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Tourism and Sensitive Areas

Tourism and protection

Ecologically sensitive areas are areas where natural resources are critically endangered by physical changes, for example coral reefs, coastal areas and, high biodiversity inland areas. In such areas the following three basic principles of the Convention on Biodiversity apply:

• Conservation of biological diversity,
• Sustainable use,
• Equitable sharing of benefits between local community and indigenous people.

Tourism and sensitive areas

Many sensitive areas have a high tourism attraction because of their exceptional features such as high aesthetic landscape or unique ecological value. As such areas hold the main assets on which the tourism industry depends, conservation is a must.

UNEP strongly believes that tourism can make a contribution to their protection in various ways. For example through financial contributions, provision of environmental infrastructure, improved management, awareness raising and education on tourist behavior in a natural environment, and by the creation of protected areas, national parks, cultural and natural sites.