Tourism and Environmental Conflict

Introduction Tourism is the activity of people travelling from their home or usual environment to other places where they stay for a period of not more than a year primarily having fun with the new environment. The purpose of the travel varies from group to group. It may include travelling for leisure, for business purposes, for educational purposes, and for work purposes.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Tourism and Environmental Conflict specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are two types of tourism, outbound tourism and inbound tourism. Out bound tourism is when residents of a given area travel to areas outside their home areas whether as local tourists or as international tourists. In bound tourism is when people, local or international, come in to visit a local area. As the paper reveals, tourism and the environment within which it takes place are ever conflicting. How The Routledge Handbook of Tour ism and the Environment by Holden and Fennel is a popular source that addresses the issue of tourism and the environment. According to Holden and Fennel, the two issues cannot be separated when one is discussing the issue of tourism because tourism affects the environment both positively and negatively with the later taking precedence in most discussions (23). Whenever there is tourism, there is always environmental conflict at a certain point of the tourism activity because the movement of people from one area in to the other area always upsets the balance of the destination environment no matter what the precaution that might be taken. The environment in this case can be described as something real with a life of its own. It can be something perceived in the minds of people having its own natural existence. Negative tourism impacts can be categorized into three major categories as follows: natural resource usage, pollution, and behavioral considerations. Natural resources are usua lly limited in nature. As an example to support the thesis, as pointed out by Nygard in his article, when an area is a tourist attraction point, it becomes an interest to people from outside who, in their pursuits of satisfying their interests of visiting an area, will also have to share in some of the resources like clean water (387). Some of these resources are common pool resources. Therefore, additional users might cause a strain in their availability to all other people in particular those the resources ought to be benefiting the most. This argument is informed by reason that most attraction areas usually attract tourists in droves at a particular time of the year.Advertising Looking for research paper on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More If tourists in some of these areas were distributed all year round with consideration for the existence of these resources, the resources would be easily manageable. This has so far been difficult to achieve because tourism is a profit-oriented business. As a result, players in the industry tend to pull so much towards their own interests to the extent of influencing policy issues so that they can have their way. The need to accommodate tourism leads to the destruction of some ecosystems for building resorts and other facilities that are to be used by the tourists. Accommodation of tourism comes with an opportunity cost towards the available resources. Local people may be denied the use of their own resources so that they are made available for tourism use. Thus, other sectors of the economy might stagnate because of this provision. An example of this case is when the local people in an area are moved away to give some space for constructing a facility like an airport. It also happens when beaches in some areas are closed from locals so that they act as preserves for tourists, in Goa India, for instance, where there has been a lowering of the l ocal level of water wells due to a strain on them. Human behavior by the tourists towards the environment of their destinations is also a source of environmental conflict. Most items that tourists use are usually the disposable type, which come in disposable packaging, which is more often not the eco-friendly type. Most tourists usually discard these packages to the environment without care. In support of the claim made about tourism and the environment, Buckley points out the impact of tourism on flora and fauna. He says, when tourists visit the natural habitats of wildlife to see wildlife in its natural settings, they tend to disrupt the wildlife patterns like their eating and breeding habits (404). Some species of wildlife tend to be extremely sensitive to foreign invasion. Thus, when their breeding is interfered with, it tends to subject them to the endangerment of extinction. Most natural settings that are an attraction to tourism are often introduced to pollution when tourist trucks and other vehicles drive into the expansive natural settings. Therefore, their exhaust emissions normally contaminate plants and other fauna. Tourist activities lead to both direct and indirect pollution of the environment. The mass movement of tourists during tourism seasons leads to air pollution due to the use of planes as a mode of transport.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Tourism and Environmental Conflict specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Planes emit fumes that are left in the air. The fumes contain lots of carbon dioxide, which is a major contributing factor to the degradation of the ozone layer. Therefore, the degradation of the ozone leads to climatic change, as pointed out in the BBC article by North, which adversely affects life on the earth surface (Para. 6). Therefore, tourism directly or indirectly contributes to environmental pollution and degradation in this case. Noise pollution happens in areas like the Serengeti Plain in Tanzania where tourists use hot air balloons to fly and see wildlife. This disturbs the peace and tranquility that animals are supposed to enjoy. As a result, some of these animals tend to move away in search of peaceful places. This therefore directly leads to an upset of the natural environmental settings and the interrelationship between flora and fauna. Another risk caused to the environment through tourism is the use of luxury cruise ships for voyage. Most of these ships are fossil fuel propelled, which produce much fumes that are discharged in the air. They also pose a risk of spilling fuel into the sea in case of an accident. When this happens, it is usually a major environmental disaster because the ships are usually loaded with tones of fuel for their propulsion. Although there are measures in such cruise ships on waste management, there is no guarantee that the crew of ships or the passengers will keep the required standards of waste management. They may thus be tempted to dump wastes into the sea. Game hunting, as a form of sport, is also detrimental to the environment. This is usually a tourist activity (Nygard 384). Hunting game for fun depletes the game in their environment. In some cases, it has led to the near extinction of some species thus altering the environmental set up. On the other hand, tourism is as important as the environment. It has also led to the conservation of the environment by funding this purpose. Therefore, tourism is important to the environment, as well as to the economy of nations as an economic earner.Advertising Looking for research paper on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Refuting the afore-made thesis in his article, Korstanje says that too much emphasis on the protection of the environment tends to slow down tourism thus stifling the income of a nation (94). He points out how tourism leads to infrastructural development of nations thus opening up most countries’ economies to the greater world (95). With the income from tourism, they are able to trade with other countries economically. A strong balance of trade, as well as a strong balance of income, will always boost a country’s economy against issues such as inflation. Some countries of the world, especially most third world countries, are not as industrialized as the first world countries. Therefore, they cannot compete on the industrialization platform with them. The only way for them to earn foreign exchange is through their environment, which is unique in its natural setting. Therefore, if environmentalists are left to have their way, some of these economies will die. The people of these countries will also suffer more than the environment the environmentalists are trying to save. Thus, it will be illogical to save the environment and sacrifice humanity in exchange. If people compare the amount of pollution caused by the industries through massive emissions and the pollution caused by tourism, they find that the pollution by tourism does not generate any reasonable threshold of environmental pollution when put to scale as the industries do. Therefore, it is unfair to project tourism as a major enemy to the environment on the same scale as industries. Too much emphasis on the environment has made it very expensive to invest in tourism. Thus, when it happens, the packages are made to be very expensive as a way of recouping the investment. This usually turns off many potential tourists thus denying a given area so much economic boost that might have come with tourism. It also denies a given area the much-needed money in it that can be used to protect the same environment. Environmental protection is a big package that includes educating the community, putting in place infrastructure that will stop other natural forms of degradation, and the general supervision of the same environment as pointed out by Faraji (46-7) in his opinion. Funds for such projects are not easily forthcoming. If the environment is not allowed to be used as an income-generating project, there will be nothing to be used to save the same environment. Some arguments that have been used to make a case against tourism as being environment damaging are at times farfetched. As an example, the existence of the ozone layer so far is still a matter of debate because it is hypothetical. Thus, there is no proof of its existence. Therefore, the use of the ozone as a measure of tourism pollution when the ozone’s existence is still a conjecture does not hold water as an argument. Conclusion In conclusion, tourism and environmental conflict are issues that have become a big topic for debate. On one hand, tourism as an activity is ever expanding day by day as many people in the world over aspire for leisure moments in their lives. More and more people are saving for holidays nowadays than before. What used to be an indulgence for the rich has turned into an indulgence for almost everyone who can save. This massive increase of tourism traffic causes a strain to the environment at a very alarming rate. At the same time, proponents of tourism argue for tourism. Their arguments are valid thus creating a never-ending debate between tourism and its impact on the environment. Works Cited Buckley, Ralph. â€Å"Tourism and the Environment.† Annual Review of Environment and  Resources 36.1(2011): 397-416. Print. Faraji, Abdoreza. â€Å"The Relationship between Tourism and Environment.† Iranian  Journal of Tourism and Hospitality 1.1(2010): 37-48. Print. Holden, Andrew, and David Fennel (eds). The Routledge handbook of Tourism and the  Environm ent. London: Routledge, 2012. Print. Korstanje, Maximiliano. â€Å"Can tourism be considered ethical?† Journal of Travel   Tourism Research 11.1(2011): 91-104. Print. North, Andrew. Protecting Afghanistan’s Environment and Tourists’ Future, 2012. Web. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-20038511 Nygard, Mikael. â€Å"Opportunit y or Threat: Finnish Hunters attitudes to hunting tourism.†Ã‚  Journal of Sustainable Tourism 19.3(2011): 383-400. Print. This research paper on Tourism and Environmental Conflict was written and submitted by user Trevon D. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Concept Of Criminal Punishment Example

The Concept Of Criminal Punishment Example The Concept Of Criminal Punishment – Term Paper Example Section Number 15 March Punishment and sentencing have gone through various phases throughout the history of Western civilization. Discuss the concept of and rationale behind criminal punishment as it used to be meted out and how it is handled now. How has it changed? Criminal punishment has always existed in societies throughout history; from exiling to imprisonment to fines, those who go against the behavior deemed â€Å"proper† by the society are punished. In earlier times, criminal punishment was meted out for the purpose of retribution; the offender should be punished so that the ones who were wronged could be avenged. The punishment was left to the ones injured, or their families, who would decide what punishment was to be meted out and how. There was no need for the punishment to be proportionate to the crime committed. This concept has greatly changed over time. There was a need felt by the society that the crime and the resultant punishment should be proportionate. M oreover, the need for retribution was replaced by a need for reformation – the offender should be encouraged to make amends and change himself and/or his attitude to become a better person and conform to the rules set by the society. Another factor that has been altered is the physical aspect of the punishments; whereas before drawing and quartering were considered to be a form of punishment, now they are no longer acceptable and are considered cruel. Additionally, steps are being taken to abolish capital punishment from all societies in the world as well. Also, crimes are now considered to be offenses against the state and not persons, so it is up to the state to mete out the punishment. The criminal punishments have been transformed so as to fit well to the sensibilities of people, as there has been a later trend to use them to protect and reform the society and the criminal respectively, and not merely to seek vengeance as was done before.King, J. C. (1980). A rationale fo r punishment. The Journal of Libertarian Studies, IV(2), 151-165.

Current and Future State of Health Care Legislation Analysis Essay

Current and Future State of Health Care Legislation Analysis - Essay Example Americans should be given the autonomy of choice with regards to health care. The dignity and sovereignty of every American that wants to feel protected from a failing health care system can be maintained through this. This paper will examine the recent condition of the health care structure in the U.S., and how decision making can be influenced in the same sector. How is the current health care environment in the U.S.? Currently, the U.S. health care environment is taking a toll on health care consumers. They have to put up with increasing medical costs that do not necessarily make sense to them. The populous states have issues with the mode in which the health care structure is managed. This is because they think that the core business of most health care providers is to make a profit out of vulnerable individuals (Battistella, 2010). Everyone has to face the fact that, medical insurance companies are making a killing out of innocent people. People with not a lot of capital to thro w around and they are the vast majority. They are the insurance companies own cash cow, which intend to capitalise as much as they want. It, the health care environment, is failing and is now focused on survival. Many health care providers are trying to bring in new products and services to ensure they stay afloat in this sinking system. The introduction of these products and services means that, people are likely to pay more for things that are not necessarily out to benefit them (Battistella, 2010). New drugs with adverse side effects are brought into the market. Their approval is because someone must be paying an enormous amount of money to see their drug get through the market. This leads to another problem since corruption becomes rampant in this field while health care consumers become innocent victims. Greed is the cause of all this because nobody does it in the name of science. Another current affair in the health care environment is the upgrade in technology. Many private a nd public health care institutions have taken the time to advance in technology that helps in saving people’s lives. It may cost the organizations lots of capital, but the fruits of such investments are seen after some time. However, an upgrade in technology means that the health care consumer will have to pay more for services rendered. This puts the consumers at a particularly precarious position because they should have back-up from their government (Derickson, 2005). This is when it comes to matters concerning their health care. To protect consumers from such situations, the government regulates policies by insurance companies on health care consumers. However, not all is lost in this environment. Organizations are implementing strategies that assist in reducing the burden placed on health care consumers. By reducing back-office costs, health care providers are spending less capital in their organizations. At the same time, they offer better service levels to the consumer s. They advocate for lower labour costs which ensure they spend a little less on manpower, but ensure that consumers get the best services they offer (Derickson, 2005). One can argue that less money spent on manpower is equal to spending even lesser amounts on