How to help reefs

Well managed tourism can be an ally of coral reef protection.

Tourism operations that raise awareness of the importance of coral reefs, and enable visitors to see and appreciate the wonder and diversity of coral reefs have a powerful commercial incentive to ensure that the sites they visit and the reefs they use are not degraded.

Many of the problems of tourism have come from ill-considered coastal development with hotels and infrastructure built with little or no regard for the economic value of the goods and services provided by healthy coral reef ecosystems.

Inadequate arrangements for waste and sewage disposal in developments can be very damaging to the coastal environment, and costly to repair.

There are also examples of marine recreation operations with untrained staff and no operational guidelines, which causes further damage to the reefs through inappropriate activities, and failing to raise awareness of their guests of the critical rules of reef usage.

Tourism can be a threat but it has the long term potential for sustainable development and employment benefits to communities in tropical coastal regions. The challenge is to learn effective management so that the measures necessary to protect the environment are recognised and factored into the costs of establishing and continuing tourism operations.

References: http://www.icran.org/peoplereefs-tenquestions.html#Q10