INTRODUCTION

Asia (the Orient) is perhaps the most crowded continent of the world.  There are 30 different countries in Asia (excluding the Middle East), inhabiting more than 50% of the world's population. Similar to other continents, the majority of population centers are located near the coastlines. This web page focuses primarily on natural environments and protected areas in East, Southeast and South Asia, spanning between Japan to the East and Nepal to the West, and between Russia (Asian portion) to the North and Indonesia to the South.

Natural and cultural heritage in Asia is rich and diverse, constituting a wealth of tourist and recreation resources.  However, such resources are also subject to tremendous visitor use pressure.  For example, international tourist arrivals in East Asia are estimated to have average annual growth rates of 7.2-7.6% between 2000 and 2020, which are the highest among all world regions [1].  Domestic recreation and tourism have also experienced rapid growth as socio-economic conditions of most countries in the region continue to improve.  Visitor use pressure on Asian protected areas is further exacerbated by recent interests of using ecotourism as a sustainable development tool within the region.

Expanding visitor use and impacts in protected areas of Asia have created significant concerns among managers and administrators.  Such concerns have led to the development of visitor use guidelines for this specific region [2].  They have prompted research that seeks to understand and manage visitor resource impacts. The majority of impact studies were conducted in Russia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, and to a less extent, Hong Kong and Malaysia [3].  It should be noted that a substantial number of studies were published in oriental languages that have prevented them from widely communicating to the global scientific community.

This web page provides a collection of online resources on tourism/recreation impacts and their management in East, South and Southeast Asia.  A list of recent publications on related subjects is also included.  Only resources available in English were selected.
______________

[1] World Tourism Organization (1999). Guide for Local Authorities on Developing Sustainable Tourism: Supplementary Volume on Asia and the Pacific. Madrid, Spain: WTO.

[2] Eagles, P. F. J., Bowman, M. E., & Tao, T. C.-H. (2001). Guidelines for Tourism in Parks and Protected Areas of East Asia. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK:  IUCN. 199p.

[3] Leung, Y.-F. (2002). Recreation ecology and visitor carrying capacity management: Implications for protected areas in East Asia. In: Hodgkiss, J. (ed.), Challenge of Nature Conservation in the Face of Development Pressure: Proceedings of the 2001 IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas - East Asia Conference. Hong Kong: AFCD/FCP, pp. 67-73.
 
 
 

ONLINE RESOURCES

• Organizations/Agencies

• Mountain Forum-Asia Network
• Pacific Asia Tourism Assocation (PATA)
• Office of Environment and Culture
• International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Mountain Tourism Resource Center
• IUCN World Commission for Protected Areas (WCPA) - East Asia Region
• Himalayas Studies Programme at the Centre for Development and Environment(at the University of Berne, Switzerland)

• Online Readings

• World Ecotourism Summit 2002 - Asia Regional Reports

• ICIMOD
• Library Online
• Mountain Tourism: Constraints and Opportunities (Mountain Focus, No. 28)

• Mountain Forum
• Online Library
• APMN Bulletin
• Mountain Forum E-Consultations on Thematic Papers for the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit:

Mountain Tourism and the conservation and maintenance of biological and cultural diversity (Draft Paper B3)

• APEC/PATA Code for Sustainable Tourism

• APEC Publication:
• Public/Private Partnership for Sustainable Tourism - Delivering a

 Sustainable Strategy for Tourism Destinations (PDF File)

• World Resources Institute, Reefs at Risk in Southeast Asia

• Ecotourism guidelines for biosphere reserves in East Asia (developed by the East Asian Biosphere Reserve Network, EABRN)

RECENT PUBLICATIONS ON VISITOR IMPACTS

Allison, W. R. (1996). Snorkeler damage to reef corals in the Maldive Islands. Coral Reefs, 15(4), 215-218.

Chin, C. L. M., Moore, S. A.; Wallington, T. J., & Dowling, R. K. (2000). Ecotourism in Bako National Park, Borneo: Visitors' perspectives on environmental impacts and their management. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 8(1), 20-35.

Brown, K., Turner, R. K., Hameed, H., & Bateman, I. (1997). Environmental carrying capacity and tourism development in the Maldives and Nepal. Environmental Conservation, 24(4), 316-325.

Cole, V. & Sinclair, A. J. (2002). Measuring the ecological footprint of a Himalayan tourist center. Mountain Research and Development, 22(2), 132-141.

Curry, B., Moore, W., Bauer, J., Cosgriff, K., & Lipscombe, N. (2001). Modelling impacts of wildlife tourism on animal communities: A case study from Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 9(6), 514-529.

Lachapelle, P. R. (1998). Managing sanitation in protected areas: Problems and challenges in Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Nepal. Himalayan Research Bulletin, 18(1), 53-57.

Leung, Y.-F. (2001) Environmental impacts of tourism at China's World Heritage sites. Tourism Recreation Research, 26(1), 117-122.

Nepal, S. K. (2001). Examining tourism impacts from an interdisciplinary perspective: The Himalayan case study. Asiatische Studien, 55(3), 777-804.

Yoda, A. & Watanabe, T. (2000). Erosion of mountain hiking trail over a seven-year period in Daisetsuzan National Park, Central Hokkaido, Japan. In: Cole, D. N.; McCool, S. F.; Borrie, W. T., & O'Loughlin, J., (comps.) Wilderness Science in A Time of Change Conference - Volume 5: Wilderness Ecosystems, Threats, and Management. Ogden, UT: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, pp. 172-178.