TOWARDS INTEGRATING CONSERVATION IN DEVELOPMENT: A DISCUSSION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 

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Chapter 3: The role of local communities in tourism, sustainable development and Natural Resource Management

A definition of sustainable development in the context of tourism:
“. . . tourism which is developed and maintained in an area (community, environment) in such a manner and at such a scale that it remains viable over an indefinite period and does not degrade or alter the environment (human and physical) in which it exists to such a degree that it prohibits the successful development and well-being of other activities and processes” (Butler 1993:29).

Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the most important literature covered, whilst identifying a gap in development research concerning the tension between the utilisation of coastal resources by local communities as a source of livelihood, the pressures of tourism as a form of development and conservation. Central to this theme and related to the research question is what the responsibility or role of the rural local community is in finding a balance between these different interests. Different literature will be presented and discussed in order to obtain the following goals:

• to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of tourism as a form of development for developing countries;
• to indicate the fragility of coastal zones against negative tourism impacts;
• look at different forms of sustainable tourism: Ecotourism, Community-Based Tourism, Pro- poor tourism as alternatives for mass- tourism;
• highlight the importance of local communities in NRM, especially in sensitive coastal areas;
• explain how a gap in literature and research concerning the role of local communities in the management of (sustainable) tourism related development was discovered.

Sustainable development has brought forth a global focus on how we can adapt economically and socially in order to ensure that environmental and cultural damage will be minimised without compromising basic human needs. This has an impact on all economic sectors, and should have an impact on our consumption of goods and services, including tourism. In this thesis the focus will be on the tourism and travel industry as a form of development for poor local communities. Contextually it is therefore important to become aware of the impacts that this sector has globally, on both issues of socio-economical development and the preservation of natural resources. These will be discussed in the next section.

Background and statistics about the international tourism sector

Description and definition

Tourism is a service-based industry consisting of a number of tangible and intangible components. The tangible elements include accommodation, transport, foods and beverages and tours. The intangible elements involve learning, culture, adventure or simply escape and relaxation. The WTO defines tourism as follows: “Tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited” (WTO 2005a:3).
Tourism is different from travel. In order to be considered a tourist in a given place, there must be a displacement, using transportation to meet the destination. Whether tourism is local, national or international, it involves visiting a destination away from the area in which one lives and using the services available at that destination. Therefore, tourists require travel services to reach their destinations and once there, services such as shelter, water, food, sanitation and entertainment.

The impact of tourism on the global economy

Travel and tourism is the world’s largest industry and creator of jobs across national and regional economies. Research shows, according to a study conducted in 2000 from the World Travel and Tourism Organisation that travel and tourism generated, directly and indirectly 11.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and nearly 200 million jobs in the worldwide economy. These figures are forecasted to total 255 million in 2010 (World Travel and Tourism Organisation and International Hotel and Restaurant Association 1999:1).
According to the tourism Barometer of the WTO in 2004 (WTO 2003:2), international tourism is firmly on its way to convincingly bounce back after three subdued years with an accumulated growth of less than 1%. According to the estimates of the WTO (2005a:2) based on monthly data of the full-year result of 2004, international arrivals reached an all time high level of 760 million globally, equivalent to an increase of 10%. After three years of stagnation international tourism experienced a spectacular rebound. The proportional increase in the number of new arrivals per region can be seen below in Figure 2.
Interpretation of Figure 2: these numbers show that the biggest increase of tourism in 2004 took place in the Asia and the Pacific areas. When looking at the numbers available for 2000, 698 million people travelled to a foreign country during that year, spending more than US$ 478 billion. International tourism receipts combined with passenger transport currently total more than US$ 575 billion – making tourism the world’s number one export earner, ahead of automotive products, chemicals, petroleum and food.
The Philippines fall under the Asian-Pacific region. The latest complete research into this region dates back to 2002. Here, the earnings of the numbers of tourism in the Asia-Pacific amounted to an income of € 50 695 million from a total amount of visitors was 131 294 000 (WTO 2003:1).

The international debate: are the effects of tourism mainly positive or negative?

In chapter 2 it was concluded that a strong local economy and more impact of the local community in the global economy is essential for successful sustainable development. Many institutions have argued that tourism can contribute to the strengthening of local economic activities and their role in the global economy. However, experience has shown that tourism often has more negative effects than positive, if not properly controlled. Therefore, it is important to examine what the effect of tourism is on sustainability and on every local specific situation. Possible positive effects will be looked at in sub-section 3.3.1 and some of the common negative effects will be discussed in section 3.3.2.

The positive effects of tourism and travel on sustainable development

The United Nations (UN) identified tourism to be one of the most effective drivers for the development of regional economies (UNCSD NGO Steering Committee 1999:1). These patterns apply to both developed and emerging economies. The reason for this is that jobs generated by travel and tourism, are spread across the economy – in retail, construction, manufacturing and telecommunications, as well as directly in travel and tourism companies. These jobs employ a large proportion of women, minorities and young people; are predominantly in small and medium sized companies. They also offer good training and transferability (UNCSD NGO Steering Committee 1999:1).
Empirical studies have confirmed that the level of employment in tourist activities is high, for instance, accounting for around 5 million jobs in India (ESCAP 1991). Through this employment, tourism can help alleviate poverty and curb the out-migration (urbanization) of youth and other marginally employed community members. Tourism plays an important and certainly positive role in the socio-economic and political development in destination countries through, for example, offering these new employment opportunities (UNESCO 2005:4). It can also, in certain instances, contribute to a broader cultural understanding by creating awareness, respecting the diversity of cultures and ways of life (UNESCO 2005:4).
On the other hand, as a tool to create jobs, tourism has not fulfilled its expectations. At the same time, complaints from tourist destinations concerning massive negative impacts upon environment, culture and residents’ ways of life have given rise to a demand for a more sustainable development of tourism (UNESCO 2005:4).
Despite this, when managed properly tourism still has the potential to create beneficial effects on the environment by contributing to environmental protection and conservation. It is a way to raise awareness of environmental values and it can serve as a tool to finance protection of natural areas and increase their economic importance (UNCSD NGO Steering Committee 1999:1) For example, by bringing revenue to sites, tourism has the potential to enhance and safeguard heritage.
As a result of the above mentioned, possible, positive effects, the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), or better known as the Rio Earth Summit, identified travel and tourism as one of the key sectors of the economy which could make a positive contribution to achieving sustainable development. The Earth Summit led to the adoption of Agenda 21, a comprehensive program of action to provide a global blueprint for achieving sustainable development. Agenda 21 was adopted by 182 governments at the UNCED, the Earth Summit, on 3-14 June 1992 (UN 1992). It identifies the environment and development issues, which threaten to bring about economic and ecological catastrophe and present a strategy for transition to more sustainable development practices.

SUMMARY 
KEY TERMS 
DEDICATION 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES 
ACRONYMNS 
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2MY PERSONAL MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY
1.3 THE GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE THESIS IDEA.
1.4 DERIVING THE RESEARCH TOPIC FROM PRELIMINARY READING
1.5 THE FORMULATION OF THE RESEARCH TOPIC ON LOCATION.
1.6 THE STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.7 A DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.
1.8WHY THIS RESEARCH IS IMPORTANT
1.9 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY FOLLOWED
1.10 A DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS OF THE STUDY
1.11 A FORWARD GLANCE AT THIS THESIS .
CHAPTER 2: TOWARDS INTEGRATING CONSERVATION IN DEVELOPMENT: A DISCUSSION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 
2.1 INTRODUCTION.
2.2 THE EVOLVING DEFINITION AND MEANING OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2.4 THE ECOLOGICAL STREAM TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2.5 HOW TO MAKE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WORK: BRINGING DEVELOPMENT AND
CONSERVATION CLOSER TOGETHER
2.6 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 3: THE ROLE OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN TOURISM, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2. BACKGROUND AND STATISTICS ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL TOURISM SECTOR
3.3 THE INTERNATIONAL DEBATE: ARE THE EFFECTS OF TOURISM MAINLY POSITIVE OR
NEGATIVE?
3.4 THE IMPACT OF TOURISM ON SENSITIVE COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS
3.5 A DESCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
3.6WHY THE LOCAL MANAGEMENT OF TOURISM IS NECESSARY
3.7 NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE COMMUNITY
3.8 AN EXPLANATION OF COMMUNITY-BASED COASTAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
3.9 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 4: BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE SELECTED COMMUNITY: APO ISLAND, THE PHILIPPINES 
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE PHILIPPINES
4.3 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES
4.4 DETAILS ABOUT THE COASTAL COMMUNITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES
4.5 DETAILS ABOUT THE BIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE, FUNCTION, CONDITION OF AND THREATS TO THE PHILIPPINES CORAL REEFS
4.6 DEMOGRAPHIC DETAILS: APO ISLAND
4.7 THE LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES PRESENT ON APO ISLAND
4.8 THE HISTORY OF THE APO ISLAND MARINE RESERVE
4.9 THE REGULATIONS OF THE APO ISLAND MARINE RESERVE AND FISH SANCTUARY IN
ORDER TO CREATE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE CORAL REEF
4.10 INSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITION AND PROTECTION OF APO MARINE RESERVE RULES
AND REGULATIONS
4.11 COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANISATIONS OF APO ISLAND
4.12 UNRESOLVED ISSUES ON APO ISLAND
4.13MOTIVATING FACTORS FOR TOURISTS TO VISIT APO ISLAND.
4.14 ANNUAL REVENUE FROM TOURISM AND HOW IT IS DISTRIBUTED IN THE COMMUNITY
4.15 THE CLASH BETWEEN CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT ON APO ISLAND
4.16 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 DEVELOPMENTS WITHIN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
5.3 THE REASONS BEHIND CHOOSING THE SPECIFIC DATA COLLECTION METHODS
5.4 PARTICIPATORY RURAL APPRAISAL: DESCRIPTIONS AND RELEVANCE
5.5 CRITIQUES ON THE PRA METHODOLOGY
5.6. DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES USED IN THIS RESEARCH
5.7 SPECIFICS ABOUT THE DATA COLLECTION PROCESS
5.8 STEPS TAKEN TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE RESEARCH FIELD
5.9 ESTABLISHING RAPPORT AND GETTING TO KNOW THE LOCAL CULTURE
5.10 THE SELECTION OF THE PARTICIPANTS OF THIS RESEARCH
5.11 DATA CAPTURING METHODS AND FIELDWORK PRACTICES
5.12 DATA ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND DATA EDITING
5.13MEASURES TAKEN TO MINIMISE ERROR AND TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE
RESEARCH
5.14 SHORTCOMINGS AND SOURCES OF ERROR OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS.
5.15 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 6: PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF DATA COLLECTED 
6. 1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 TOURISM THROUGH THE EYES OF LOCAL RESIDENTS ON APO ISLAND
6.3 THE ROLE OF APO COMMUNITY IN CREATING A SPACE FOR CONSERVATION IN
TOURISM RELATED DEVELOPMENT
6.4 THE ROLE OF APO COMMUNITY IN INCREASING THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS FROM
TOURISM
6.5 FACTORS WEAKENING THE ROLE OF THE APO ISLAND COMMUNITY IN CONTROLLING
CONFLICTING INTERESTS BETWEEN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 7: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 
7.1 INTRODUCTION.
7.2 RESEARCH SUMMARY
7.3 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS OF THE RESEARCH DONE ON APO ISLAND, THE PHILIPPINE
7.4 INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS AND LITERATURE REVIEWED
7.5 THE ROLE OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
7.6 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 8: RECOMMENDATIONS.
8.1 INTRODUCTION
8.2 ENHANCING THE ROLE OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY OF APO ISLAND
8.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OTHER PLAYERS INVOLVED IN THE APO ISLAND CASE
STUDY
8.4 THEMES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ON APO ISLAND
9. BIBLIOGRAPHY
GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT
Towards integrating conservation in development: a discussion of the role of the community of Apo Island in influencing development with reference to tourism in their local environment.