Sustainable tourism in protected areas? : an ecological economics case study of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area

Abstract

This thesis is concerned broadly with operationising the concept of sustainable development. A particular natural resource use, tourism in protected areas, is selected for investigation in this context. A working definition for "sustainable tourism in protected" areas is developed, based on reviews of the literature on sustainable development and tourism in protected areas. The thesis takes an ecological economics approach to the question of operationalising the concept of sustainable tourism in protected areas. The reasons for selecting an ecological economics approach are discussed. An ecological economics model is developed in order to try to measure whether the criteria and conditions proposed for sustainable tourism in protected areas are being met. The model is then applied to a case study of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in North Queensland, Australia. This area of tropical rainforest houses numberous rare and endangered species. It also has experienced rapid growth in tourism in recent years, and tourist numbers are expected to double between the years 1992 and 2001. The budget for management has recently been reduced significantly. The case study shows that the criteria and conditions for sustainable tourism in the Wet tropics World Heritage Area are currently not being met. This is mainly because the budget dedicated to management is less than that considered adequate to avoid exceeding limits of acceptable ecological change. The net economic benefits, conditional upon adequate funding being provided for management, are positive and large. the effects of introducing an entry fee to raise funds for management are modelled. Conclusions are drawn on the application of the model to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and the broader application of the approach developed.