The Impact of Biodiversity on Tourism

positive and negative impacts

Tourism has both positive and negative impacts on biodiversity:

Positive impacts

Negative impacts

1. Employment and economic development 2. Export earnings 3. Income for management of protected areas 4. Raising awareness amongst tourists of biodiversity and the need for conservation

1. Land conversation for tourism 2. Climate change 3. Overexploitation of natural resources for food, materials, freshwater and recreation 4. Pollution and disturbance of wildlife

positive impacts

The main positive impacts include the following:

Employment and economic development

According to UNWTO, tourism provides more than 75 million direct jobs linked to nature due to the fact that is the main attraction. This is helpful because it provides a source of employment.

Income for management of protected areas

Revenues from entrance and user fees in protected areas and parks provide funds that can be used for their management.

positive impacts

Export earnings

Tourism is a major source of export earnings in many countries, such as kenya, South Africa and many Caribbean States, where the dominant tourism activities are based on biodiversity and high quality ecosystem services.

Raising awareness amongst tourists of biodiversity and the need for conservation

The experience of biodiversity and high quality environments can increase the understanding of and support for biodiversity conservation amongst tourists.

Overexploitation of natural resources

another main negative aspect is the overexploitation of natural resources for food, materials, freshwater and recreation. The tourism sector has a high demand for natural resources, including for foods and materials that are considered prestige items in order to large amounts of freshwater in hotels, sports grounds and landscaped areas and also for access to natural areas for recreation. Planning and development control are extremely important for preventing overexploitation of natural resources

Climate change

tourism affects climate change and that is a consequence of rainfall patterns, water availability, temperature and other related factors. Another main negative aspect is carbon emissions into the atmosphere

Land conversion for tourism

to expand tourism, land is converted to tourism use to provide accommodation and tourism facilities (such as golf courses). This conversion of land affects biodiversity is surrounding areas (free movement of animals)

negative impacts

Disturbance of wildlife

Many animals and plants are sensitive to disturbance by human activities. Animals can be affected by disturbance from tourism in many ways, with the large number of tourists and vehicles. Turtles are affected by the light in hotels situated near the beaches, and they can disorientate them. The negative impacts of tourism can be reduced by simple measures: planning controls to protect biodiversity sites, sensitive areas from tourism development, management of tour groups to minimize disturbance of wildlife.

negative impacts Introduction of invasive alien species

the introduction of invasive alien species can cause a damage to nature. In fact this damage could, for example, cause clog waterways, destroy local ecosystems and damage important resources.

Pollution

from wastes produced by tourism and by use of fertilizers and pesticides on tourism facilities can have adverse impact on biodiversity. In many parts of the world, the disposal of wastewater leads to eutrophication, a process in which nutrient enrichment stimulates the growth of some organism. Solid waste management is also poor in many tourism destinations and wastes damage wildlife. Use of fertilizers and pesticides can damage natural vegetation.