Taskforce on Ocean Governance

Recreation & Tourism

Recreation and Tourism in coastal and marine areas are among the most important socio-economic and cultural activities that exist thanks to the ecosystem services provided by the sea and the coastal areas.

Tourism is a use sector that involves significant amounts of people and provides one of the highest incomes to communities both at the local and national levels. Many types of recreation and sports in the sea and especially in coastal areas or around islands (e.g. diving, surfing, sailing) can be helpful in raising awareness of oceans issues and create political will for conservation, thus becoming an essential tool in sustainability. Nevertheless, these “non-consumptive” uses can also take a toll on marine ecosystems if not well-managed. Indeed, some of the most fragile and unique ecosystems on the planet – places like the Galapagos and the Great Barrier Reef – are facing increasing pressures from tourism activities. Local communities may reep some benefits from these activities, but increased tourism can also undermine cultural ties and can lead to the political marginalization of indigenous peoples. Furthermore, many tourists are unaware of the impacts that they are having on the environment or on local communities and there are still many places were these impacts need to be investigated Documenting, mapping and integrating Recreation and Tourism in marine and coastal planning (e.g. Maritime Spatial Planning) as well as actions to improve governance through increasing participation of stakeholders from different sectors are some of the important mechanism towards sustainable development.

Members of this cluster examine the social, environmental and economic impacts of tourism and recreation activities towards decreasing them and to address adequate planning and management. They utilize innovative techniques for mapping and documenting these activities for spatial planning. They also study public and private governance systems to better understand how recreation and tourism can be made more sustainable. This cluster overlaps with the Blue Economy, Coastal Communities, and Pollution, among others. For other non-consumptive uses, see Shipping and Energy.

If you’d like to join the cluster, please click here to become a member. This will allow you to post information on the page and give you the opportunity to receive information and updates via the Oceans Taskforce listserve.

While we do not have funding ourselves, we do hope to foster joint projects via Working Groups, which would bring together cluster members to write grant proposals, put together collected volumes/special issues, or develop webinars, workshops, syllabi, or similar products. All projects should focus on the cluster topic and fit within the ESG Science Plan (http://www.earthsystemgovernance.org/research-agenda/). Working group members should come from more than one institution and should have sufficient expertise to accomplish project goals. Forming a working group can help you to expand your professional network. It will also provide mentoring from the cluster leaders and access to logistical support like web-conferencing from ESG headquarters. To submit a Working Group proposal, please fill out this form and send it to the cluster leader(s) listed below. If you’d like to propose a Working Group that fits in more than one cluster, please send it to the leaders of each cluster in a single e-mail. Scroll down for descriptions of active Working Groups.

Cluster Leaders:

Berit Charlotte Kaae
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
bck@ign.ku.dk

Mabel Augustowski
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
mabel.augustowski@gmail.com

 

Active Working Groups