Daños al proyecto de vida en Colombia

Gibson Principles

Implications for Eco-tourism In Dominica

Processes for fostering, evaluating, designing and promoting tourism initiatives, including government laws, plans, policies and programmes, and other private and civil society sector initiatives should build a context (political/regulatory, economic, socio-cultural, etc.) that:

Socio-ecological System Integrity

 supports a clear policy vision for tourism development that values and recognizes benefits of socio-ecological integrity;

 exercises a strong commitment to sustainability, unwavered by political bribes or favours, unless the alternative poses a greater threat to sustainability;

 provides sufficient financial, physical, and human resources to the sectors responsible for the execution of this vision;

 focuses less on increasing the number of cruise ship visitors and more on the more ecology conscious market;

 supports environmental protection (to include the marine and freshwater habitats and forest resources) and ensures that the relationship between the social and biophysical is one that enhances the wellbeing of both;

 establishes environmental protection and conservation firmly in legislation and other encouragements for practical application (enforcing legislation such as the Litter Act and the Marpol 73/78 Convention;

 ensures consideration of the broad range of Valued Ecosystem Components (VECs)¹⁶ (to include elements of environmental, cultural and historic importance) in tourism planning, with all stakeholders deciding (through consensus building) what is valued;

 creates opportunities for the return of Dominican graduates, who possess needed skills in area of natural

16 A Valued Ecosystem Component (VEC) is ―the environmental element of an ecosystem that is identified as having scientific, social, cultural, economic, historical, archaeological or aesthetic importance‖ (http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/012/015/part2_e.htm, April 10, 2009).

Gibson Principles

Implications for Eco-tourism In Dominica

Processes for fostering, evaluating, designing and promoting tourism initiatives, including government laws, plans, policies and programmes, and other private and civil society sector initiatives should build a context (political/regulatory, economic, socio-cultural, etc.) that:

resource management;

 encourages and facilitates frequent public awareness campaigns to raise consciousness of environmental protection, conservation, responsibility;

 encourages education and training to include a broad understanding of ecology and environmental issues, and other training in tourism-specific areas such as hospitality and quality customer care;

 raises and maintains quality standards within the tourist industry (in areas such as accommodation, physical infrastructure, and skills-building) while respecting sustainability principles;

 improves air access;

 develops effective marketing and promotion.

Livelihood Sufficiency and Opportunity

 ensures opportunities are created for community members to improve their living standards, with special consideration for poorer categories of the population and that such initiatives as the Nature Island Standards of Excellence do not result in the exclusion of this sector of society because of the nature of its requirements;

 finds and keeps adequate and healthy means of making a living.

 encourages the development of more local area management authorities, like the one managing the Soufrière Scotts Head Marine Reserve, which legislates the sharing of resources between traditional and recreational users.

Intragenerational Equity ^ reduces the gap between rich and poor;

 strengthens support systems that seek to tackle the inequities (particularly in discrimination due to social

Gibson Principles

Implications for Eco-tourism In Dominica

Processes for fostering, evaluating, designing and promoting tourism initiatives, including government laws, plans, policies and programmes, and other private and civil society sector initiatives should build a context (political/regulatory, economic, socio-cultural, etc.) that:

class, economic rank, and political and/or religious affiliation);

 favours tourism options that provide opportunities for all regardless of social class, economic rank, political or religious affiliation.

Intergenerational Equity

 protects the foundations for the wellbeing of future generations in terms of socio-ecological integrity and economic viability of all tourism ventures by requiring attention to cumulative effects, denying approvals for new activities that threaten long term damage (adopting the trade off rules about not displacing significant adverse effects to future generations).

Resource Maintenance and Efficiency

 supports and is part of a larger effort to use renewable forms of energy such as hydro and geothermal, and

 encourage investment in projects that will support development or and conversion to these forms of energy;

 supports a larger effort to reduce, reuse and recycle, thereby reducing pollution and cutting down on waste;

 ensures that the primary industries of agriculture and fisheries are not sacrificed in the process of tourism development;

 recognizes and realizes ways by which the relationship between tourism and these primary industries can be further tightened and enhanced for the benefit of all.

Socio-ecological Civility and Governance

 ensures effective inclusion of relevant interest groups in planning and decision making;

 makes special efforts to engage community members, who will be affected directly by tourism development projects;

 gives serious consideration to and respect for diverse opinions;

Gibson Principles

Implications for Eco-tourism In Dominica

Processes for fostering, evaluating, designing and promoting tourism initiatives, including government laws, plans, policies and programmes, and other private and civil society sector initiatives should build a context (political/regulatory, economic, socio-cultural, etc.) that:

 fosters community groups that are truly representative of the diversity within areas, and can effectively exercise their power by generating ideas and taking decisions and actions to chart their own futures;

 encourages meaningful consideration of ideas and concerns from communities and other concerned parties by central government

 encourages management of resources by communities, while educating the public about the importance of local ownership;

 provides support (financial, physical, educational, and skills-wise) to community groups for the proper management of resources and programmes;

 encourages innovation among community groups.

Precaution and Adaptation

 seeks to understand the human and biophysical system as a whole, consisting of interdependent parts;

 recognizes the complexity of socio-ecological systems and taking measures to increase resilience after disturbances;

 seeks to enhance existing positives, while adapting to unfavourable conditions;

 ensures monitoring of all obvious and potential elements of surprise, both natural (example: hurricanes and volcanic eruptions) and human (example: economic shocks);

 ensures constant monitoring and evaluation of all development projects;

 builds economic diversity ensures that the systems in place are flexible enough to adjust;

Gibson Principles

Implications for Eco-tourism In Dominica

Processes for fostering, evaluating, designing and promoting tourism initiatives, including government laws, plans, policies and programmes, and other private and civil society sector initiatives should build a context (political/regulatory, economic, socio-cultural, etc.) that:

 ensures that all structures built cater for natural hazard shocks; active effort to mitigate adverse impacts of climate change, example, damage by frequent and intense hurricanes, and coral damage; Investing in economic diversification;

 establishes Government ministries and processes that are flexible enough to work together to address inter-disciplinary issues;

 avoids taking development risks for the sake of convenience or short term gains;

 considers a broad range of environmental factors in tourism planning;

 develops affordable ways of assessing alternatives and cumulative impacts of tourism undertakings and environment thresholds (by monitoring significance through assessment of factors such as carrying capacity), and acknowledging physical and time boundaries in the assessment process;

 allows for strategic level plans, policies and programmes to be properly implemented, monitored, and reviewed regularly;

 builds and strengthens social capital to aid in building resilience and in disaster management Immediate and

Long-term Integration

 Within all tourism activities and developments, seeking to address all sustainability requirements, as a set of interdependent parts, each one enhancing and complementing the other.

CHAPTER 7: A TEST OF THE DOMINICA ECO-TOURISM SUSTAINABILITY FRAMEWORK

This chapter tests the application of the Dominica Eco-tourism Sustainability Framework (elaborated in the previous chapter) in an assessment of the current situation, in order to determine how well the Dominican context serves growth of the kind of tourism highlighted in the framework. Gaps in the current approach to eco-tourism are identified and opportunities for improvement discovered. Key considerations for Dominica‘s ecotourism are identified in this process. The information in this chapter was gathered from secondary sources, interviews, and participant observations.

Dominican authorities have made some efforts at considering sustainability more seriously. In particular, the Forestry and Fisheries divisions and other government departments with responsibilities directly related to the environment (such as environmental health and solid waste management) have made some positive contributions; however, attempts continue to be hindered by limited financial resources, insufficient collaboration between and among private and public sectors, weak law and enforcement; the intrinsic vulnerability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and a host of related problems previously mentioned. Although exploration of the factors affecting the potential of tourism reveals positive movements towards sustainability, the vulnerability of SIDS limits the island‘s ability to realize the full benefits of applying the eco-tourism sustainability framework. Many of the hindrances are linked to a lack of sufficient financial resources, for in the absence of financial support, a comprehensive framework for sustainable tourism development cannot be effectively implemented, monitored and assessed regularly.

7.1 TESTING THE APPLICATION OF THE DOMINICA ECO-TOURISM