Tourism

In the recent past decades, tourism has increasingly become an integral part of the economy of different countries across the globe, for it generates national income for several countries. Hence, it has since received continuous attention from different scholars from diverse disciplines. The biologists, sociologists, environmentalists, to mention but few, have all contributed to the diverse contemporary debates on tourism. However, this paper will focus on the relationship of tourism to our environment and how tourism can enhance Environmental Conservation. Firstly, it has been established empirically that our environment must be conserved if human does not intend to make several plants and animals extinct. The recent global problem of continuous rise in the world temperature as a result of diverse human activities is a significant proof that our environment must be preserved. The scientists have proven that the green house emission, which destroys the ozone layer, is overly responsible fo5r the incessant rise in world temperature. To claim that the effect of this rise in temperature is adverse on our environment is simply stating the obvious. The effects of global warming on climate include increase in water and air temperatures, shrinking Arctic ice and glaciers and reduced days of frost, frequent rise in sea level, reduction in snow cover, prolonged ice-free period on rivers and lakes to mention few. Global warming has been said to also affect the composition of the air in the atmosphere for the atmospheric carbon dioxide has been noticed to be on the increase, the continuous rise in temperature is directly increasing the concentration of not only carbon dioxide but also methane, and other gases. All these have not only particularly affected human alone, but also vegetations and animals, most particularly the polar bear, which is presently facing the possibility of extinction, since its habitat, snow is increasingly melting away.

The polar bear is presently facing extinction, for its habitat is gradually disappearing due to human destruction of the ozone layer, leading to rise in world temperature. The female bear has been noticed to be less fertile, while dead bodies of polar bear a found occasionally. (www.usarticwildlife.org).

Yet again, many of the sudden climatic change and natural disasters witnessed across the globe is not unconnected with the increasingly rise in world temperature, which leads to rise in sea level culminating to flood.  It has hence become paramount for man to become more conscious of the need to conserve the environment if man does not want to extinct the entire natures creatures, including man himself.
                 
Tourism has been defined as the act of making a business out of providing accommodation and other services to people visiting interesting places. (Mow forth M Munt I, 2003). However, the definition of tourism is not the primary aim of this paper, the papers objective is to answer the question, how does tourism relate with our natural environmental At this juncture, Batho Peles definition of tourism will rightly set the answer this question straight. Bathos described tourism as the renting out for short-term lets, of other peoples environments, whether that is a coastline, a city, a mountain range or a rainforest. (National Responsible Tourism Development Guidelines for South Africa, Provisional Guidelines
March 2002). The Oxford dictionary has also defined tour as a journey for pleasure during which places of interest are visited. (Oxford Dictionary). Invariably, what this definition means is that people visit mainly interesting places or historical places for pleasure. However, these places are not intrinsically interesting, what makes these places interesting is the natural environment, the culture of the people and other artifacts in the environment. Therefore, natural environment and tourism are interwoven and indeed embedded in each other for the environment of a particular place goes along way in determining the success and development of tourism in that place.  

Yet again, tourism can be described as the act of showcasing local environmental artifacts to both residents and non resident alike, not only for the sole purpose of generating funds, but to promote the locality of the artifact and to further preserved the artifacts and nature. Several scholars have affirmed the relationship between natural environment and tourism, claiming that line can hardly be drawn between the two as the affinity of the two is quite high.

Tourism is dependent upon the social, cultural and natural environment within which it occurs, and its success is dependent upon the environment that it operates within. (National Responsible Tourism Development Guidelines for South Africa, Provisional Guidelines March 2002).

The conservation of Nature is paramount in tourism most especially in the field of wildlife, parks and game reserves. If properly planned and effectively channeled, tourism can be of great benefit to the development of natural artifact, most especially in pastoral areas in developing nations that rely on natural artifacts.

The sustainable use of environmental resources for tourism is emphasized when protected areas are used as tourist destinations. For instance, according to recent guidelines from UNEP, sustainable tourism should maintain essential ecological processes and help to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, and provide socioeconomic benefits to all stakeholders (UNEP 2007).

Apart from agriculture, tourism remains the practice that shares close affinity with conservation of nature. The development of tourism has in the recent past brought about conflicts between the traditional use of land and tourism.  Wildlife, game reserves, national parks etc are all nature based tourism, invariably they are all dependant on the level of conservation and management of nature. Once the essence of these natural environments is destroyed, tourist desists from being enchanted in such environment and hence stops visiting.
Empirically, researches have pinpointed tourism as a crucial developmental key to the local communities with peculiar or interesting natural habitat. Since these habitats are the sole reason people visit the area, it is hence paramount that the habitats be maintained. It has been observed over the years that the developing countries have more natural habitat than the developed countries, this is simply because the developing countries are just moving towards industrialization but the developed countries are already industrialized and have altered virtually all the natural environment to suit the purpose of industrialization. It is hence common that the developing countries hence have more tourist attraction than the developed countries.

The works of Budowski in the 1970s, have also proven that the interaction between tourism and the conservation of nature can be categorized into three major classes, which are conflict, symbiosis and coexistence. The three classes are inevitable reactions that arise in the course existence of the two phenomenons. They are expatiated as follows

Coexistence
Tourism exist, as well as nature conservation, hence the two inevitably co-exist. This simply means that tourism and nature conservation both have a mutual existence. This co-existence is the first phase of relationship between the two. The first relationship is the initial relationship between the two and it usually develop into either a mutual beneficiary co-existence know as symbiosis or a harsh interaction which is can be described as conflicting or antagonizing relationship.

Conflict
This as said earlier is a result of the initial relationship between tourism and nature conservation. This is a scenario whereby tourism inhibits the conservation of nature and its artifacts. It is a case where tourism has adverse effects on the natural environments, inevitably inhibiting the conservation of nature.

Symbiosis
This is a kind of relationship whereby tourism promotes the conservation of natural environment due to the interaction between the two. This is the situation whereby the mutual co-existence of tourism and nature conservation is complimentary to each other.
                                                         
Ecotourism
A symbiotic relationship between tourism and nature conservation is usually such that tourism is inclined on visiting interesting natural environments. This dependence on nature by tourism is described as Eco-tourism. It has been defined as visiting fairly serene areas for the purpose of perusing particular natural attractions and resources (Boo 1990, Ecotourism Society 1993). Yet again, another scholar has defined ecotourism as an embodiment of tourism with natural resources, sustainable management, conservation, and the concept of environmental education. (httpwww.cmsconsortium.orgindex.html)

Virtually all tourism industry in different world across the globe is interwoven with natural environmental artifacts that attract people from different spheres of life. The motive of tourism is attract people both foreigners and citizens to interesting locations. Locations are usually interesting when they have beautiful and alluring qualities, which are usually derived from the natural artifact of location, the artificial architectural designs or the historical background of the location. The relationship between nature inclined tourism and nature conservation is a mutual beneficiary one since the development of one promotes the other.
                           
Use of Land, Nature Conservation and Tourism
The traditional use of land is mainly for farming and residential purposes. However, in our contemporary world that is increasingly dynamic, land can be put to use in several ways that is relatively new to the traditional method. It is important to note that the use of land determines whether its natural resources will be conserved or exhausted in the process of utilizing the land. Hence, it can be rightly claimed that the use of land is proportional to the conservation of nature. Both the traditional and the contemporary use of land have impacts on our natural environment, however the traditional use is known to be more inclined to the conservation of our natural environment than the contemporary use (with the exception of contemporary ecotourism). Researches have proven that there are several things that influence what a piece of land is used for. This includes the following
Topography the geographic scenery, landscape and vegetation of a land goes a long way in determining the way such land is put to use. Vast piece of land endowed with natural artifacts like water, thick forest, mountain and hills are more inclined to be used for ecotourism, such as game reserves or wildlife, while land without such features are hardly used for such.

Natural resources the presence and the discovery of natural resources on a piece of land inherently determine what such land is used for. An example is a piece of land discovered to have coal, such land will essentially be used for mining.

Ownership The ownership of land also has great influence on how it is used. It is important to note that there three basic types of land ownership, which are private owned, communally owned and government owned. Private owned land are more inclined to be put to private use, while communally and government owned are usually favoured for public use. History has proven that several communally owned land, with natural artifact described earlier are often used for parks, game reserves and wildlife keeping.

Location The location of a land also determines the usage of such land. Land located in remote and local communities are suitable for parks and other ecotourism, while land located in the centre of urban areas are used for industrial purpose.

Nevertheless, due to the technological advancement witnessed across the globe, most especially in the developed countries, there are no hard and fast rules as to which particular use a piece of land must be used for. Tractors, hydraulic lifts and other machineries are all used in clearing and putting pieces of land into required shape. Invariably, due to diverse reasons, irrespective of the location, topography, or ownership, pieces of land can be manipulated into diverse usage as it suits the purpose of the owner. A ready example is the developed countries that have constructed tarred roads at the heart of pieces of land that used to be thick forest. By and large, there is an inverse relationship between highly urbanized environments and nature conservation, for the more a place is urbanized, the less nature is conserved and the less nature is replaced with artificial decoration. Yet again, the lesser an environment is urbanized the more nature is conserved.

Furthermore, natural environment with vast nature artifacts are good locations for ecotourism. Governments, organizations and individuals are all aware that tourism is can serve as a tangible income if properly harnessed, hence the recent major development of tourism industry. This has since developed the conservation of our natural environments, since it has been established that tourism is not restricted to accommodation of visitors in five star hotels, but also the sight-seeing natures artifacts.
     
Ways Environmental Conservation can be Enhanced through Tourism
Tourism can be harnessed to generate Income for the upkeep of the natural environment From all the discussion above, it is obvious that tourism directly enhances the conservation of peculiar environments and natural habitats. It has also been observed that, if properly planned, tourism is capable of generating immense income from tourists that come to explore the environment. Yet again, government should give all necessary support to private tourism companies, creating conducive environment for them to make good profit. Once these companies can make profit, they should be encouraged to donate to the course of nature conservation. This is not a kind of tax but rather a donation. This money can be channeled to further develop the natural environments since the maintenance will usually cost money. The income generated from public parks, and game reserves can be used to further reserve and protect such peculiar natural environment in order to maintain the artifacts.

A perfect example of the financial substance of natural environment by the tourism industry is the annual financial contribution of well over US 40,000 to the Orangutan Foundation, America by the tour operator Discovery Initiatives. (www.Thetouroperator discoveryinitiatives.com). This organization is the brainchild of tour Operators towards Sustainable Tourism Development. The whole amount is made from just 5 groups of tourist consisting of 10 people in each group, which visits the Kalimantans, precisely to see Tanjing Putting National Park. The park has been known to be undergoing immense pressures from uncontrolled gold mining, which results into river pollution and deforestation. The contributed money is mainly spent on paying the salary of staff in the park and rehabilitation and caring for the orangutans. (www.Thetouroperatordiscoveryinitiatives.com)

It can generate income to the governmentincreases governments revenues
Governments usually tax industry of tourism according to the profit made. Apart from tax, there should also be levies on lease of property or royalty. Income can also be made from gate fees, license fees on game reserves, rental fee on recreation equipment and other miscellaneous vocations such as hunting and fishing in the government reserved areas. All these generate income for the governments in which is further used in maintaining such natural environments. The more natural reserved areas and tourist centres in a nation, the more money to be made by the nation. The money can also be used to either develop these areas or used to pay salaries and other types of maintenance. For example, In Belize, a US 3.75 departure tax goes directly to the Protected Area Conservation Trust, a Belizean fund dedicated to the conservation of the barrier reef and rainforest. (www.ThetouroperatordiscoveryInitiatives.com)

Good Management of tourism facilities will invariably enhances environmental conservation
 As the facilities of the tourism industry are serviced, nature is further conserved. With maintenance of these facilities, continuous deterioration of environmental artifacts is prevented. These facilities are the instruments used by tourism industry in generating income, hence they are usually maintain and given much attention. These facilities should be continuously maintained, once they are not neglected, the nature will continue to be conserved. Furthermore, there should be proper planned maintenance designs for facilities this will ensure that nature is not damaged in the process of creating tourism industry out of nature. Tourism production techniques can be arranged such that materials used do not have adverse effect on natural environment.

Tourism arouses Environmental consciousness
Most often than not, tourism possesses the ability to arouse natural environmental consciousness in both residents and non residents. It brings to the consciousness the environmental problems. This consciousness can be channeled towards resolving environmental problems. Adequate provision should be made for natural environmental development using the consciousness generated by tourism. Tourism ensures that people appreciate the natural environment, this appreciation also generate a clones between people and their environment. All these relationships between nature and people incite people to indulge in behaviors that are environmentally friendly. Hence, tourism enables people to value nature and overly act in ways to preserve the artifact of nature that the value.

An instance is the school children in Tegucigalpa, who as a routine visit La Tigra cloud forest visitor center, funded in part by eco-tourist dollars, to learn more about the intricacies of the rainforest. (www.ThetouroperatordiscoveryInitiatives.com)

Tourism can promote and preserve culture and nature of the people
It is not uncommon for local residents to migrate to more developed part in their country.  This migration often distorts the culture of this people, for they tend to lose their local culture and tradition to the more urban ones. However, tourism can preserve the culture of the local people by creating jobs for local citizens, which does not permit them to migrate. These jobs usually come in the form tourist guide, park attendants and other game reserve staff. These jobs tend to make these local to remain in their habitat. The tourists then have the opportunity of interacting with these locals in their natural environment, exposing tourist to local culture thereby promoting the culture of the local people. Hence, tourism promotes and preserves the culture of resident by providing them with jobs, which ensures that they interact with tourists.

Protection and preservation
The development of tourism also generates protective laws and regulations on reserved areas. These laws if properly enforced will ensure the preservation of natural environment and overly preserve natural artifacts. For example, the Hawaiian rainforest has laws protecting native species. Due to this protection, Hawaii has now become a tourist and an ecosystem research centre of international standard. Summarily, the advent of tourism can be used to restore the natural endowments that are facing extinction.

Tourism promotes proactive restoration of biological diversity and sustainable use of natural resources. Because of their attractiveness, pristine sites and natural areas are identified as valuable and the need to keep the attraction alive can lead to creation of national parks and wildlife parks. (www.Thetou roperatordiscoveryInitiative.com)
                                                   
Conclusion
The development of tourism has been on the increase in the recent past due to the keen awareness of its advantages to human development, which include income generation and nature conservation. Researches have proven that tourism if properly harnessed promotes conservation of nature most especially in developing countries. Apart from income generation to the economy, tourism serves as a medium of social development in diverse nations too. The socio-economic advantages of tourism added with its ability to conserve valuable environmental artifact has made it development necessary. Virtually all conservationists have urged all countries in the world to embrace the development of tourism due to the vast positive impact it has on environmental conservation.