Climate Change and Tourism - UNEP - Division of Technology ...

8 Climate Change and Tourism – Responding to Global Challenges
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improve emergency preparedness, implement and improve warning and evacuation systems, and
put avalanche prevention infrastructure into place.
1.2.1.3 Nature-based destinations
Conclusions:
Nature-based tourism relies on a high diversity of tourism resources (landscapes, flagship species,
ecosystems, outdoor activities relying on specific resources like water level in rivers for canoeing,
etc.). These resources are highly variable in space, and will be affected by climate change in
various ways. It is rather difficult to assess the magnitude of climate change impacts in naturebased
destinations, given this diversity of resources, compared for example to ski resorts, (relying
principally on snow conditions), or coastal resorts (relying mainly on beach and bathing water
conditions). Although ecosystems can be highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, probably
there are good adaptation options in ecotourism, given the wide range of activities that can be
developed and conducted in natural areas. Therefore, there are good possibilities to design effective
adaptation strategies for ecotourism and nature-based destinations.
Recommended measures:
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Develop response plans; i.e., water supply planning (in drought susceptible destinations),
risk assessment and preparedness strategies, and implement early warning systems (e.g., for
flooding);
improve adaptive capacity of authorities and managers of protected areas through capacity building
initiatives, especially in biodiversity hotspots of LDCs and developing countries;
establish scientific monitoring survey programmes to assess ecosystem changes and take necessary
protection measures (monitoring activities could especially focus on species and habitats most
vulnerable to climate change impacts and most important for tourism activities);
promote product diversification, for example: opening up new ‘micro destinations’ and attractions
within and adjacent to an already popular national park or heritage site; diversification is especially
important where key elements of the nature-based product are threatened (e.g., polar bear watching
in Northern Canada);
carry out re-design or redefinition of protected areas, for example revision of zoning of certain
areas, extending protected area to a larger surface, creation of migratory corridors to allow
threatened species to more easily find new geographic ranges;
reduce or remove external stresses such as pollution and in the case of marine resources, agricultural
run-off;
promote the application of integrated tourism carrying capacity assessment techniques (considering
physical, economic, environmental, socio-cultural and managerial aspects) in protected areas as
a tool for tourism planning;
improve visitors and congestion management to prevent overuse of sites and physical impacts of
visitation;
promote mitigation options amongst environmentally conscious eco-tourists, e.g., through
offsetting their trips to nature-based tourism destinations;
ensure active participation of local communities living within or near protected areas, in policy
making and management processes;
UNWTO, 9 July 2008