Ecotourism and national parks in Norway – possible benefits and challenges

Ecotourism in sustainable protected areas management - supplement or replacement for other regulations?

- Some reflections from a Scandinavian perspective Hanne Haaland & Ă˜ystein 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 Norwegian tourism 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 selfevaluation 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 party evaluation 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 the environmental 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?