Beyond Greening - Tourism Watch
Beyond Greening - Tourism Watch
Beyond Greening - Tourism Watch
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<strong>Beyond</strong> <strong>Greening</strong>: Reflections on <strong>Tourism</strong> in the Rio-Process | Positioningpaperwhich to attract new residential and tourist developments which, once completed, lead to thedisappearance or major deterioration of those same areas 16 . According to the United NationsEnvironment Programme, tourism in the most environmentally threatened areas of the planetwill have doubled in the 1990s (Christ et al, 2003).WaterWater stress always accompanies tourism-led industrialisation. On the one hand, the sector’swater consumption is much higher than the consumption of local residents. For example, atourist consumes 3.8 times more water than a resident in Lanzarote (Canary Islands), and inBarbados this figure can be as much as ten times more (Buades, 2008). Various extravagantuses linked to tourism (such as golf courses, swimming pools and water parks, as well asresidential parks and condo hotels) cause consumption levels to shoot up. A golf course needsas much water per year as a community of eight thousand people (GOB Mallorca, 2000).The majority of the most heavily exploited tourist regions are located in areas where there is awater shortage to begin with or where it becomes scarce due to over-consumption as a resultof tourism and "residentialisation". Whereas in the Mediterranean pressure from tourism andresidential development advocates generating fresh water artificially to sustain growth at anycost (by transferring the problem to the climate, as production dramatically increases CO 2emissions), in the Caribbean and Central America, the dispute over water translates intocitizen-led struggles to defend aquifers from the threat of being privatised and used up bytourism and property development TNCs. The case of the Nimboyore river in the Guanacasteprovince of Costa Rica against hotel and residential projects such as the Sol Meliá at PlayaConchal and Reserva Conchal, or Riu and others at El Coco and Ocotal, is paradigmatic(Ramírez Cover, 2008). 17 Another example is the battle by local people and even institutionsagainst the Riu, Iberostar and Fiesta TNCs in Jamaica over the risks that the TNCs’megaprojects are posing to the supply of water as a common good in regions such as Negril. 18Going beyond the multiplication of “pilot projects”The crucial point is to go beyond the multiplication of “pilot projects” and micro actions in"end of pipeline" measures. TNCs and governments have spent years demonstrating how tosave energy by switching off lights when leaving a room, or by attaching water diffusers tocertain devices. By their very nature, which is often subordinate to the requirements of acompany’s image or brand, the results have been practically irrelevant.The international tourist industry must consider a green reform of its products in order tocreate a positive effect on the environmental balance. Strategic priorities should include:- The "greening" of existing sites and services. TNCs could implement plans to install solarenergy and energy efficiency measures in all their facilities, with the aim of lowering theamount of CO 2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, and to relieve pressure for more fossilfuelor nuclear power plants. At the same time, they should also implement general plans tominimise and reuse water and waste products. Desirable initiatives would include consideringdoing away with golf courses and water parks in the most bio-climatically fragile areas, such asthe Mediterranean and the Caribbean. The industry could also implement minimum wasteprogrammes by drastically reducing the use of plastics and non-recyclable materials.16See www.salvemmallorca.org for the situation in the hyper-touristified Majorca17For an idea of just how much water is required for development in this area, visit www.reservaconchal.com18www.jamaica-gleaner.com, 25 August and 17 September 200623