Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 67 (2006) 280e292 www.elsevier.com/locate/ecss
The impact of tourism and personal leisure transport on coastal environments: A review John Davenport*, Julia L. Davenport Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Lee Maltings, Prospect Row, Cork, Ireland Received 23 May 2005; accepted 16 November 2005 Available online 19 January 2006
Abstract Coastal tourism started in the 19th Century and has increased in non-linear fashion ever since, stimulated by a combination of developments in transport technology and rising prosperity. Initially, mainly national in character, the introduction of roll-on, roll-off ferries and inexpensive air transport caused an exponential 28-fold rise in international tourism between 1950 and the start of the 21st Century. This review considers the impact of tourism at two levels: (1) that created by the sheer numbers of tourists and their demands (‘mass tourism and transport’) and (2) that resulting from individual, often novel, forms of transport (‘personal leisure transport’). Under (1), the consequences of the construction of coastal resorts and roads, marinas and jetties for habitat fragmentation and reduced biodiversity are described. Next, the effects of large cruise ships (now some 250 in number) are considered, particularly in relation to unregulated pollution and the delivery of substantial numbers of tourists to remote destinations. Thirdly, the literature related to disturbance caused by intertidal trampling by tourists on rocky/sandy shores is reviewed, followed by a section devoted to the unappreciated effects of beach ‘cleaning’ (i.e. removal of natural strandlines as well as litter) that is practiced throughout the world’s sandy beach resorts. Finally, the potentially positive area of coastal ecotourism is considered, but evidence is assembled to highlight the problems associated with too high a demand. Under (2), the impact of a range of personal leisure transport modes is considered. These range from relatively innocuous pursuits (e.g. swimming, surfing, sailboarding and dinghy sailing), to an extremely popular sport (SCUBA diving) that is marketed for its environmentally-friendly nature, yet causes measurable deterioration in the world’s coral ecosystems despite good management practices. The impact of motorboats is considered, particularly in the context of transmission of non-native species, while the highly polluting and disturbing technology of ‘personal watercraft’ is evaluated. Finally, the uncontrolled emergence of new ‘extreme sports’ (e.g. ‘coasteering’, kitesurfing) is identified as a future problem. Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: tourism; coastal infrastructure; cruise ships; ecotourism; personal watercraft; extreme sports
1. Introduction Mass tourism is a modern phenomenon, stemming primarily from the introduction of personal vehicles and motorized mass transport from the mid-19th Century onwards, accelerating particularly after 1945 with the development of passenger airlines. Coastal resorts became increasingly popular as tourist destinations; the benefits of the sea air, sun, water, seafood,
* Corresponding author. E-mail address:
[email protected] (J. Davenport). 0272-7714/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2005.11.026
beaches, scenic views were the initial attraction. The advent of the availability of new destinations, more adventurous activities and a desire to observe wildlife (birds, whales, corals, etc.) mean that coastal resorts still attract the greatest percentage of tourists every year; 63% of European holidaymakers prefer the coast (EC, 1998). Initially, mass tourism was a short-range phenomenon largely within nation states and, although many tourist areas still get most of their visitors from within the state, mass tourism is now global with tourists from developed countries visiting almost all parts of the globe. Worldwide the number of international arrivals (i.e. arrivals from outside the country) has shown a steady increase from
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25 million in 1950 to over 700 million in 2002, corresponding to an average annual growth rate of 6.6% and it is estimated that by 2020 there will be 350 million tourists visiting the Mediterranean coastal region alone (WTO, 2004). This substantially underestimates the total extent of tourism as it does not include long and short-distance tourism within countries (Burger, 2002), that is still dominant in many developed countries (e.g. USA). The greatest ecological threats that mass tourism poses undoubtedly lie in the infrastructure and transport arrangements required to support it, particularly in situations where the numbers of tourists are subject to little control. Physical development of resorts, consumption of fuel by buildings, aircraft, trains, buses, taxis and cars, overuse of water resources, pollution by vehicle emissions, sewage and litter all contribute to substantial, often irreversible, environmental degradation, as well as to dramatic social consequences. However, increasing prosperity in developed countries has also created a worldwide demand for individual leisure transport, from simple walking and swimming to modern phenomena such as use of off-road vehicles (ORVs), self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), personal watercraft (PWCs) and kitebuggies. Many of these individual activities have considerable ecological effects in coastal areas but have tended to be considered independently despite having features in common. Travel and tourism together are worth around US$ 3.5 trillion per annum and employed 200 million people at the end of the 20th Century. Many developing countries gain significant (sometimes dominant) income from the trade. This is particularly true of islands or countries with substantial coastal tourism: in these cases tourism is often a major proportion of the gross domestic project e Caribbean countries are four times more dependent on tourism than any other area in the world (Gormsen, 1997). Tourism brings economic benefits to countries, but there are usually substantial socio-economic and environmental costs associated with it. Such costs can affect larger areas that superficially appear more resilient (e.g. Algarve, Portugal) and can be overwhelming for small island resorts. Holder (1988) postulated the ‘self-destruct theory of tourism’. This theory states that an attractive natural place may become developed for an upscale exclusive market wanting low-density settlement and willing to pay top prices. Soon other developers move in and competition develops. In order to fill rooms, rates are lowered, standards are proportionately lowered and the place becomes a destination for mass tourism. The elite move on to unspoiled areas. A cogent and cautionary account (Wiese, 1996) of irreversible environmental and socio-economic degradation on the island of Cancu´n (Mexico) is a good illustration of this phenomenon. Cancu´n Island is 17 km long and 100e400 m wide with an enclosed shallow mangrove lined lagoon that, before development, held a variety of marine life and was an important nesting site for seabirds and sea turtles. There were several openings to the lagoon. Thousands of unskilled workers moved into the area. Quarries were developed and causeways constructed linking the island to the mainland and restricting the flow of fresh water into the lagoon. Sections
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of the lagoon were filled in for golf courses and marinas and amusement parks were built. Sewage treatment and the disposal of other wastes became major problems; eventually the exhausted quarries were used as rubbish dumps, polluting the groundwater supplies. After hurricane Gilbert hit Cancu´n in 1988, tourists were reluctant to return. Hotels reduced their prices and tourist arrivals increased, but these were more budget conscious and unwilling to spend extra money. The income for the country and the local people has been considerably reduced. Somewhat ironically, the hotel complexes of that island were chosen recently (2004) as a suitable site for a World Trade Organisation summit for action against hunger and poverty. Full consideration of the global environmental impact of tourism (including the worrying contribution of air transport to climate change) is not within the remit of this review, which is concerned only with coastal habitats. The review is divided into two sections. The first is concerned with the effects of various aspects of mass tourism and related transport infrastructure on coastal ecosystems. The second section considers the impact of different types of personal leisure transport on the coastal environment. Both sections draw together material not previously handled holistically. In writing the review the authors have necessarily had to rely to an unusual extent on ‘grey’ literature (i.e. limited-circulation reports and webdisseminated material). This reflects the sustained lack of financial support for rigorous scientific study of the environmental effects of tourism and transport. 2. Mass tourism and transport 2.1. Coastal transport infrastructure Tourist resorts require effective transport links. The explosion of car- and coach-based tourism in the 20th Century contributed heavily to the development of extensive road networks throughout the developed world, increasing habitat loss to tarmac and augmenting habitat fragmentation. Many coastal roads were built simply to connect resorts and sight-seeing opportunities. Tourist resorts are also generally characterised by extensive car-parking facilities, taking yet more land, particularly in coastal areas. For example, Turkey has been affected by urbanization with a level increasing from 18.5% in 1950 to about 62% by 2000. Turkish coastal zones constitute approximately 30% of the total land, but coastal populations presently constitute 51% of the total (Burak et al., 2004). Exponential growth of the use of yachts, pleasure trip vessels and water taxis has fuelled marina and jetty development. Such coastal structures change current systems and often profoundly alter the sand supply to natural beaches. Although increased oceanographic expertise, combined with massively enhanced computer-modelling power permits a degree of prediction and amelioration of these effects, a recent study in Israel (Klein and Zviely, 2001) demonstrated that ‘predicted’ and ‘real’ effects of construction of the Herzliya marina (including breakwaters designed to minimize erosion) diverged considerably, despite meticulous prior environmental impact planning
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that incorporated tank tests of a physical scale model system. Klein and Zviely (2001) caution that the goal of effective ‘Integrated Coastal Zone Management’ (ICZM) (e.g. Post and Lundin, 1996) is still beset by uncertainty and relies much on experience and intuition, rather than hard science. It is undoubtedly the case that much more eco-friendly coastal tourism developments are feasible. For example, in May 2004 a development by a commercial concern in partnership with the WorldWide Fund for Nature (WWF) started to build a resort (Mata de Sesimbra) south of Lisbon, Portugal that will involve dramatic savings in water usage, and a design that fosters wildlife corridors, restores forests, constructs 6000 sustainable homes, and avoids all transport other than walking, cycling or use of non-petrochemical vehicles (BioRegional, 2004). However, although this is a significant improvement on the conventional resort that might have been built, it will still bring a large number of extra tourists to Portugal e who will use road, rail and air transport to travel. Post-1945, international mass tourism developed most spectacularly in southern Europe (averaging 6e10% growth rate per annum), though the pattern has since been repeated all over the warm regions of the globe. The coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea have been impacted by human presence for millennia and have long been affected by deforestation, intensive agriculture, irrigation and the resulting land erosion. However, during the last half century tourism has burgeoned, especially in areas with sandy beaches. Coastal road construction, tourist resorts and car parks have replaced natural habitats with concrete, tarmac and golf courses, while hotel, marina and street lighting now fringe most of the Mediterranean coast and its island systems. Beaches themselves are tramped and occupied by millions of people, while promenades and walkways often replace dune or rocky systems. Ecological effects have been dramatic. Wetlands have disappeared, taking their fauna and flora with them. Disturbance and habitat fragmentation have reduced biodiversity. Some vulnerable species have been driven close to extinction. Sea turtles provide good examples of such population crashes. Two centuries ago there were substantial numbers of green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) turtles within the Mediterranean, all of which sustained breeding populations on the sandy beaches of southern Europe, Mediterranean islands (e.g. Corsica, Sicily, Malta) and North Africa. Green turtle breeding is now limited to Cyprus, while loggerhead populations (declining by as much as 10% per year) are confined to small areas of coastal Greece and Turkey. Leatherback breeding is now virtually unknown, occasional nests being reported in Israel and Syria. Turtle life history is particularly badly affected by coastal transport-related development. Female turtles naturally dig nests close to vegetational fringes at the top of beaches. These areas have often been replaced by roads and are also frequently subject to additional planting of vegetation or building of condominiums that overshadow the nesting area, thus lowering the temperature in the nest and influencing the sex of the offspring (see Davenport, 1998 for review). Trampled, compacted sand is often too difficult to dig into, while tourist activity can destroy
nests. Night-time lighting, car headlamps and disturbance inhibit beach crawls by nesting females, while hatchlings leaving the nest at night are programmed to seek out the lightest part of the horizon (see Tuxbury and Salmon, 2005 for review), which will be over the sea in natural systems, but is the nearest brightlylit coastal road, hotel or car park along much of the present-day Mediterranean (Arianoutsou, 1988). Hatchling mortality is naturally high, but is also made worse by tourist litter traps and the building of concrete paths that provide 90 edges that hatchlings cannot climb (Cheng, 1995). A recent publication by Venizelos and Corbett (2005) provides a cogent account of the conflict (often involving extreme violence from developers) between turtle conservation initiatives and the pressures of beach development over a 25-year period in Greece. Recognition that turtles can provide a sustainable type of ecotourism (see below) is belatedly surfacing, particularly in Australia (Wilson and Tisdell, 2001), but in most parts of the world affected by tourism, turtle populations continue to fall, though rigorous beach management and nest protection can be effective (Dutton et al., 2005).
2.2. Cruise ships and ferries Large passenger vessels showed a decline in importance during the 1960s and 1970s after being the premier mode of transoceanic transport for about a century. However, the last 30 years has seen a renaissance of passenger traffic, with the increasing success of cruise ships. By 2003 about 250 cruise ships carrying some 12 million passengers per annum had entered service. The Mediterranean and Caribbean are presently major destinations, but polar waters attract the more adventurous tourists. Cruise ships create a number of ecological problems. Illegal discharge of substances (mainly discharge of oil or other hydrocarbons) is common. Cruise ship anchoring in tropical waters has been associated with severe long-term damage to coral reefs, while dredging channels for the larger vessels causes increased turbidity that is damaging to both corals and seagrass beds (e.g. Lewis et al., 1985). Cruise ships are effectively mobile villages or towns (the largest vessels carry
