Responsible
Tourism - South Africa
Environmental Responsibility
What Is The Issue?
Tourism developments worldwide have had a substantial impact on the natural world. From the visual impact of hotel and resort complexes to noise and air pollution from increased traffic, contamination of water supplies and the loss of natural habitats, tourism has played its role in destroying the natural environment.
Tourism establishments that fail to protect their environmental surroundings impact on the very attractions on which most depend for success
- clean air, safe water and beautiful surroundings.
Nature-based tourism operations have a particular responsibility towards their natural environment in terms of ensuring ecologically sensitive land and habitat management and conserving biodiversity.
Tourism establishments that adopt good environmental practices inevitably contribute to the quality of their surroundings, improving the experience for guests and the living standards of local communities.
Sound waste management and water treatment create a safer environment for staff and local communities, reducing illness and disease and enhancing quality of life. Moreover, good environmental practice translates into direct cost savings by reducing energy and water bills as well as sewage treatment and waste disposal costs. In terms of the bottom line, good environmental practice makes perfect economic sense.
Environmental Planning
In planning a new development, you may be required to complete an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), in which you indicate how any potentially negative impacts will be managed. An EIA has to be undertaken if you are changing land use e.g. prior to developing a new resort.
What Can You Do?
Planning
Commission experienced environmental consultants to undertake the EIA for you. This will enable you to plan to have the lowest possible ecological impact.
Ensure your consultants provide you with information regarding the availability of water in the area, rare and vulnerable habitats to protect and natural resources that you can sustain ably harvest.
Ensure that your planning takes local community resource needs (e.g. water) into account.
Design
Instruct your architects to use sustain ably harvested, local materials in their design.
Plan your design to minimize noise and harsh lights, which may impact on local people, visitors and wildlife.
Minimize the use of water, energy and materials to reduce future environmental costs.
Incorporate local architectural styles to improve the aesthetic impact of the development.
Plan landscaped areas to include local indigenous species.
Construction
Try and source your building materials locally (e.g. within 50 km)
Utilize sustainable produced materials where possible.
Try to maintain indigenous trees and avoid clearing nearby vegetation.
Construct access roads, storage sites and waste disposal areas to reduce negative environmental impacts.
Environmental Management System
If you run a large operation, develop an Environmental Management System (EMS) to help audit your environmental performance. This will measure your consumption and waste production and identify ways of reducing negative environmental impacts.
Who’s Doing It?
The Southern African Wildlife College near Kruger National Park was constructed to minimize environmental impact. Thatched buildings were kept beneath tree-top level and low-volume, dual-flush toilet systems were installed, with bath water supplying water to the gardens. All wood came from invasive alien plantations. Local contractors manufactured most of the bricks and cut 700 000 bundles of thatching grass for roofing.
Phinda Forest Lodge in KwaZulu-Natal was designed to minimize impact on its rare sand-forest. All bricks were made by hand by a local poacher-turned brick-maker and transported to site by wheelbarrow. Buildings were constructed on stilts, with decks built to incorporate the forest trees.
Bricks for the 155-room Village at Spier Hotel in the Western Cape were made from unfired clay. All timber used was from sustainable forests. Spier also helped to further develop the Biolytix waste system, a fully aerobic system that filters waste water and yields nutrient-rich water for irrigation.
The Sandton Convention Centre has a detailed Environmental Management System to ensure it operates in an environmentally responsible way and makes efficient use of energy and water resources.
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