consequences of tourism on marine pollution in Australia

Introduction

Sustainability is termed as the sense of responsibility that leads to wise use of the available resources and protect them for the future generations (Wanamaker, 2018). Sustainability is discovered and managed in wide reference of time and space such as social, economic and environmental contexts which includes planet Earth, ecosystems, nations, sustainability of economic sectors, home gardens, occupations, goods and services, oceans, agriculture and many others. This indicates that the responsibility towards the nature and natural resources whether to use them in appropriate manner or avoid them from pollution in an organised manner will lead to sustainability.

This essay emphasise on the analysis of the consequences of tourism on marine pollution in Australia. The essay will discuss sustainability concerns in environmental, social and economic point of view that has lead to a need of sustainable practices to overcome the threat of loss of not only the resources but the entire eco-system, locality and tourism. The essay also entails the steps that are already taken and can be taken to deal with the consequences for the achievement of sustainability.

Tourism

Tourism in Australia is growing rapidly with the presence of wide range of beautiful natural attractions that consists of diverse wildlife, beautiful beaches, the Great Barrier Reef, unspoilt Natural wilderness, national parks including rainforests and other forests. It is analysed that the tourism sector records a growth of 8% increase in the visitors in the year 2017-18 but is not prepared for the damages to the country’s greatest drawcards (Morton, 2018). There is 6.4% growth in tourism to $120 billion following the 7% growth in the year 2015. The international visitors to Australia recorded to reach 8 million which is increased by 11% in comparison to 2015 (DFAT, 2017). This sector also offers employment to more than 580200 people in Australia that equals to 1 in 20 jobs in the country. Besides this, the government’s national Tourism 2020 plan has no emphasis on controlling greenhouse emissions or improves sustainability in the industry (Morton, 2018).

Environmental

Environmentally sustainable system emphasise on avoid over exploitation of renewable resources, minimising impact on climate and emphasise on recycle, reuse and minimise waste. It is analysed that increased tourism leads to enhanced impacts on the environment. There are issues like climate change, pollution in oceans, bushfires, loss of natural habitats and CO2 emission. It is analysed that tourism has significant impact on the oceans due to the increased use of plastic, movement of human beings and rubbish flushed into oceans that accumulate in the seawater and food chains (Vince and Hardesty, 2017). These materials are not only posing risks for the marine animals but are also responsible for impacting the entire marine ecosystem. The one of the major environmental impact from tourism is harm to Great Barrier Reef that is the centre of attraction for the tourists in Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is spread over 344400 square kilometres consists of 760 fringe reefs, and have variety of marine life, plants and animals. This also includes ancient sea turtles, reef fish, 134 species of sharks and rays and 400 different soft and hard corals (Morgan, 2019).

In the past two decades the half of the coral cove is lost due to pollution that lead to deadly starfish outbreaks and bleaching is caused due to global warming. There increase in the temperature of ocean has lead to endanger the reef. Besides this, the increased movement of the humans in the habitats of the sea life has lead to impact on the lives of species such as Green turtle, Hawksbill turtle, blue whale and other sea plantation (WWF, n.d.).

The main issues arise due to the tourism is the increase in the plastic waste, edibles and other materials that move to the oceans and are directly or indirectly consumed by the sea animals. This in turn leads to death of some of the animals and impacted the plantation under the sea to a significant level. Besides this, when sea animals consume particles of plastic and other harmful chemicals that move to the ocean with the rain water from land contains harmful chemicals such as lead, mercury, fertilizers and waste from industries (WTI, 2016). The consumption of these chemicals lead to death of the sea animals and when they are consumed by human beings it will result to various diseases among human beings.

Social

The tourism in Australia is having growth due to various social factors such as quality of life, education, community development, law and ethics, equal opportunity, human rights and decent working conditions (Wanamaker, 2018). This system tries to achieve sustainable tourism practices by improving awareness among the people to make them accountable and participative towards sustainable practices. The rise in the per capital income, living standard and increase in the tourism has lead to increased movement of human beings near the oceans and inside the sea. There is also increase in the use of single used plastic products such as water bottles, warpers of foods, and fishing gears. Besides this, the use of fishing nets and other activities leads to contamination of water and these products degrade into smaller particles and are swallow by sea animals that cause blockage in their breathing passages and stomachs. These results in feel to the sea animal that their stomach is full and they die after some time. The use of the sunscreen, face wash and other products such as plastic toys, gaming near beaches also lead to increase risk of pollution to the oceans and results to excess increase of some of the plants or algae to bloom, reduce water quality and deplete the supply of dissolved oxygen (World Economic Forum, 2019).

Economic

The tourism sector of Australia is contributing significantly in the Australian economy. The tourism sector of Australia contributes nearly 3.1% of the GDP. Besides this, $43.9 billion is the total spending in Australia that consists of 271 million by international visitors. It also provides employment to large number of population that helps the economy to grow at rapid rate (Budget Direct, 2019). The other economic factors include interest rates, tax rates, law policies, wages and exchange rates. These factors indirectly impact the business. The increase in the ocean tourism due to availability of wide natural resources has lead to impact the natural habitats and consequences on the life of the sea animals (Hajbane and Pattiaratchi, 2017). This is the reason there is a need to develop action plans that will help to overcome these issues and move towards sustainable practices that will not only continue growth in the tourism sector but also help in survival of the Great Barrier Reef, sea life and plantation.

Actions to achieve sustainability

There are various actions that can be taken to attain sustainability. It is needed by the Australian government and tourism industry to increase awareness towards the environmental impact of the human activities on the oceans. This will help the nation to take planned actions towards minimising the impact on the habitat and marine eco-system. Besides this, it is necessary that the use of single use plastic is to be minimised from immediate effect. It is analysed that single use plastic is one of the major factor behind the pollution in the oceans and has the role in the ocean pollution (Ausleisure, 2019). Besides this, it is also needed to take collective actions to minimise the impact on the climate by the completely banning the plastic and related materials on the sea beaches. It is also required to collaborate with non-for profit organisations and carryout events that will focus on cleaning of the beaches to avoid more waste to move to the sea (WTI, 2016). In addition to this, the visitors and tourists are needed to be instructed towards efforts and sustainable practices so that they will also enjoy the various attractions in sustainable manner (World Economic Forum, 2019). There is also need to introduce water treatment plants, recycling projects and increase plantation so that the waste materials especially plastic and harmful chemicals are avoided to be flown to the oceans. The avoidance of the plastics will surely help the country to overcome the challenge of sustainability in the flora and fauna of ocean.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the various activities carried out by the tourism industry leads to significantly pollute the ocean and impacts the eco-system that has lead to damage to Great Barrier Reef, sea animals and plantation. This is the reason there is requirement to implement sustainable environmental, social and economic practices to minimise the impact of tourism on the oceans and save the natural resources and attractions for the future generations. Sustainability emphasise on improving awareness and efficient use of the available resources so that these resources are available for the upcoming generations. The actions that can be taken involves awareness towards the issue, combined efforts from government, organisations and people and minimise the use of plastic across the country and in day to day life which will help to deal with these issues to a significant level.

References

Ausleisure (2019). TOURISM REPORT CALLS FOR MORE EFFECTIVE CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES TO SAVE OUR OCEANS. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/tourism-report-calls-for-more-effective-climate-change-strategies-to-save-our-oceans/

Budget Direct. (2019) Australian Tourism Statistics 2019. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.budgetdirect.com.au/travel-insurance/research/tourism-statistics.html

DFAT. (2017). Growth in tourism a shining light for Australia. [Online]. Retrieved from:  https://dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/trade-investment/business-envoy/Pages/august-2017/growth-in-tourism-a-shining-light-for-australia.aspx

Hajbane, S., and Pattiaratchi, C. B. (2017). Plastic pollution patterns in offshore, nearshore and estuarine waters: a case study from Perth, Western Australia. Frontiers in Marine Science, 4, 63.

Morgan, J. (2019). Great Barrier Reef. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.wwf.org.au/what-we-do/oceans/great-barrier-reef#gs.wkee4x

Morton, A. (2018). Tourism is the Australian industry least prepared for climate change, report says. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/08/climate-change-tourism-is-australias-least-prepared-industry-report-says

Vince, J., and Hardesty, B. D. (2017). Plastic pollution challenges in marine and coastal environments: from local to global governance. Restoration ecology, 25(1), 123-128.

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World Economic Forum. (2019). Tourism is damaging the ocean. Here’s what we can do to protect it. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/03/tourism-is-killing-our-oceans-heres-what-we-can-do-to-protect-them/

WTI. (2016). Protecting the oceans against plastic pollution. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.wti.org/institute/news/350/protecting-the-oceans-against-plastic-pollution/

WWF. (n.d.). Marine Pollution. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.wwf.org.au/what-we-do/oceans/marine-pollution#gs.wjr3t7