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?