ECO-TOURISM

Tourism is a rapidly growing industry in Australia with a bright future. We have one of the most diverse and interesting landscapes found anywhere in the world and are one of the worlds distinct biomes. However tourist facilities and organised tours which are located in or visit natural places have their own set of environmental impacts.

Waste accumulation

Waste accumulation is a major impact. Sightseers, hikers, campers often leave trash of all kinds – cigarette butts, food wrappings, leftover food, food and drinks containers, and the like. This directly affects the scenic and aesthetic features of the areas and degrade their attractiveness. Improper disposal and management of human waste is a common problem for many coastal sites using septic tanks too close to beaches, and leakage to lagoons, snorkelling and swimming areas is a threat. Likewise improper burial of waste in forests, or where it is too near water streams can be problematic for downstream users, or when it happens within catchment areas.

Site degradation

Degradation of natural features is a major concern in and impacts resulting from overused tracks lead to soil compaction or erosion. Carefree visitors who pay little attention to simple ecotourism etiquette inflict damage to vegetation by not staying on marked tracks, camping off designated areas or camping too near water sources. Incidences wherein eco-tourists deliberately vandalize live corals and similar parts of the natural feature for souvenirs have also been reported.

Introduced plants and animals (invasive and non-invasive)

Invasive alien species can be introduced by unwitting tourist through soiled shoes, unclean clothes and camping gear, which can easily contain seeds, spores and other live micro-organisms. The introductions may be difficult to detect but the impact can be dramatic. Forests in Guam where species of native birds have been extinct (including 5 endemics) as a result of the invasive brown tree snake, is a dramatic example of the severity of impacts from invasive species.

Excessive disturbance to fauna/wildlife and flora

Fauna such as birds, whales, turtles are major attractions for eco-tourists. These species exist in their natural habitats and properly designed tours should provide visitors with a rewarding experience of watching nature in action, without disturbing animals in the wild.

Excessive disturbance usually results when groups are too big and typically noisy, and often not familiar with appropriate stalking behaviour. All too often over-keen visitors succumb to the urge to get closer than an animals' recommended escape distance. Many visitors try to hand-feed animals in the wild. Photography using flashes upset animals especially bird fledglings. Especially sensitive periods in the life cycle of animals are the breeding seasons, and immediately after that when parents are nursing young calves or fledglings which can be easily traumatized by human disturbances.

GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL CHOICES

Tourism operations and operators now have access to recognised and comprehensive environmental declaration programs to guide tourists with regard to their environmental impacts and credentials.

GREEN GLOBE 21 works with Travel & Tourism companies and communities to achieve and maintain good environmental and social practice, deliver maximum benefit to all interested parties and provide choice for concerned consumers. The organisation has participants in all continents and approximately 50 countries and has continuously lifted performance thresholds for sustainable tourism.

The GREEN GLOBE 21 brand signifies better environmental performance, improved community interactions, savings through using fewer resources and greater yields from increased consumer demand. The brand provides recognition and promotional support to a global consumer market. 

The Green Globe, Eco-Certified Tourism and the Certification Eco-Tourism declarations are available to all Australian tourism operations. The declarations signify high environmental performance of the operation, improved community interactions, environmental savings through using fewer resources and operators which are sensitive of their impacts on environment and native habitat.

Look out for the different eco-tourism environmental declarations in Australia which operate as a self-funding, not for profit programs.