tourism and conservation in national parks

Rrporrs

appraisal of the business. and drafting and negotiation of contracts for sale of a business. The experienced travel attorney can render invaluable practical advice to clients engaged in the purchase or sale of a travel industry business.

Litigation

In the USA, since trial attorneys are not separately licensed, most travel law specialists will have some expo- sure to defending or prosecuting civil actions in court. Frequently, disgruntled travellers will bring negligence and breach of warranty actions against travel agents, being the party closest at hand, and therefore the easiest to sue.

While emerging case law recognizes a duty on behalf of a travel agent to advise its customers of matters the agent knows about, which are material to the traveller, no US court has yet recognized a travel agent as an ‘insur- er’ of the traveller’s safety or expecta- tions. This argument has been and continues to be made by disgruntled plaintiffs seeking to pin liability on the travel agent. The travel lawyer can apprise the court of applicable travel- specific laws of which the general practitioner may not be aware, such as Warsaw Convention provisions pre- empting local laws.

Travel law specialists in any country in the world can render a valuable service to members of this industry by disseminating their knowledge through writing and lecturing. Be- cause of the relative infancy of the travel law field, and its daily emerging judicial precedents and regulations, the lawyer does the industry a service by making his expertise widely available. This includes alerting not only his personal clients, but the industry itself, through associations and other collective bodies, of changes in law and procedures, and methods of avoiding legal complications, particularly litigation. iMuch of the litigation and wranglings with governmental agencies, at least in the USA, could have been avoided had the parties concerned been properly apprised in advance of applicable law and procedures, and the likely practical con-

52

sequences of failure to comply with tional conference is scheduled for %I3

them. &larch 1986, in Jerusalem.

International Forum of Travel and Tourism Advocates

The travel and tourism lawyer has available to him a forum for the exchange of knowledge and creation of working relationships international- ly, through an organization known as the International Forum for Travel and Tourism Advocates (IFTTX). IFTTA maintains a depository of

travel law case decisions and legislation impacting upon the travel industry worldwide. It is supported princi- pally by legal contributions of its members. The depository is maintained on a temporary basis at my offices, 693 Sutter Street. Sixth Floor. San Francisco, California 9-l107_ US.\. It is the intention of the IFTTA Board of Governors to relocate the depository to a recognized law school at a future date. The next IFITA interna-

Conclusion

In sum. the practice of a travel or tourism law lawyer is a varied and exciting one. Being on the vanguard of a legal field still in its infancy gives the attorney the opportunity to shape and contribute to emerging law in a way which will benefit travel industry

businesses and consumers for years to come. Through rendering preventive legal advice to his or her clients. the travel attorney can ha\-e the satisfac- tion of knowing that his advice has prevented discord, prevented the later waste of profits on unnecessary litipa- tion and hopefully contributed to a greater understanding by members of the tourism industry of their rights and responsibilities.

Alexander Anolik Alexander Anolik Law Corporation

693 Sutter Street, Sixth Floor San Francisco, CA 94 102, USA

Tourism and conservation in National Parks

The main thrust of this report is that tourism and conservation are not necessarily mutually exclusive. In fact they may be combined for mutual and lasting benefits. D. Leslie, lecturer in tourism studies at the University of Ulster, looks at how tourism may support, and be supportive of, conservation. This theme is illustrated by reference to the Lake District. The author suggests that William Wordsworth may not only be seen as the founding father of the conservation movement but also of the polarization of tourism and conservation. The need for good planning, management and control is identified if the required objectives are to be attained. Difficulties are encountered in these areas due to the vagaries of Government policies. The conclusion initially makes a number of points relating to ‘man-made’ vis-a-vis ‘natural’, preservation vis-a-vis conservation, that the Parks are not islands and therefore susceptible to outside influences, before calling for a clearly defined Govern- ment policy, supported by effective legislation, through which the related areas of various Government Departments and agencies may be brought together.

The National Parks in the UK are not. not owned by the people, unlike the as some believe, owned by the people. National Parks in some other coun- They are designated, living land- tries like the USA, gives rise to a scapes, areas that by lheir nature have number of issues and is probably the been considered to have outstanding root cause of conflicts of interest. amenity value. The fact that they are These arise because ‘unlike most other

TOURISM MANAGEMENT March 1986

National Parks, they are places where people live and work and go about their daily purposes. As a consequ- ence they are areas within which a multitude of land uses have to be satisfied’. ’

Such conflicts often lead to lengthy and costly courts of enquiry which could, in the main, be avoided if the Government had a clearly defined policy commitment for National Parks instead of the current situation whereby we have ‘no single policy for the countryside but rather a collection of policies devised by the various agencies of central government with responsibilities for different sectors of the rural economy’.’

On the one hand, the Government supports conservation when nothing appears to be at stake, yet when a situation arises such as a request, for example, to start mineral extraction, build a dam or a power station, the industry concerned invariably suc- ceeds. This is particularly true in the case of Government Ministries, for esample to quote Lord Strange:

where a Government Department has had

plans for erecting a large installation of one kind or another in a National Park, I remember no case where it has been

diverted from its purpose by anything that

the Commission might say.

It is not always the case of a Govern- ment Department or public utility wishing to erect an installation, it may also be a case of the acquisition of land for Ministry of Defence purposes, land that may have limited or no access, eg the Aran Mountains in Snowdonia, areas of Northumberland and Dartmoor. On the other hand are the multinational corporations who have the necessary knowledge, expertise and arguably power to present their case in the most effective way. Against such intrusions what chance do the tourism or conservation lobbies have, particularly when they are all too often seen as separate aspects further disadvantaged by representing an array of different views or issues.

Role of tourism

What has all this to do with tourism? In a nutshell, tourism is a growing industry, and even considering all the

environmental damage for which it may be responsible. it causes less upheaval than any of the other large

industries. For example one has to consider not only the effect of a dam on the landscape but also the after effects of the subsequent lake formed on the ecological balance of the area. A further example of the dramatic effect on the landscape that an industry can have is the Forestry Commis- sion’s practice of afforestation which results in symmetrical patterns of forestry - invariably large conifer planta- tions and in particular. sitka spruce. A recent case illustrating the arguments against such developments and reflect- ing the range of organizations support- ing such arguments is Dunnerdale in the Lake District. The Forestry Com- mission purchased 370 acres for afforestation of land in the Duddon Valley. After objections were raised and subsequent discussion, a com- promise was finally achieved.’

The above comments relate solely to Government hlinistries and it is therefore pertinent to note that other large industrial concerns are involved.

Where industry does .now exist it tends to

be for grossly intrusive mineral extraction.

If industrial enterprise in the National

Parks is taken to mean opening new

quarries and access roads there is no

wonder that the idea is rigorously opposed

by anyone interested in rural amentity.’

The onus to prove that such extraction would be detrimental has been placed on local authorities. A case in point is ICI’s Feinstead Lime Quarry in the

Peak District, that straddles the National Park boundary. ICI applied for an extension which was approved

by Derbyshire County Council and rejected by the Park Planning Author- ity. Ultimately, approval was granted by the Government. An enquiry that began in April 1985 into Tarmac’s application to extend its quarry in the Peak Park which is being opposed by the Park Planning Board has recently been closed.6 It will be interesting to note the decision of the enquiry board particularly in the light of the Govern- ment’s claims to support conservation.

In the light of these examples, it is all the more appropriate to turn to tourism as the industry to support in the National Parks - if that will help


Reports

support and aid conservation of the whole ecosystem taken in its broadest sense. Tourism could be an industry that creates and maintains jobs and

that may have substantial economic multiplier benefits - an industry that supports wider issues such as regional

development and on the whole makes a major contribution to the balance of payments. Peter Townsend once raised the question ‘there is no doubt that tourism needs consenation but does consenation need tourism?’ Yes it does: tourism is both supported by, and supportive of, conservation. In the first light. it would seem improb- able that it is possible to have policies that could achieve conservation and recreation at the same time. that these two objectives are intrinsically opposed. This is not necessarily the case as it is quite feasible that recreation can support conservation through good management (in much the same way as some of today’s stately homes are ‘conserved’ by being open to the public).’

One may well ask who are we conserving the environment for, if not the tourists?” In support of this point there is little need to look further than the Lake District National Park and to one man, namely William Word- sworth.

Tourism and the Lake District National Park

William Wordsworth may be seen by some to be the founding father of the conservation movement. Arguably it was he who laid the foundation stone for the polarization of tourism and conservation. In the early nineteenth century, Wordsworth called for the Lake District to be designated a park. This was not meant to be for the benefit of all and sundry but for ‘.. persons of taste and feelings for the landscape”, ie the educated few. This attitude was reflected in his stance against the intrusion of the railways, endeavouring like Canute to sweep back the tide, in this case Dower’s first wave. He was partly successful in that the line was halted at Windermere in the south. Wordsworth was right when he said that the little town of Bowness would become ‘*. . not the Retreat

53

Reports

but the Advance of the Ten Thousand”’ because of the railways.

With support for this attitude it is hardly surprising to note the inception of the Lake District Defence Society in 1865, nor to see the development of opposing camps for or against tourism. Did this “Advance of the Ten Thousand” ruin the Lake District? To a minority this is probably so, but one may ask what, were and indeed are, the alternatives’?

not it is better or worse off? The answer is not a straightforward one in that no one can be certain what developments might otherwise have occurred. However, I suggest that the area is better off for a number of reasons that support tourism development - reasons that also are applicable in varying degrees to the other Nation- al Parks, particularly so in the case of the other upland parks. (Eight out of ten such designated areas.)

However, for the majority, the Lakes can hardly have been ruined if we are to judge by the vast numbers who go there every year.“’ The demand for the Lake District reflects wide ranging tastes, for example from fell-walking to water-based activities. Those looking for some peace and quiet, those who like wandering round small villages and those who like to take their cars for short drives are also catered for.

The landscape has probably changed little over the past hundred and fifty years. There are more visitors, facilitated by greatly improved access roads, ie the 1M6 and Kendal by-pass. These visitors do form crowds, causing congestion at the gathering places, though the crowds may be easily left behind as W.H. Davies put it:

There are indeed hordes of cars. caravan sites, bulging caffs, and almost standing room only on the lake itself. When all the big yachts and motor boais come out to play, the little rowing boats have to struggle like tadpoles in the shallows round the edges. Windermere might appear vulgar to some eyes but it’s never flash or scruffy or strident. It’s been carefully commercial- ised. The tourists are not vile. nor are the amenities. Only the cars are truly horrid. And as with absolutely everywhere in the Lakes you can quickly leave people bs- hind.

0

0

0

0

0

0

Its geographical position makes it a poor choice as a base for industries requiring good support and dis- tribution networks.

infrastructure and superstructure to meet the demand it generates. The fact that the Park sustains such a demand reflects careful planning. good management and control. Tarn Hows illustrates these points well. It is probably considered to be ‘natural’ by the thousands who visit this particularly beautiful part of the Park. Howev- er, this is not the case as it was created by the building of a dam in 1565 and non-indigenous trees such as pine.

larch and fir were planted in the area.

The geography of the area is liable to make it unsuitable for large scale industrial development.

The agricultural options are limited to the less profitable. It is interesting to note that there is not a National Park in an area where the options are highly profitable, is South East England. Developments in agricultural methods have reduced labour re- quirements. The job options open to the local populace are limited by, eg the above four points. Further, the options that are open are liable to be, in the main, less remunerative than those options generally found in industrially developed areas. This situation encourages a move away from the area leading to a declining population with an in- creasing proportion of retired persons.

Owing to the site’s popularity damage was being caused to the immediate environment, ie soil erosion caused by the trampling of feet and damage caused by cars. As a result of this, the Park Authority opted to landscape the site in such a fashion that visitors could be guided as to where they went, carefully planning footways, scenic barriers and a discreetly posi- tioned car park. True, it no longer has that aesthetic quality of being un- touched but then if the area was left to go wild. who would venture down to view the Tarn anyway?

This illustrates two points, first that such landscaping does not diminish the amenity value (if we are to use the volume of visitors as a criterion) and second that such management schemes are enacted retrospectively. Overall, such planning, management and control are not easy as summa- rized by a National Park Officer.

the peculiarities of ownership, problems of nomenclature, archaic legislation, overlap- ping rivalries and aspirations of various Government departments, differing claims of ownership and jurisdiction, make attempts at comprehensive planning or managing a disconcerting experience.”

This dichotomy of tourism and conservation is encapsulated in Word- sworth’s sonnet title Is there no nook of English Ground Secure from Rash Assault. For all Wordsworth’s efforts he has, albeit unintentionally, done more to promote tourism in the Lake District than any other person.

a

These difficulties are not the sole prerogative of the Park Planning Boards. For instance the Tourist Boards which ‘.. . hope to create jobs and bring wealth but as they have no teeth, no legal powers to command new hotels to be built. no ways of actually shifting a few 100 000 cars, no way of sending the charabancs to Carlisle instead of Keswick then they naturally have a very hard job”.”

Would the Lake District be as it is today in the absence of tourism? Patently not; accepting this, the question then becomes one of whether or

The jobs available because of tourism, whether direct or indirect, are relatively high. If the remuneration involved is estimated by consideration of a ‘total payments system’ then the jobs are not as poorly paid as some would argue. Seasonality will affect the availability of many positions but this is arguably be- coming a less significant factor as the demand continues to spread throughout the year.

Tourism allows the opportunity to supplement other sources of in- come eg farmhouse catering, part- time work.

The Lake District National Park is one of the most popular areas in the UK. It has good access roads and an

Government policy

It is essential that those involved in the management of the National Parks

54 TOURISM MANAGEMENT March 1986

have the necessary authority to carry this out with the maximum effect.

Furthermore, efforts should be

made to rationalize the responsibility for, and management of the Parks to one body in order to achieve the desired effect with maximum efficien- cy rather than the current situation whereby:

Most of the acts carried out in the upland areas and already regulated, to a greater or lesser degree. by a variety of agencies,

often acting independently within narrowly

defined limits lack a coherent overall policy

framework and basis of advice so that the

broader objectives of resource conserva-

tion and the enhancement of community

benefits may be met.”

Arguably only when such a body is defined and equipped with the necessary ‘tools’ will the primary function of National Parks be realized, namely . . . . that measures shall be taken to preserve and enhance their natural beauty and to promote their enjoyment by the public”.” To which one should add, that the measures taken are carried out in such a manner as to promote enjoyment whilst at the same time ensuring that what is to be enjoyed is not destroyed.

This remains the clear objective even taking into consideration other policies or reports. As has already been suggested there are a variety of policies, often conflicting. For exampleI those involved in planning

are to pay due regard to the needs of such industries as agriculture whilst exhorted to have regard to natural beauty and amenity. Irrespective of how one interprets due regard it is clearly to be given more significance than just regard.

The situation is not just limited to one of interpretation but also of conflicting directives, for example, during local government reorganization in 1974 the Department of the Environ- ment may be quoted as saying “every effort should be made to ensure that Government policies do not diminish the countryside’s potential for lei- sure”. Following on from this, the Department’s circular 4/76 stated that ‘*the recreational use of National Parks should be related to the particular qualities and capacities of the different types of area”. Does this mean that areas should be marked

down for specific activities only, perhaps even to the Parks themselves, and who is to decide the capacity of any one area using what criteria? Finally, in a circular from that same Department (13179 paragraph 1) it was stated that ‘*priority must be given to the conservation of natural beauty where tourism and conservation are irreconcilable”.

What legislation there is, is often weak and biased towards agriculture and forestry industries. For example, under the Conservation of Wild Crea- tures and Wild Plants Act 1975, a gypsy was prosecuted for digging up a primrose without permission, while a farmer can dig up an entire wood without repercussions.” The Wild Life and Countryside Act 1981 further illustrates the weaknesses in Govern- ment legislation to the extent that this Act may be called ‘toothless’ - eg the company Heron Homes owned a nine acre meadow which contained some sixty species of endangered wild flow- ers and was’s “able to spray the meadow destroying its plant life . before a three month ‘no action con- sultative period”‘. Further, the prop-

erty developer, Birch Lands Develop- ment, destroyed three-quarters of the site of Udden’s Heath, Ferndown, near Bournemouth which was an area of special scientific interest. The re- mainder of the site was only saved from destruction through direct physical in- terference by the Friends%f the Earth and local conservationists. The glaring loopholes in the Act it may be argued have not been improved by the Wild Life and Countryside (Amendment) Bill 1985, described by the Council for the Preservation of Rural England as being so watered down as to be a “disgraceful performance”. l9

The Government has recently announced the appointment of Lord Young of Graffham to be Chairman of

an inter-departmental group of Gov- ernment Ministers and senior officials devoted to removing obstacles to the rapid growth of the tourism and lei- sure industries. What obstacles are being referred to here? Conservation, the planning process perhaps or, looking at the problem optimistically, the whole convoluted system. There is a myriad of Government legislation relating to, and involved in, tourism and


Reports

conservation, often concerned with limited aspects and all too often treat- ing them as separate issues. This is where Sir Derek Barber hit the nail on the head’” when he called for a Gov- ernment White Paper “on the management of the ‘Rural Estate’ that would be farming and forestry and landscape and wild life conservation, about jobs and recreation, about the whole rural fabric”.

Conclusions

A number of points should be made here. First by designating areas as National Parks, it is logical that those areas must already be attractive and in demand by tourists. This designation will increase the demand. Second, is that a great deal of our environment is ‘man-made’. If those forces which shaped the man-made environment are not maintained then it will change, eg dry-stone walling will collapse. hedgerows run wild, meadows turn to wildernesses, the local ecological balance could shift as the strongest pro- liferate. It is arguably not possible to preserve the natural environment by virtue of the fact that nature, like time, does not stand still. The objective is to conserve, to endeavour to sustain the ecosystem, or as the Coun- tryside Commission defined it, “the planning and management of re- sources so as to secure their wider use and continuity of supply”.”

Finally, can the Parks continue in the long term to fulfil their role as a conservation and tourist area if there is no control on developments outside the Parks, particularly if such developments are adjacent to the Park. For example, at a micro level the quarries in the Peak district whilst at the macro level there is the current debate on acid rain. There are bound to be carry-over effects in much the same way, though on a far more limited scale, as are being experienced with the ‘slash and burn’ agricultural tactics being used in Africa and South Amer- ica, which one may add could well affect other parts of the world via climatic variations.

A great deal more could be done within National Parks to promote their recreational use without damag- ing the environment. The potential is

55

Reporrs

enormous and the opportunities that could arise both for tourism and conservation through greater utilization of this potential are bountiful.

This amorphous and, indeed, nebu- lous situation that faces tourism and conservation in the National Parks could be greatly clarified by a clearly

defined Government policy that is supported by effective legislation ie replacing the reliance on consultation procedures and voluntary agreements. If this is not achieved, are we to see in the words of Horst Stern, “first the cow goes then the guest and eventual- ly the native?” Through such a policy a broader objective may be attained, which would be to bring all the various departments, or the relevant responsibilities, and bodies connected with tourism under the one umbrella, namely a Xlinister for Arts Heritage and Culture.

0. Leslie, Lecturer in Tourism Studies Department of Hotel and Catering

University of Ulster, Whiteabbey Jordanstown

County Antrim, BT37 OQB, UK

Notes:

‘Tourism and Recreation Unit, The Eco- nomy of Rural Communities in the National Parks of England and Wales, Research Report No 47, August 1981, paragraph 2,ll.l. ‘J.G. Coppock and B.S. Duffield, Recrea- tion in the Countryside: A Spatial Analysis, MacMillan, London, 1975. 3Lord Strange, Chairman National Parks Review Committee 1963. 4For further details see Dunnerdale in Danger leaflet produced by the Friends of the Lake District, January, 1983. %e Guardian, 7 January 1984. 6The Quarry in question is Topley Pike. Tarmac wish to extend the quarry into Deepdale, adjacent to a Site of Special Scientific interest (SSSI). One objection raised is that as it is a quarry it will have detrimental effects on the SSSI. ‘For further discussion on tourism and historic buildings see M. Binney and M. Hanna, Preservation Pays, SAVE Britain’s Heritage, 1984. ‘The use of the term tourists here is to be taken to include all visitors. V.H. Davies, A Walk Round The Lakes, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 1979. ‘@The Automobile Association estimated that at the peak period 3 000 cars per hour were moving into the Lake District on Easter Friday 1985. “Op tit, Ref 9.

56

‘*Quoted in A. MacEwan and M. Mac- “8. Green, Countryside Conservation: the Ewan, National Parks: Conservation Or Protection and Management of Amenity Cosmetics?, George Allen and Unwin, Ecosystems. Allen and Unwin, London, London, 1982, p 86. 1981. ‘30p cit. Ref 9, p 129. “‘TRRU Rural Communities in the Nat/on- al Parks of England and Wales para 3.1.2. “National Parks and Access to the Coun- trvside Act 1949. “The Countryside Act 1969.

“The Daily Telegraph. 20 August 1984. lgThe Guardian, 7 March 1985. “The Guardian, 21 September 1984. *‘Countryside Recreation Research Advis- or-v Grouo. Countrvside Recreation Glos- s&y, Countryside Commission, I 970.

European market for African destinations

Tourism marketing is problematic in African countries where, in addition to the usual problems faced by developing countries, there is a negative African image to be overcome. S. Nyaruwata, Research and Planning Manager of the Zimbabwe Tourist Development Corporation, has examined the views of European tour operators with the aim of evaluating the competitiveness of Zimbabwe relative to some other African destinations. He reports here on the results of his survey which seem to indicate that were Zimbabwe to overcome its problems of political instability then Zimbabwe would have a high potential for tourism development.

-

Tourism marketing for the majority of developing countries is a constant uphill struggle. The situation is more critical for African countries. This is due to the fact that besides the general adverse factors which are common to other developing countries the image of Africa overseas leaves a lot to be desired. The notion of ‘darkest Africa’ still lingers on in the minds of both tour operators and potential visitors. This is further reinforced by the con- tinual instability of African govem- ments. While the problems of Africa’s image overseas are acknowledged by most African governments involved in tourism there has been little work undertaken to attempt to assess in quantitative terms tour operators’ views of the different African destinations. This has been a major ommis- sion on the part of Africa’s different national tourist organizations because tour operators are a crucial and powerful link in the travel industry. As Erbs has pointed out “They are the ones who choose the places to be visited and itineraries to be followed, can fill the means of transport and accommodation capacity or leave

them empty, impose standards and partly dictate prices especially for accommodation . . .“I

It was the realization of the central role of the tour operators in the travel business and the role that tourism is playing in the economic development of a number of African countries that stimulated the undertaking of field- work in Europe which forms the basis for the present paper.

Methodology

The research was divided into two stages. The first stage involved sending out questionnaires to selected tour operators in the UK and FR Germany who featured African destinations in their brochures. In all 16 questionnaires were sent out to the UK tour operators and 12 to West German tour operators. The tour operators were asked to rank the quality of each factor listed on a scale of nought to 10.

As the aim of the study was mainly to evaluate the competitiveness of Zimbabwe in comparison to other African destinations, it was felt that the most appropriate countries to


tourism and conservation in national parks

Documents