Marine and Beach

ConservationIssues of Unsustainability and Sustainable Developments

Introduction• Unsustainable issues that project the

degradation our world’s beaches, marine life and the people that live to enjoy them

• Sustainable developments and contributions from people and organizations to the conservation of our beaches and marines worldwide

BackgroundMany of the world’s beaches and much of the world’s marine life is in jeopardy of travel and tourism’s steady expansion throughout continentsWith the help of many organizations and countries around the world, making our beaches and coasts more sustainable is becoming a priority issue and the goal for all.

Problems of Unsustainability

• Delivery and usage of energy• Pollution• Human Impact– Degradation of beach, coasts, and

marine life– Loss of habitats and biodiversity

• Overuse of water and land

Energy Usage and Delivery

• Problem: the growing consumption of energy; dependency on fossil fuels, the GHG emissions and its global effect for future business growth– Transport

• Travel, domestic and international

– Accommodation• Hotels: for heating,

cooling, desalination of saltwater, etc.

Contributors to Energy Consumption

• Growth rates of international and domestic travelers

• Trends of travel over long or short periods of time

• For the tourism industry, energy encompasses:– Fuel used for

transportation (car, bus, even air travel)

– Energy used for operations, such as those in hotels and resorts

Energy: Vehicle Transport• Vehicle transport is

comprised of cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles and ships

• Accounts for one-quarter of global energy use and energy-related emissions of CO₂

• IEA (International Energy Agency) projects that vehicular transport energy use and related CO₂ emissions will increase by nearly 50% in 2030 and nearly 80% by 2050

Energy: Air Travel

• Air travel is responsible for 12% of CO₂ emissions from all transport sources– Share of GHG emission responsibility projected

to reach 16% by 2050 and 24% by 2100• Airplanes, in respect to their airlines, can produce

large amounts of CO₂ into the atmosphere– One international flight can contribute to the

individual’s carbon footprint than any other activity

• Energy consumption expected to rise 14% between 2008 and 2035– Reaching 3.1 quadrillion BTUs

Energy: Air Travel cont’d

• Energy equivalents:– Terms of Energy -

Flying a fully loaded A380 aircraft generates equivalent emissions as a nine-mile queue of moving cars on the road

– Terms of Passengers – Also the equivalent of flying seven smaller aircraft

Energy: Accommodation

• Hotels are large consumers of water and energy when in operational use

• Studies have shown “…hotel buildings consume more energy than other commercial buildings.” (Mensah, 2013)

• “Most of the energy usage in the hotel industry is for the safety, security, comfort and satisfaction of guests; entertainment, transportation, housekeeping, food production and service as well as Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC).” (Mensah, 2013)

Energy: Accommodation cont’d

• Major problem in hotel industry – ENERGY WASTAGE!!!!

• Thirty percent of electricity consumed in lighting

• Forty-two percent of energy used for cooling and heating in hotels (commonly wasted)

• Lack of routine electrical maintenance, use of obsolete and inefficient equipment and not turning off gadgets or lights when not in use

Overuse of Water and Land

• Problem: Overuse of water and land due to tourism’s constant growth– Strain of water resources for swimming

pools, hotels, golf courses and personal use by tourists• Result of water shortage, water degradation, and

excess of wastewater

– Use of land accommodation for hotels and resorts• Direct impact on natural resources

(non-/renewable) due to expansions and construction of new facilities

Strain on Water Resources

• Two distinct uses of the world’s water in reference to tourism: – Direct and Indirect

• Direct refers to the on-site hotel operations uses such as laundry, swimming pools, toilets, showers, spas, etc.

• Indirect refers to construction, production of biofuels, and food availability– Creating a “water hinderland”

• In 2012, Bali’s water crisis was purposefully due to the tourism industry– Water most critical

and scarce resource– Tourism absorbed 65%

of the island’s total water supply

– Created a competition for water

Land Use for Accommodation

• Mass tourism along coastal areas is one of the main causes of island and coastal land use

• Coastal areas are considered some of the most beautiful in the world– According to the UN, 60% of the world

populace lives within 60km of a coast• Eighty percent of tourism takes place

in coastal areas

• With the construction of infrastructure such as hotels and resorts, coastal and marine ecosystems are lost under concrete or destroyed

• Recreational activities also add to the devastation of marine and coastal ecosystems

Pollution

• Problem: Over 80% of marine and coastal pollution comes from land-based activities– Oil spills– Fertilizers– Garbage disposal– Sewage– Toxic chemicals

Human Impact

• Problem: Travel and tourism has given leeway to mass human impact on beaches and coasts worldwide– Disturbance of

environmental and ecological community (i.e. flora and fauna)

– Loss of habitats and biodiversity

Human Interaction

• Human recreational activity creating fun for all but damaging the environmental ecosystems

• Sunscreen lotions raising the ocean’s acidity and killing marine ecosystems

• Human touch to coral reefs kills the coral thereby changing the ocean pH

• Coastal developments and tourists causing fauna and flora to change their instinctive behaviors

• Damaging coral reefs worldwide

• Disturbance of marine life in mangroves and beaches

• Human trash and wastewater polluting coasts and marines hindering floral and fauna growth

Sustainable Practices

Sand is a Finite Resource:

• Beach Nourishment- (also known as beach recharging) involves the importing of sand or gravel to make good losses due to erosion.

• In some Regions Beach nourishment is a controversial practice.

• Rising Global sea levels have also contributed to the rise of beach nourishment in many countries.

• Nourishment schemes can vary from a few truckloads to repair a blow out or other small-eroded areas up to multi-million pound schemes requiring sea delivery of sand dredged from the seabed.

Impacts:

• Sand deposited on the upper beach may be subject to wind erosion, causing an unwanted increase in blown sand across the backshore; fencing and vegetation transplanting will reduce this problem.

• The deposits may also bury existing vegetation and intertidal invertebrate communities, reducing the natural stability of the fore dunes and destroying habitat.

• As a general rule impact will be less for regular small nourishment operations than for occasional large operations.

• If the source material contains sediments dissimilar to the indigenous dune beach sand, or if it contains vegetation or seeds foreign to the dune system then the dune geomorphology and ecology may be adversely affected.

• Any fine material will be washed out of the nourished beach, potentially impacting on near shore fisheries and invertebrate communities.

Best Practices and Environmental Opportunities:

• Importing beach nourishment will increase the volume beach and/or dune material, and will enhance the natural recovery of dune face erosion.

• Nourishment will also gradually feed sediment to adjacent beaches due to long shore drift.

• The initial artificial appearance of the upper beach and dune face is quickly transformed by wind, waves and vegetation to a more natural form.

• Hotels, shore side businesses, and locals benefit from beach nourishment because it provides a wide upper beach for recreational use and visual pleasure.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY4KAM5Pc3c

SUSTAINABLE BEACHES A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR BEACH TOURISM

• MSOLUTIONS and Sustainable Seas in the UK have created a partnership to develop CLEANBLUE for hotels and public beaches in Europe and further a field.

• CleanBlue presents a unique opportunity for beach tourism. It is a vehicle by which a resort can demonstrate action on the issue of beach safety. It also does not conflict with any existing “hotel based or other” risk management, but should be considered as an essential complementary component thereto.

• CleanBlue is the first international sustainability beach management advisory scheme designed to minimize the beach tourism industry’s liability issues and to complement existing environmental management systems.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooDOiNqP_j0

Blue Flag

• The Blue Flag is a voluntary eco-label awarded to more than 3850 beaches and marinas in 48 countries across Europe, South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada and the Caribbean.

• The Blue Flag works towards sustainable development of beaches and marinas through strict criteria dealing with Water Quality, Environmental Education and Information, Environmental Management, and Safety and Other Services.

Blue Flag Beach & Marina Criteria

Beaches are awarded the Blue Flag based on compliance with 32 criteria covering the following:•1) Environmental Education and Information•2) Water Quality•3) Environmental Management•4) Safety and Services

All Blue Flags are awarded for one season at a time.

If the criteria are not fulfilled during the season or the conditions change, the Blue Flag may be withdrawn

How to implement Blue Flag Program in a New Country

• In order to implement the Blue Flag Program in a new country, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) member organization must go through the following four steps in the implementation process:1) Organizing a Blue Flag workshop/meeting

• 2) Establishment of a Blue Flag national committee• 3) Carrying out the Blue Flag feasibility phase (production of national and

local feasibility report)• 4) Running the Blue Flag pilot phase (testing the compliance at pilot sites,

filling out the gaps)

Blue Flag Beaches

Costa Rica

• In 2013, a record 90 beaches were awarded the Ecological Blue Flag; comparatively, during the program’s first year there were only 10 participants

• Two beaches – Punta del Madero Beach in Guanacaste and Punta Blanca in Puntarenas – received top marks (5 stars).

• The requirements to achieve a 5-star rating are rigorous, and include not only a 90-100% score on the above criteria, but also disabled access, recycling initiative, car and horse restrictions, year-round security and rescue teams, and more.

Corona Save the Beach Campaign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiZo6gB3FyU/watch?v=MiZo6gB3FyU

Sustainable Coral Reefs

• It has been estimated that 10% of the Earth's coral reefs have already been seriously degraded and a much greater percentage is threatened.

• If allowed to continue, this decline is likely to lead to the loss of most of the world's reef resources during the next century.

Why We Should Care?

• http://marinebio.org/oceans/coral-reefs.asp

Hawai’i Hotel Reef Stewardship Project

• Hawaii is home to approximately 80% of the coral reefs found in U.S. waters.

• Nearly one-quarter of its fish species, reef-building corals, and reef invertebrates are endemic.

• These remarkable ecosystems generate approximately $800 million in gross annual revenue for the state and are considered one of the hospitality sector’s greatest assets.

• Recognizing that many of Hawaii’s hotels are already leaders in environmental sustainability, this project was developed to explore new niches and acknowledge those who engage in efforts beyond the standard water and energy reduction efforts.

Steward Ship Project

• Example Activities:• Reef etiquette signage• In-room educational materials• Educational tools for staff to share with guests• Staff training in reef ecology and outreach strategies• Supporting hotels’ watersports companies in the implementation of the Voluntary Standards for Marine Tourism and working with concierges and activity agencies to provide materials and messages that can be shared with visitors.

Coral Restoration Foundation• CRF is leading the development of offshore nursery and restoration

methods to preserve unique genetic lineages of staghorn and elkhorn coral for research and restoration purposes.

• Tens of thousands of corals are produced through pioneering propagation techniques and housed in multiple offshore nurseries.

• Corals are maintained and strategically out planted on local reefs to promote genetic diversity during spawning events.

• CRF continues to collaborate closely with other organizations to further develop strategies for restoring threatened species of corals.

• http://www.coralrestoration.org• http://vimeo.com/83804282

Ocean ConservancySustainable Fisheries

• Fish nourish wildlife. They also sustain local economies and attract the tourism dollars of snorkelers, divers and recreational fishermen.

• Ocean Conservancy has worked for more than 20 years to support sustainable U.S. fisheries. It’s in everyone’s best interest—distributors, retailers, fishermen and consumers—to restore the ocean’s bounty and strengthen our coastal economies.

• The work doesn’t stop there. They are helping connect fishermen and seafood buyers who want to purchase sustainably caught seafood. Contributing to a shared vision where retailers, restaurant chains and other seafood businesses support good fishing practices—so never again will fish be caught faster than they can reproduce.

• http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/fisheries/

Sustainable Fisheries Group• Fish Forever works with fishing communities to create

TURF-Reserves, which include spatial fishing rights called TURFs (Territorial User Rights Fisheries) and no-take zones (reserves) inside or adjacent to the TURF where fishing is not permitted.

• Providing exclusive access to coastal fisheries through TURFs is critical; it ensures that local fishermen reap the rewards of being responsible guardians of the sea. Additionally, reserves help to boost fish productivity while protecting biodiversity. The coupled TURF-Reserve system overcomes the limitations that these approaches face when used in isolation.

Australia’s Oceans are Special and Worthy of Protection

• Marine parks (also referred to as marine protected areas and marine reserves) are special places, underwater parks that are managed primarily for the conservation of their ecosystems, habitats and the marine life they support.

• In Australia, marine parks are multi-use areas and allow a wide range of activities according to different management zones. This may include activities such as recreational and charter fishing; marine tourism such as diving, snorkelling, whale watching; commercial fishing; ports development and shipping; and oil and gas exploration.

• Marine parks are an important tool in the toolbox of ocean conservation to help reduce stress on marine ecosystems. As well as establishing networks of marine parks we need to ensure our ocean use is better planned, managed and ecologically sustainable, we need to reduce land-based pollution and take action to address climate change.

Hotels & Sustainable Sea Food• The Marriott International hotel chain is taking their commitment to

environmentalism into the kitchen with a new program aimed at bringing more sustainable seafood to guests' plates.

• Marriott has partnered with CleanFish Alliance to create the “Future Fish” program, a policy that asks all Marriott hotel restaurants to ensure at least 50% of the seafood it purchases is sustainable.

• Put simply, 'sustainable seafood' is fish or shellfish that reaches our plates with minimal impact upon fish populations or the wider marine environment. It's not just the numbers of fish left in the ocean that matters, it’s the way in which the fish are caught, the impact on the seafloor, other marine wildlife and how fishing affects the healthy and natural functioning of marine ecosystems.

Sustainable Cruise ShipsPractices

• http://www.cruiseforward.org/the-cruise-industry-and-water

Sustainable Reminder• 1. Mind Your Carbon Footprint and Reduce Energy

Consumption• 2. Make Safe, Sustainable Seafood Choices• 3. Use Fewer Plastic Products• 4. Help Take Care of the Beach• 5. Don't Purchase Items That Exploit Marine Life• 6. Be an Ocean-Friendly Pet Owner• 7. Support Organizations Working to Protect the Ocean • 8. Influence Change in Your Community• 9. Travel the Ocean Responsibly• 10. Educate Yourself and others About Oceans and Marine

Life

References

• http://www.blueflag.org• http://www.coralrestoration.org• http://vimeo.com/83804282• http://sfg.msi.ucsb.edu• http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/

fisheries/• http://www.cruiseforward.org/the-cruise-industry-

and-water

• http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/

• http://www.energyville.com/sourcesanddemands/airplanes/• http://www.globalbasecamps.com/sustainable-tourism-

ecotourism• http://www.omicsgroup.org/journals/hotel-energy-efficiency-

towards-sustainable-tourism-2169-0286.1000e108.php?aid=19118

• http://hotelexecutive.com/business_review/2724/green-hotels-energy-and-waste-efficiency-through-sustainability-management

• http://www.tourism-climate.de/emissions.htm• http://www.biodiversity.ru/coastlearn/tourism-eng/

why_problems.html