Abbie Smith
Kyra Hudson
English 2010
13 November 2017
National Parks and Sustainable Tourism National parks provide a highlight for the travel. These lands are set aside as natural beauties, wonders, and even phenomenons. In 2015, more than 307 million people visited the national parks of the United States, a five percent increase from 2014 (Errick). With such an increase in tourism, it becomes ever more important to implement sustainable tourism practices and make travel good for the visitors and the destination. According to the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture, “sustainable tourism is defined as ‘tourism that respects both local people and the traveller, cultural heritage and the environment.’” The purposes of national parks are to protect the heritage of the park, protect the environment found within the park, and educate the public. These purposes work hand-in-hand with sustainable tourism, and it only makes sense that these two ideals are combined together. Unsustainable travel does not have just one, foul-proof solution. Rather, several small actions combined together will have profound effect in the evolution of the system. With the help of park services and the individual tourist, we can move to a future in which we have no need to specify some tourism as “sustainable”. The first major problem facing the environment in the wake of tourism is air pollution. Many people come to national parks from across the country or even abroad.
National Parks are one of the great gifts of nature. National Parks are often a designated area of wilderness kept preserve to protect wildlife and biodiversity in the society. This site attracts multiple people around the world leading to explore nature and understand the life around this park. The importance of the park brings many cultures together to experience the recreational activities the Olympic National Park provides. The Olympic National Park is one of the great national parks in the United States. This National Park is one of the top most visited parks in the United States. It continues to show its great features and reasons as a park, World Heritage site, and the many ecosystems it inhabits.
One of the most important aspects of American culture is the long history of conservation that very few countries have, thanks to the National Park Service, which is a Federal institution. The United States possesses some of the bestpreserved landmarks in the world. However, in recent years, the government has proposed budget cuts to the NPS, which will severely limit its ability to properly maintain the parks. Because of the economic and historical
Tourism is the world’s largest industry with nature-based ecotourism seeing rapid growth since its initial arrival in the 1980s. It is estimated by the World Tourism Organisation that nature tourism generates 7% of all international travel expenditure (Lindberg, 1997) and this figure will have increased rapidly over recent years. It’s increase in popularity is due to a number of factors; tourists becoming increasingly bored of the typical sun, sea and sand holiday’s, the increase in global awareness or environmental issues such as global
National Parks are considered zones of a country that are sheltered by the government due their natural magnificence or because their special history. The importance of National Parks for each country demonstrates the grade of relevance in which these nations are concerned about conservation of natural resources. We have chosen this topic in order to stand out the differences and similarities between Uluru and Yasuní National Parks as product of governments’ agreements and their impacts are mainly focus on social, political and environmental fields. The following paper emphasises those significant points including the aboriginal culture in these conserved areas due to its ancient population contribution to
Tourists create pollution by everyday activities, air pollution is caused by indoor fires that are lit and the smoke is then let out into the air not only causing air pollution but damaging flora and fauna also smoke from cigarettes. Tourism creates a waste problem from grabbing lunch and creating rubbish but also dropping rubbish if you’re eating your lunch and drop your rubbish this also leads back to the problem with fauna and flora and damaging the environment. Green-house gases coming from cars, trucks and other machinery can affect the environment. There are multiple ways that waste can affect the environment on Mt Buller, but there are also many procedures and management plans in place to try and decrease the amount of waste produced
Making tourism more sustainable is not just about controlling and managing the negative impacts of the industry. Tourism is in a very special position to benefit local communities, economically and socially, and to raise awareness and support for conservation of the environment.
With the limited funds that the NPS receives from the government, it does not allow for many improvements in infrastructure among all the parks and monuments. According to The Conservation, “NPS has a backlog of overdue maintenance projects that stands at $12 billion and rising... this includes infrastructure” (Bilmes and Loomis). Keeping park infrastructures up to date is important because it brings in more tourism. If the parks are equipped with newer roads, bridges, trails, and utilities it will spark interest among tourists especially younger kids. The parks offer programs that kids can take part in where they are taught about nature. The importance of these programs is that it, “makes sure that the next generation of Americans feel connected to the parks and to nature” (Bilmes and Loomis). If kids grow up to have a connection with nature and its history, then they will want to help preserve and take care of the parks and monuments in
The national parks of the United States are a part of the few remaining regions in the country where nature is relatively untouched and natural beauty can be observed. For over a century, national parks been popular vacation destinations for citizens and international tourists alike. Regulation and conservation of these areas is necessary to allow for continued visitation and enjoyment. The National Parks Service of the Department of the Interior was created with The National Park Service Organic Act (“The Organic Act”) to maintain the nation’s parks and ensure preservation of the land while encouraging use by the general public. Whether or not conservation and recreational use are independent of each has been argued within the government as well as among the general public for decades. Vague language used by The Organic Act’s authors has allowed for manipulation of the phrasing of the fundamental mission statement of the National Park Service to support or oppose a variety of decisions that will environmentally impact the parks. Personal opinions and conflicting priorities lead to much ambiguity in the long-term implementation of the National Park Service Organic Act.
In 2016, the National Park Service (NPS) celebrated 100 years of preservation and conservation of our nation’s parks, monuments, and historical sites. Currently, the federal government has proposed significant proposed budget cuts to the National Park Service. If the government makes these cuts, then Americans could lose the national parks along with the beauty, culture, and history that comes with them. This would happen because the NPS would lose most of its funding that is needed in order to keep the national parks wellpreserved. Investing in the NPS should be a priority in our nation because it provides educational programs, unites all ages and races, and preserves and conserves the national parks.
“Continuously improve environmental performance” is focused on the parks keeping up to date on environmental laws, National Park Service policy, Executive Orders, and Environmental Management Systems. “Be climate friendly and climate ready” expresses the reduction of greenhouse gases for the “climate friendly” part. The “climate ready” aspect investigates ways to adapt the parks facilities, like changing location structure or function, for the predicted changes relaying with climate change. The parks track the energy usage in buildings, design more energy efficient new buildings or renovations, use renewable energy and much more to complete the “be energy smart. “Be water wise” consists of track the water usage and of lowering the water intensity of drinkable water. Exploring the transportation methods at the parks and evaluating the efficiency of work vehicles and on park transportation contributes to “green our rides”. The “buy green and reduce, reuse, and recycle” breaks down into recycling old electronic, cutting down on their solid wastes by recycling and reusing, and prefer products that are better for the environment. By the way the park is running, “preserve outdoor values” look into minimal sound and light pollution and establish the minimal impact to the parks landscape and natural environment. “Adopt best practices” look into how the facilities are operated and reinforcing the methods are sustainable. “Foster
Since the early 1920s to the 1970s, there has been a debate regarding the perceptions and standards by which national parks should be established and limiting the expansion of national parks, limiting access for people living in urban areas and threatening open spaces due to urban sprawl and over population. Gradually traditional perceptions gave way to the preservationists’ viewpoints which redefined and gradually expanded federal definition of national parks. This was to include areas that may not be extraordinarily scenic but still required environmental protection or allowed recreational access for urban citizens, allowing for expansion and more funding.
The current circumstance might bring a short-term substantial tourism income to the country. However, marketing department haven’t realized that the promotion method is actually breaking the eco system, which will lead to long-term negative effects to the parks for both environmental and economic aspects. Developing the infrastructure of parks such as building bike path is understandable in terms of the marketing aspect, is increasing the satisfaction of visitors. By innovating different program regularly might attract people who had visited to come again. In a way, it is an efficient way to increase the number of visitors. Nevertheless, ignoring the regulations and negative consequences are
National Parks have awed tourists and even locals for years. They provide an escape from the ordinary and relief from the everyday stress of society. National Parks provide insight into a simpler time where our ancestors were surrounded by the beauty of nature instead of the concrete jungles of modern day metropolitan areas. Few of these wonderful parks provide the same seclusion as Denali National Park in Alaska. It’s sights and sounds have fascinated many and will continue to provide a great escape from everyday life.
The Issue of National Park conservation has become a widely controversial issue today. With the National debt reaching 17 trillion dollars some politicians think it is alright to either sell off national park land to commercial foresters, miners, and even foreign nations or to just close some parks entirely to make up some of the national debt. They are completely unaware that the parks arent just a “pretty area of land for tourists”. Many cities depend on the parks for their well-being. A quote from a local newspaper in California supports this “National parks don’t boast concession stands or charge tax, but data indicates they bring in millions of dollars to local economies each year”(Tree). Supporters of cutting the parks include big CEO’s of major companies and some of them not even in this country.
Planning and development are both extremely important factors within the tourism industry and can have both positive and negative effects on the environment, local communities and tourist destinations. “Destination planning aims to limit the negative impacts of cultural tourism upon the history and lifestyles of the local community. An understanding of sustainable tourist development allows for the development of culture without loss of its authentic identity” (Maidment. T. 2012). This statement discusses the importance of planning to avoid having any negative impacts on environments and communities. Because the effects of tourism are so severe to destinations, many natural and cultural resources have been destroyed, therefore tourism planning is vital to preserve and maintain these places for future generations.