The negative impacts of Tourism on Jamaica’s marine environment

Introduction

Tourism is the ability of the tourist to select the activities they want to indulge in when visiting a country. It is the largest and fastest growing industry in the world. Tourism is both Jamaica’s fastest growing industry and the largest foreign exchange earner. The country’s natural resources such as its golden sunshine, beaches, flora and fauna and rivers, are the primary selling points for tourists. Tourism and the environment have a very complex and interdependent relationship as it is the quality of the environment that will determine the success of the tourism industry since it is our main attraction. Agencies responsible for Jamaica’s Tourism industry include Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo). The Jamaica Tourist Board is charged with a mission of marketing the tourism product so that Jamaica remains the premier Caribbean tourism destination. They position Jamaica as the most complete, unique and diverse warm weather destination in the world, which offers the best vacation value available. The Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), is a world class product development company contributing to a diverse, enhanced tourism product and visitor experience, resulting in an improved quality of life for all Jamaicans.

Debate

Three (3) arguments for:

* It is the largest and fastest growing industry in the world. Tourism is both Jamaica’s fastest growing industry and the largest foreign exchange earner. Tourism helps in the development of economy of a country. It helps in the overall GDP development of a country. Year | Total Stopover Arrivals | Total Cruise Arrivals | Total Visitor Arrivals | Total Visitor Expenditure | 1955 | 86,793 | 35,356 | 122,149 | £6,718,190 | 1963 | 131,865 | 70,464 | 202,329 | £13,500,000* | 1975 | 395,809 | 150,433 | 553,258 | US$128,706,000 | 1984 | 603,436 | 231,039 | 843,774 | US$406,600,000 | 1994 | 976,635 | 595,036 | 1,108,871 | US$919,000,000 | 2003 | 1,350,285 | 1,132,596 | 2,482,881 | US$1,336,000,000 | 2009 | 1,831,097 | 922,349 | 2,753,446 | US$1,925,423,000 | 2010 | 1,921,678 | 909,619 | 2,831,297 | US$2,001,244,000 | 2011 | 1,951,752 | 1,125,481 | 3,077,233 | US$2,008,343,000 | 2014 | 2,080,181 | 1,423,797 | 3,503,978 | US$2,248,000,000 |
*Jamaica converted from the English pound to the Jamaican dollar in 1969.
Table 1. showing the growth of how Tourism has grown significantly since then and today. Taken from the Jamaica Tourism Board (JTB) (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.jtbonline.org/tourism_jamaica/Pages/Introduction.aspx

* Tourism gives opportunity to people of various cultures to assimilate together. This fosters various cultures meeting together and understanding each other. This gives them an opportunity to build respect for each other. * Some of the services offered by these industries include: transportation services such as cruise ships and taxis, accommodation services such as hotels, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues, and other hospitality industry services such as spas and resorts.

Three (3) arguments against: * Out of all the components affected in the ecosystem, coral reefs are the most vulnerable. The reefs are sometimes trampled by scuba divers and snorkelers. It is therefore important that the coral reef is sustained, as it provides protection and shelter for many different species of fish and it helps to protect the coast from strong currents and waves by slowing down water before it reaches the shore. * Although stronger than most coastal ecosystem, beaches also suffer from tourism development as well. The construction of hotels and roads destroy dunes and beaches causing severe environmental consequences such as erosion. Then beaches also suffer through their displacement in order to build marinas, piers and docks. An example of this is the case where Jamaica is positioning itself to become a rival to other global logistic hubs. * The inadequate sewage systems have caused the deterioration of water quality and damage to the coral reef by tourism, and this causes sea, rivers and lakes to be polluted and unsafe for the survival of marine life. This pollution can transmit diseases such as: typhoid, cholera and hepatitis through the consumption of sea food. This can even lead to Eutrophication, which in extreme cases, all of the oxygen removed from the water resulting in the death of marine life which rely on oxygen for their survival. Marine ecosystems suffer from the waste disposal by hotels, littering by tourists, and fuel seepage from ships which pollute the sea.

Law & Convention
Law
National Environment and Planning Agency was established in 2001, and provides policy framework for environmental management in Jamaica. They operate under the Beach Control Act that was established in 1956. This is an old but novel piece of legislation that was passed to ensure the proper management of Jamaica’s coastal and marine resources by a system of licencing of activities on the foreshore and the floor of the sea. The Act also addresses other issues such as access to the shoreline, and other rights associated with fishing and public recreation, as well as the establishment of marine protected areas. It is currently undergoing substantive review to address more contemporary legal and management issues including the expansion of the Judges discretion on sentencing, an increase in fines and the introduction of valuing natural resources based on defined criteria.
Convention
The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) or Cartagena Convention is comprehensive, umbrella agreement for the protection and development of the marine environment. The Convention was adopted in Cartagena, Colombia on 24 March 1983 and entered into force on 11 October 1986, for the legal implementation of the Action Plan for the Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP). It also provides the legal framework for cooperative regional and national actions in the WCR. The Convention is supported by three additional technical agreements or Protocols on Oil Spills, Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) and Land Based Sources of Marine Pollution (LBS). The Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU), established in 1986, was designated to be the Secretariat to the Convention. This Secretariat is based in Kingston, Jamaica. The Cartagena Convention works in support of other related UNEP administered global conventions and agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands, CITES Convention on trade in endangered species, Stockholm Convention on chemicals management and the Basel Convention on hazardous as well as those of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) including the MARPOL, Ballast Water and London Conventions. Many regional projects and activities complement actions required under these other agreements.