Problem With Tourism is that it is run by an industry
far more concerned with short term commercial gains to recognise, let alone
do something about, the huge environmental damage that it causes.
As with many large-scale commercial ventures, the users of tourism are being
promised a dream. That dream comes with few strings attached. That dream can
be expensive, but the potential returns are good memories for life. And we
are addicted to that dream; the one fantastic holiday that we want to repeat
over and over again; the sense of "getting away from it all", enjoying
better weather, great entertainment, a chance to meet different people, and
the cachet that goes with having done all this; all essentially selfish
things, but none of them harmful as such.
As we continue to be enchanted by the riches that tourism has to offer, we
fail to see the stream of people coming with us that grows ever wider,
feeding on the same dream, taking advantage of the richly polluting cheap
flights that deposit the hoards of people who engulf delicate habitats with
concrete and suck dry the natural riches that so attracted them in the first
place.
Does it have to be this way?
Do we ever stop and think of the reasons we go where we do? Do we actually
consider the impact that our travelling, accommodation and entertainment are
having on planet Earth?
The impact of tourism on the natural environment is huge, and growing at an
enormous rate. With a current growth rate of about 5% in the western world,
the emissions from flying are expected to triple in less than 25 years - far
more if you consider the potentially enormous growth expected from China and
other rapidly developing nations.
But whilst flying is a carbon menace of worrying proportions it is not the
only impact from tourism. In fact we can neatly split the impacts into two
groups:
First, the overall environmental cost of getting to our destination. This
can take the form of aircraft emissions, travel to airports or directly to
our destination by car, transfers from the airport to our final location.
Not forgetting the impact of producing the means to get there in the first
place; the damage caused by the roads, runways and port infrastructure; the
energy required to heat, cool and light the infrastructure. And if you are
considering a cruise, the endless energy required to essentially just keep
travelling.
Second, the environmental cost of "doing" your holiday once you get to your
one or more destinations. The high consumption of water, materials,
electricity and land that the holiday resort, hotel or rented home needs for
construction and operation; the pollution generated in the form of sewage
and waste materials that your simply being a tourist in a different location
generates; and emissions generated by travel once you are there. And all of
this in a location that may be ill-suited to dealing with the impact of its
own people, let alone the seasonal tide of relatively well-off travellers
that demand services far in excess of that which a local inhabitant may
require.
In order to try and reduce the damage, and more often than not the guilt
attached to this damage, some organisations, and increasingly the global
tourism industry are investing in ways to make us feel better about our
travels. In the first case, we can attempt to Offset our travel, by
purchasing "carbon credits" in the form of tree planting or funding
alternative energy projects. This may neutralise the worst of our impacts,
but only if everyone takes up the option, and the offsetting carried out is
precisely equivalent to the damage that has been done. In many instances
this "offsetting" is little more than the gross planting of inappropriate
monoculture forests which stand little chance of survival.
In the second case, that of local impact, people are being offered Eco
Tourism holidays; the sort that purport to treat the local environment
lightly, to treat the local inhabitants with dignity, and to put value back
into the area that is being harmed. Some of these do little more than
acknowledge the local culture. Others increase the damage further by taking
the tourist on "eco adventures" through already degraded habitats. Very few
carry any true sense of the word Ecology.
Both of these, at best, are worthy but, as I say, they are essentially about
guilt reduction. I cannot honestly see a world where every person offsets
their travel impact, let alone companies increasing their prices to do the
work themselves. Don't forget, this is about the bottom line; selling a
dream for a profit. I also cannot, even in my wildest imagination, see every
person taking an Eco Tourism holiday; let's face it, what most people want
from a holiday is gratification. If universal gratification came from
protecting the planet then I wouldn't be sitting here writing this; the
Earth would already have a safe future.
I cannot offer a simple answer to the Problem With Tourism. I can only ask
for understanding from everyone who has been seduced by the tourism
industry. Before you decide how far to travel and what to do, take off the
rose-tinted sunglasses that the travel agent has sent you with the travel
brochure and try to see the true impact of that holiday in some far off
place.
Keith Farnish
www.theearthblog.org
www.reduce3.com
What about the fake conservationists that promote tourism?
Why should we bother if the conservation industry doesn't?
Here's a message I posted recently:
Malcolm Ogilvie really has a problem with me calling conservation
organisations "fakes" because he doesn't have an argument against it
and it is amusing to see his only response is that "the fakes are in
my mind".
So let me spell it out in the hope that it might educate him.
The reason why so-called conservation organisations are fakes is that
they say they are conserving the natural environment but in reality
they are indulging in and encouraging environmentally damaging
activities which make them attractive to the general public and pulls
in their favourite commodity - money. They also pump out masses of
junk mail and publications which are environmentally damaging in their
production, distribution and disposal and con the public into thinking
these are environmentally friendly by printing "100% recycled paper".
What a bunch of crooks these people really are!
But it doesn't stop there.
The whole conservation industry is a con from top to bottom!
The Kyoto Protocol scam got over 100 countries including the UK to
sign up to reducing emissions but excluded the emerging economies from
such limitations. Despite signing the commitment and making great
claims about it, the UK is importing masses of produce from countries
of the emerging economies, so all that's happening is that we are
"exporting" our environmental so-called responsibilities to the likes
of China. Indeed, in Canada last year a last minute agreement was
manufactured to keep the scam going.
Another example of fake conservation was the RSPB's news release of
February 2005 in which they said "cooking our planet will disrupt and
devastate all life and giving this process the cosy name global
warming only makes it easier for all of us, especially politicians, to
ignore the consequences", yet at the same time they were accepting
pages of world wide travel advertisements in their Birds magazine. Is
there any reason I should not call into question the honesty of these
people and call them fakes? That's exactly what they are!
So Malcolm, wise up to the fact that the whole conservation industry
is bent from the top down and I've yet to see an exception.
Angus Macmillan
www.roots-of-blood.org.uk
www.killhunting.org
www.con-servation.org.uk
All truth passes through three stages:
First, it is ridiculed;
Second, it is violently opposed; and
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.
-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
.
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