ecotourism and national parks in norway – possible benefits and challenges
DESCRIPTION
GEC 2007: Hanne Haaland, Researcher, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research - Ecotourism and national parks in Norway – possible benefits and challengesTRANSCRIPT
Ecotourism in sustainable protected areas management - supplement or
replacement for other regulations?
- Some reflections from a Scandinavian perspective
Hanne Haaland &
Øystein Aas
Workshop session I. Ecotourism and Protected Areas
Protected areas in a Scandinavian
context I
• Norway: 36 national parks
• Sweden: 28 national parks
• Finland: 35 national parks
• Most protected areas in Scandinavia public property
Distribution of national parks in Norway
“Allemannsretten” – the public right of
access
• Public right of access a central element of the Scandinavian tradition of outdoor recreation (“friluftsliv”)
• Entails that anyone has the right, within certain restrictions, to move freely across private and public land holdings, as long as the land is not cultivated for agricultural purposes
• The access principle also includes the right to pick wild berries, flowers and mushrooms, and wood for a campfire
• The common right of access represent management challenges in national parks
Nature based commercial activities in,
and around protected areas
• Nature based tourism one of the fastest growing tourism segments
• Environmental authorities with limited influence on the nature of this development, except in protected areas
• National parks significant element in the expansion of Norwegiantourism on the international market
• In terms of regulations – Swedish and Norwegian parks have strict regimes compared to other regions in terms of physical impacts and infrastructure, liberal in terms of activities
• Significant amount of commercial activities taking place in and around national parks
Commercial activities in Norwegian
national parks – some examples
• Primary industries: grazing (sheep and reindeer)
• Limited commercial tourism infrastructure, yet many tourists
• Guided tours, glacier hiking, safaris, hunting and fishing among the main activities
Tools for achieving sustainable tourism
activities in protected areas
• Protected area regulations
• Zoning
• Concessions
• Licences
• Increased environmental education and awareness within the industry – ecotourism products
• Ensuring a common ground for ecotourism products, certification and approval systems
Increasing focus on ecotourism
certification as a management tool
• Increasing interest for certification and eco labelling within tourism industry
• 260 voluntary initiatives worldwide (Honey and Stewart 2002)
• Examples of relatively successful certification systems in Australia and Costa Rica
• Nature’s Best – Swedish approval system (2002)
• Norwegian initiative to develop and establish ecotourism as a concept in Norway, along with an approval system (2006)
Ecotourism certification: improved
environmental profile or marketing tool? I
Certification systems can provide many benefits – but are also subject to criticism:
� Accused of serving as marketing tools, providing a pretext of sustainability for the operators
� Criteria are difficult to test
� Not clear to what degree criteria address important conservation challenges
� Hard to see whether certification systems lead to on-ground improvements
Ecotourism certification: improved environmental profile or marketing tool? II
• Many criteria without liability –much based on self-evaluation
• Criteria may be quite concrete, but with limited impact
• Often lack of third party evaluation
• Problem of sustainable financing
• Lack of specific focus on protected areas
Ecotourism certification: are the
Norwegian tourism operators in and nearby national parks interested? I
• 1 out of 3 operators express that to operate in or near national parks reflects high product quality
• 80 % focus on contributing to increased knowledge and insights among tourists through nature based activities in and around protected areas
• No strict demands to formal competence
• 59 % have not initiated any efforts to reduce wear and tear
• 59 % with no action against avoiding disturbances of wildlife
Ecotourism certification: are the Norwegian tourism operators in and
nearby national parks interested? II
• Varying degree of environmental profile among operators
• A growing interest for ecotourism approval systems or certification among Norwegian operators:
• 44 % of tourism operators see a need for certification of own nature based tourism products
• Certification important for being taken seriously in the market
• Fear of bureaucratic and rigid systems
• Point out the need to involve the industry in the possible development of such a system
• Limited willingness to pay
Concluding remarks I
• Ecotourism may be a viable tool for regulating tourism activities in Norwegian protected areas.
• Approval systems/ certification systems may ensure improved environmental quality of ecotourism and nature based tourism
• Voluntary certification schemes are “softer” than other environmental regulations
• A cheap solution for public management
• Leave much environmental responsibility to the private actors
Concluding remarks II
• Nature based tourism dominated by small - medium sized actors, with limited willingness/ability to pay
• A close link between the financial side of ecotourism certification and its success as a management tool
• Ecotourism certification systems must strive towards third partyevaluation to increase reliability
• Important to evaluate existing certification system with reference to protected area management: lessons learned and areas for potential improvement
Concluding remarks III
• For Scandinavian protected areas, much due to the right of common access, ecotourism certification is not necessarily the best management tool and should be a supplementary mitigation
• However, with a rapidly increasing no of activities in and around national parks, there is a need for management tools raising theenvironmental standards of the industry
• Generally a need to establish closer cooperation and dialogue between tourism operators and protected area management –independently of certification schemes or eco labelling
• The need to develop a system targeting tourism challenges in protected areas more specifically?