Effects and
Impact of Tourism on the Mediterranean Islands Environment: The Balearic Case |
Spanish translation, Catalan translation |
Sent to us by
Catalina Servera Mestre and Francisca
Alomar Borrás of the
Govern Balear - Conselleria
d'Educació, Cultura i Esports, SPAIN, 1997
English translation of the Spanish original.
Contribution
to the
EDUVINET "Living
Conditions of EU Citizen" subject
TITLE OF THE UNIT
EFFECTS AND IMPACT OF TOURISM ON THE MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS ENVIRONMENT: THE BALEARIC CASE
To design this unit we have taken into account structural didactic aspects of the educational model established by the compulsory secondary education. (LOGSE)
0. Previous Knowledge and possibilities of a pluridisciplinar task
Previous to the development of this unit, participants should have been working, or at least should know the basic points of these matters.
We think, as well, that a proper treatment of this unit allows -or, actually, encourages, the elaboration of an interdisciplinary programme covering these fields or subjects: Catalan, Spanish, a foreign language,social science, natural science, maths, art, tecnnology, music and ethics. The project includes, also, other fields such as: workshops on video, radio, photo, theatre or self-expression through movement, school press and talks on economics. These areas are intended to be optional in some cases. In other cases, and due to the length of the unit they would be developed as seminars.
Cooperation with other sectors of the education community is also possible -and necessary- specially with parents associations, companies, educational institutions, local institutions, etc.
1. General objectives of the unit
The main objectives to achieve are:
1.1. To be aware of positive and negative effects of the relationship between tourism and natural environment in the Mediterranean islands, specially in the Balearic islands.
1.2. To evaluate these effects and impact on the natural environment of the islands.
1.3. To be aware of the main resources and tools (technical and political tools -training and education) for the prevention, reduction and correction of the enviromental impact o tourism on the natural resources of the islands.
1.4. To introduce the "sustainable development" concept, as the economical and social key reference for the future, studying its main implications for the tourist sector.
2. Contents
2.1.Concepts
Basically, concepts to be developed in this unit, in addition to the activities proposed, should make reference to these questions:
The index of concepts of the unit will be as follows. Previously we would like to rise your attention to the fact that eachconcept will be developed according to the interests and needs of the group taking part in the experience, always seeking for the comprehension of the key concepts.
A. Nature: a limited tourist resource.
A. 1. Limiting factors for the tourist development, with special reference to the case of the Islands.
A. 2. The sustainable economic development: concept and basic features.
A. 3.The main natural areas in the Balearic Islands.
A. 4.The protection of the environment: legislation and instruments.
A. 5.Protected natural areas and species protection.
B. Land and environmental impact.
B.1. Land planning.
B.2. Land planning as an instrument for environmental and land management.
B.3. Evaluation of environmental impact.
B.4. Land and tourism: use and occupation.
C. Impact of tourism on the natural resources of the Islands.
C.1. Construction materials.
C.2. Water and energy use.
C.3. Solid waste products.
C.4. Water pollution.
C.5. Noise.
C.6. Impact of tourist activities on natural areas (coast, beaches, dunes, mountains, forests, torrents, etc.).
D. Measures focused on the reduction at the lowest possible level of the impact of tourism on land and environment.
D.1. The role of citizens. Regulations.
D.2. Popular initiatives.
D.3. Preventive measures: tourist planning as an instrument for examining and improving the sector.
D.4.The alternative tourism and alternatives to tourism.
2.2. Procedures
To achieve the mentioned objectives it could be helpful to do activities that allow the practice of procedures related with:
2.3. Attitudes and Values
Tourism, as any economic or/and social phenomenon,outlines dilemmas, causes effects and situations, and create conditions that affect positively and negatively people's lives and communities and their cultures. As usual, the unit has to provide activities that allow students to be aware of these problems. Let's see some examples:
3.Materials
Obviously, there are a lot of materials teachers can use as reinforcement of the unit. We give an initial list:
4. Activities to develop and treatment of diversity
The complexity of the topic -such a complexity is always characteristic of environmental education matters, in which the intersubject and global vision are essential- makes a wide range of activities. On one hand, teachers, having in mind the school conditionings, have to select and give priority to those considered more feasible, interesting or necessary. The activities listed below are mere examples. A later development will set the activities and the other adequate areas to work with. On the other hand, this variety of activities allows an adequate attention to pupils' diversity, according to their interests, expectations, aptitudes and motivations.
5. Procedures and evaluation criteria.
The evaluation of the results of the unit development has to include, not only whether students have achieved or not and in what degree the mentioned objectives, but also the evaluation of activities development and of the own didactic unit in order to make the relevant and useful changes for a future application. You will also evaluate other aspects such as: the collaboration degree among the different areas and subjects, the educational community collaboration, from other sectors or institutions, etc. Apart from others the instruments for evaluation can be:
The evaluation criteria will be defined by the experience activators on the basis of the objectives to achieve. Some examples are:
6. Bibliography
The bibliography useful to design and prepare the unit didactic materials is abundant, as the topic has been the object of several studies due to the social concern in the Balearic Islands over the last two decades. The following list is a mere sample.
BLAZQUEZ, M. (1991) El turisme i el medi ambient, del conflicte a la simbiosi. Memòria d´investigació. Conselleria de Cultura, Educació i Esports del Govern Balear.
CADUTO, M.J. (1992)Guía para la enseñanza de valores ambientales. PNUMA. Ediciones de la Catarata.
CATALÁN, A. i CATANY, M. (1995) Educació ambiental a l'educació secundària obligatòria. Universitat de les Illes Balears.
CONSELLERIA DE TURISME DEL GOVERN BALEAR (1987)Llibre blanc del turisme a les Balears. Conselleria de Turisme, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Caixa de Balears.
DIRECCIÓ GENERAL D'ESTRUCTURES AGRÂRIES I MEDI NATURAL (1995)Illots del sud i l'oest d'Eivissa.
ENCICLOPÈDIA DE MENORCA. Obra Cultural de Menorca.
ENCICLOPÈDIA DE MALLORCA. Grup Serra Edicions.
GOVERN BALEAR (1988) Butlletí d'Estadística Balear. Núm. 1 i 2.
HIERRO, I. (1990) La simulació a l'aula. Eumo Editorial.
HUNGEFORD, H:R: i PEYTON R.B.(1992) Cómo construir un programa de educación ambiental. PNUMA. Ediciones de la Catarata.
MARTÏNEZ RABERNER, A. et al. (1990) Manifest del Comitè científic de les II Jornades del Medi Ambient a les Illes Balears. El Mirall, núm. 38.
MAYOL, J. i MAYOL, M: Islas. Enciclopedia de la Naturaleza en España. Vol. 3.
MAYOL, J. i MACHADO, A. (1992) Medi ambient, ecologia i turisme a les illes Balears. Editorial Moll. Palma.
MOREY, M. (1990) Medio ambiente i desarrollo insular. Lección inaugural. Universidad Internacional del Mediterraneo. Eivissa.
MOREY, M. (Ed.) (1992) Estudio integrado de la isla de Formentera. Bases para un ecodesarrollo. MOPT.
PNUM (1992) Guía de simulación i juegos para la educación ambiental. PNUMA. Ediciones la Catarata.
POL LLOMPART, J.L. (1994) La Trapa. Una experiència en Educacio Ambiental. Universitat de les Illes Balears.
RAYÓ, M. (1989) Els espais naturals protegits. Una eina per a la conservació i per el desenvolupament sostingut. Patronat de l'Escola Municipal de Mallorquí. Manacor. Mallorca.
RAYÓ, M. (1991) Ibiza i Formentera.
RAYÓ, M. (1991) Menorca. Editorial Anaya.
RAYÓ, M. (1994) Baleares. Editorial Anaya.
RAYÓ, m. (1994) Aproximació històrica a l'ús educatiu dels espais naturals a Mallorca (segles XIX i XX). Universitat de les Illes Balears.
RULLAN, O. (1987) Espai i ordenació del territori a Mallorca. Tesi doctoral. Inèdit. Universitat de les Illes Balears.
SBEA (1987) Didàctica de la natura a les Balears. Premssa Universitària. Palma.
SBEA (1993) Bases per a una estratègia d'educació ambiental a les Illes Balears. Universitat de les Illes Balears.
SERVEI DE CONSERVACIÓ DE LA NATURALESA (1993) Educació per a la conservació. Documents tècnics de conservació, núm 22.
UICN, WWF & PNUMA (1980) Estrategia mundial para la conservación. La conservación de los recursos vivos para el logro de un desarrollo sostenido. Morges. UICN Publications Centre.
UICN, WWF & PNUMA (1991) Cuidar la terra: estratègia per al futur de la vida. Gland. Suïssa. Versió al català de la Societat d'Història Natural de les Balears. Parlament de les Illes Balears. Palma.
VIDA, J.M. i MARTÍN, C. (Ed) (1992) Jornades sobre conservació i desenvolupament a Menorca. Maó. Institut Menorquí d'Estudis.
VIDAL, J.M., RITA, J. i MARTÍN, C. (1994) Menorca, reserva de la biosfera. Consell Insular de Menorca-Institut Menorquí d'Estudis-Obra Social i Cultural "Sa Nostra".
An example of a part of a content
Effects and impact of tourism on the Mediterranean environment: The Balearic case.
Text number 1. The sustainable development
With the technology common to each historic period, human beings have obtained from nature the products they need to satisfy their needs: cultivated lands, savage and domestic animals, and available vegetables, useful minerals for manufacture, industry and construction, water and energy, sea resources... Thus, different societies have undergone espectacular economic increase since the Industrial revolution.
In different ages, the mankind has used different technologies, but some of them have damaged nature, for example: water or atmosphere pollution, animal or vegetable species in extinction, the disappearance of natural ecosystems and available resources. Also, these activities have sometimes caused social damage effects, such as: the excess of population, the economic inequality between rich and poor countries, poverty, wars, many droughts, natural habitats and human cultures destroyed, migrations, etc..
Nowadays, we know that economic development does not guarantee necessarily people's quality of life. Otherwise, we know that if we misuse a natural resource. future generations will not be able to make a good use. Since some decades, many public and private institutions -THE UN, UNESCO, FAO, UICN, WWF, THE WORLD BANK, etc- have established a new concept of economic development: "Economic Sustainable Development".
It means an economic and social sustainable development that allows the present generation to satisfy needs without threatening the needs of future generations. A development that creates neither imbalances among societies nor irreversible impacts in natural or energetic resources. An economic development that allows for the preservation and promotion of the natural biological diversity and of the human beings' cultural diversity. Of course, this new concept of development forces societies to not exceed the limits of nature when they try to satisfy their economic needs.
The economic sustainable development has, really, some limits: the limits showed by the foreseeable needs of future generations, and those assuring nature preservation -species and natural environment-.Also those that guarantee peace and the coexistence of people and nations, and those assuring the right to be different and the fairness in the wealth distribution, in order to all the human beings live with dignity and have the rights to education health, employment, housing, public life participation and, in short, that everybody has his rights as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Sustainable development is not a concept defined in a complete way, but an aspiration, a process. In fact, this is the way the humanity has to undertake to guarantee life feasibility on the planet in the future.This is the reason why everybody is involved in it, and why to get a worldly system of sustainable development becomes an objective to share by everybody. International institutions and nations, local institutions and people, everywhere and everyone has to take part in this great project.
Text number 2: The Balearic Islands: nature
The Balearic Islands are relative, occupied islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Eivissa and Formentera) and some other small islands, placed in the east of the Mediterranean Sea, nearby the Iberian Peninsula. The best-known small islands are Cabrera and Dragonera on the Mallorca coast, Es Vedrà, Conillera and Tagomago on the Eivissa Coast and En Colom on the Menorca coast. In all of them, nature shows an interesting sample, from a scientific point of view, of natural environment submitted to environmental conditions common to Mediterranean islands.
Mediterranean islands show some characteristics present in the Balearic Islands, caused by factors as insularity -space between islands and the mainland-, own climatology -moderate temperature, torrential rains in spring and autumn, and long, dry summer periods-, salinity - and other sea conditionings-, and the extinction of species that sometimes evolve , due to isolation, in a different way from other similar species in nearby continents.
In the Balearic Islands all these conditions have created a varied and rich countryside. It abounds in vegetable endemic species -typical of the Islands, for example: the "estepa joana" (Hypericum balearicum) in Mallorca. It also abounds in an outstanding fauna, such as: the "sargantana"(Podarcis lilfordi) in Menorca and Eivissa and in the small islands surrounding Mallorca (Podarcis pityusensis); the "ferreret" (Alytes muletensis) - a small frog only found in Mallorca; the "vellmarí" (Monachus monachus) -a sea mammal, already extincted, and birds, such as: the "voltor negre" (Aegypius munachus), the "falcó marí" (Falco eleonorac), the "busqueret de coa llarga" (Sylvia sarda) or the "gavina d'Audouin" (Larus audouini).
Besides, the Balearic Islands show a wide range of examples of the natural ecosystems typical to Mediterranean islands. Thus, we can find almost high mountain countrysides (North mountains in Mallorca), long beaches and complete dune systems (Es Trenc in Mallorca, Son Bou in Menorca, sandy areas in Formentera), beautiful coves (Cala Deià in Mallorca, En Turqueta or Cala Macarella in Menorca), small islands (Cabrera sub-archipelago in the south of Mallorca, Es Vedrà and Tagomago on the Eivissa coast, oak groves, savine woods, and pine trees, torrents in drops plenty of vegetation in Menorca, lagoons and humid areas (the lagoon of Alcudia in Mallorca, Es Grau in Menorca, Ses Salines in Eivissa and Formentera), scrubland shrubs (Pistacia lentiscus) and olive trees shrubs (Olea silvestris) with tree strawberry (Arbutus unedo), "garballons" (Chamaerops humilis) and many other plants species.
All these balearic countrysides have been historically modified by the action of human population, since almost five thousand years: the early settlers (Mallorca and Menorca Talaiotic Culture), the Phoenician (specially in Eivissa), the Romans, the Arabs and the Christians have always coveted the Balearic Islands placed in a privileged area in the west Mediterranean Sea. The monuments built along the consecutive occupations contribute to the beauty and interest the Balearic cultural heritage arises in their current visitors. The different populations have modified, by this means, the landscape making agricultural, forest and, finally, touristic use of it( last half of the twentieth century). Every one of these uses has caused changes and effects in all the landscape (eroded mountains, built-up coastlines, agrarian plains, etc.).
Text number 3: The limited resources of Balearic nature
Adapted from Medi ambient, ecologia i turisme a les illes Balears, 1992
Obviously the Islands have limited natural resources and their capacity of resisting or adapting to the changes caused by men. There are, specially; three limited resources in the Balearic Islands: water, land and energy. These are the factors that give shape, basically, to the capacity of a territory load and, consequently, over which its ecology and economy work.
We only get water from rain and we have lost a lot. Tales about underground rivers from the mainland have proved to be false and mere fantasy. We can get benefit only from a part of yearly rains. Furthermore, we have to consider that increasing water use in the Islands could have repercussions on the ecosystem preservation. Would the Albufera de Mallorca exist if all the water from its basin was taken and used? . Would the "ferrerets" (Alytes muletensis) survive -only living in the mountains torrents of Mallorca- if we built new reservoirs in the north mountain range?. We are not the only species that needs water in Mallorca. Disafforestation and erosion destroyed the Islands permanent watercourses long time ago. Even the famous "river" of Santa Eulàlia in Eivissa, which perhaps kept freshwater fish until a long part of the century being., is nowadays an occasional stream, completely dry during months or years.
Land: one more limitation. We know that fertile land is a geological and climatic local product, which all along the process of ecological succession, establish its own support to vegetation, which also nourishes and forges its own land. Thus, holm-oak groves make the best of the Balearic land. A large part of the best cultivated lands in the Islands is found in the area occupied by these woods before the island agricultural expansion just some millenniums ago. Woodlands suffered from recession due to the competition for the land surface., but it was also expoiled -taken to the patches, only in Mallorca there are thousands of kilometres of them- and the same forest has been the most important source of energy (firewood and coal) in the island until a recent time. It has not been always exploited in moderation and with care. This fact explains the forest and land erosion, which has become an irreversible process.
The exploitation of energy has changed considerably all along the time. The traditional economic systems, kept during many centuries, were based on three sources of energy: animal, for many agricultural and transport tasks; wind, for navigation and some agrarian industries ( in Mallorca they have worked more than 1200 wind mills to take out water from the subsoil), and vegetable (firewood and coal), for domestic uses. Fossil energy (lignites) began to be exploited in the second half of the XIX century, an only in this century the contribution of external sources (coal and oil) have become important.
Text number 4: Principles for living in sustainable way
Adapted from Cuidar la terra: Estratègia per al futur de la vida. UICN, WWF, and PNUMA. Gland. Switzerland, 1991.
The natural resources management in an economy of sustainable development requires that human communities consider some essential criteria to guarantee the sustainability. Some of these criteria are: precautions to avoid imbalances, maintenance and improvement of basic conditions of life for men and women, maintenance of biological and essential ecological cycles and, finally the awareness that resources are limited.
From these criteria we derive some "principles for living in a sustainable way". The principal ones are:
(1) The capacity of load of environment is established by the following general conditions:
Text number 5: Environmental conclusions of the "Llibre Blanc del Turisme a les Illes Balears:
Adapted from Llibre Blanc del Turisme a les Balears. Conselleria de Turisme, 1987.
Text number 6: Water consumption values per person and day. The use of a limiting factor.
Adapted from Medi ambient, ecologia i turisme a les Illes Balears. 1992, and from Llibre Blanc del Turisme a les Balears, 1987.
VALUES OF WATER CONSUMPTION PER PERSON | |||
Litres/day | Austere pattern | Normal pattern | Luxury pattern |
Rural inhabitant | 80 | 140 | - |
Urban inhabitant | 210 | 250 | 300 |
Tourist bed | 350 | 440 | 800 |
Text number 7: The environment negative effects on the tourist: the elements of environment quality that the tourist perceives.
Adapted from Medi Ambient, ecologia i turisme a les Illes Balears. 1992
Apparently the level of environment and personal tolerance of an important part of tourists (specially, that one called quality tourism) is more restrictive than the islanders'. For instance, a person from Mallorca can accept or ignore dirt in gardens and pine forests but many tourists cannot. If we transfer these similes to public services or landscape hygiene, it is easy to understand the effect on tourism, the roadsides full of all kind of rubbish (tins, plastic, papers, bottles, etc.) and short of vegetation that cannot hide it. In Northern European countries, which are more rainy, people do not throw rubbish through the car windows and, besides, vegetation hides it better. There is no point in complaining about it but to clean and educate better.
The level of damage can keep growing without arriving at the tolerance limit of the islanders, which would cause a reaction (reparations and cleanliness) but tourists do not have the same one.
The tourists' reaction: they do not come back and talk badly of the Balearic Islands. In short, it is a loss of prestige. The constant tourists and tourist sector complaints about environment mean a very important alarm signal, much more for their indicative value
than for their direct consequences.
Text number 8: For a sustainable tourism
Adapted from Dec_leg d'Ecotrans, per a un turisme conscient i responsable.
Text number 9: The need of environment protection for a sustainable development.
Adapted from Llibre Blanc del Turismr a les Balears. 1987
The idea of environment protection does not only imply criteria of restrictive uses , but the idea of sustainable development, which allows all human actions that do not diminish environment in the sense of permitting unlimited uses without exhausting resources or making environment irreversible damage. Thus, we would try to reconcile natural and cultural values with the rightful socioeconomic ambitions of people living in the area.
Bibliography
The bibliography you can find next will be in their original titles.
CADUTO, M. J. (1992) Guía para la enseñanza de valores ambientales. PNUMA. Ediciones de la Catarata.
CATALÁN, A. i CATANY, M. (1995) Educació ambiental a l'educació secundària obligatòria. Universitat de les Illes Balears.
CONSELLERIA DE TURISME DEL GOVERN BALEAR (1987)Llibre blanc del turisme a les Balears. Conselleria de Turisme, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Caixa de Balears.
DIRECCIÓ GENERAL D'ESTRUCTURES AGRÂRIES I MEDI NATURAL (1995) Illots del sud i l'oest d'Eivissa.
ENCICLOPÈDIA DE MENORCA. Obra Cultural de Menorca.
ENCICLOPÈDIA DE MALLORCA. Grup Serra Edicions.
GOVERN BALEAR (1988) Butlletí d'Estadística Balear. Núm. 1 i 2.
HIERRO, I. (1990) La simulació a l'aula. Eumo Editorial.
HUNGEFORD, H:R: i PEYTON R.B.(1992) Cómo construir un programa de educación ambiental. PNUMA. Ediciones de la Catarata.
MAYOL, J. i MAYOL, M: Islas. Enciclopedia de la Naturaleza en España. Vol. 3.
MAYOL, J. i MACHADO, A. (1992) Medi ambient, ecologia i turisme a les illes Balears. Editorial Moll. Palma.
MOREY, M. (Ed.) (1992) Estudio integrado de la isla de Formentera. Bases para un ecodesarrollo. MOPT.
NOVO, M. (1995) La educción ambiental. Bases éticas, conceptuales i metodológicas. Editorial Universitas. Madrid.
PNUM (1992) Guía de simulación i juegos para la educación ambiental. PNUMA. Ediciones la Catarata.
RAYÓ, M. (1994) Baleares. Editorial Anaya.
RAYÓ, M. inèdit (1997) Unitat didàctica "Efectes i impactes del turisme sobre els medis naturals insulars de la Mediterrània: el cas de les Balears". Es pot consultar a la Conselleria d'Educació, Cultura i Esports del Govern Balear.
RULLAN, O. (1987) Espai i ordenació del territori a Mallorca. Tesi doctoral. Inèdit. Universitat de les Illes Balears.
SBEA (1987) Didàctica de la natura a les Balears. Premssa Universitària. Palma.
SERVEI DE CONSERVACIÓ DE LA NATURALESA (1993) Educació per a la conservació. Documents tècnics de conservació,núm 22.
UICN, WWF & PNUMA (1980) Estrategia mundial para la conservación. La conservación de los recursos vivos para el logro de un desarrollo sostenido. Morges. UICN Publications Centre.
UICN, WWF & PNUMA (1991) Cuidar la terra: estratègia per al futur de la vida. Gland. Suïssa. Versió al català de la Societat d'Història Natural de les Balears. Parlament de les Illes Balears. Palma.
VIDA, J.M. i MARTÍN, C. (Ed) (1992) Jornades sobre conservació i desenvolupament a Menorca. Maó. Institut Menorquí d'Estudis.
VIDAL, J.M., RITA, J. i MARTÍN, C. (1994) Menorca, reserva de la biosfera. Consell Insular de Menorca-Institut Menorquí d'Estudis-Obra Social i Cultural "Sa Nostra".
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