Tourism Effects on the Environment free essay sample

Task 1 1. The programme I am enrolled in and the discipline or major Bachelor of Applied Science – Environmental Major 2. Broad topic which I have chosen to redefine Tourism and the Environment 3. Questions and answers for redefining the topic Q. What do I want to find out? A. If tourism affects the environment. Q. Will I focus on a particular country? A. Yes, New Zealand. Q. What will be the timeframe this information will be based on? A. I will just be looking at any current reported issues. Q. What do I want to know about tourism in New Zealand? A. How many tourists there are in general entering the country and if the environment is affected by such tourists. Q. How will I find out how many tourists there are entering New Zealand? A. By gathering information mainly from internet tourism websites and government websites. Q. How will I find out if there are any environment related issues? A. By gathering information and statistics from repositories linked to the environment in NZ. Q. Do I need to know where tourists come from? A. No, just a broader picture on numbers. Q. What exactly do I want to know about the effects on the environment? A. What, if any, issues there are and if they are actually created by tourism. Q. How will I define the connection of tourism effects and the environment? A. By looking at the reported current issues and facts, and the links between the various information sources. Q. What do I hope to achieve from this process? A. To determine if there are any actual facts related to environmental issues created by tourism in New Zealand, and to show how I gathered this information. Q. When is this report due? A. 23rd February 2011 Q. Who is this information aimed at? A. It is aimed at visitors coming to New Zealand, to try and raise awareness of any current issues. 4. Seventy-Five Word redefined topic I will write a 750 word report on Tourism and the Environment. This report will show information on tourism numbers in New Zealand, and any current Environmental issues. It will determine if tourism actually does have an effect on the New Zealand environment and what those issues are. This will focus on current data, and will be aimed at tourists entering New Zealand to raise their awareness. This will be due on 23rd February 2011. Task 2 Reflective Commentary Topic knowledge My knowledge base I had at the start of this Assignment was at a level of awareness in that there are environmental issues in every country, and that there could be a possible link to tourism causing these issues. I was also aware that there were possible tourism and environment issues right here in New Zealand, but I did not know how the two were linked or what the issues were exactly. I did know that New Zealand was one of the most popular visitor locations in the world, and living in New Zealand I knew that efforts to improve the future of our environment is of high importance. We hear of environmental issues reported through the news every day, but the actual facts of causes and reasons are often misunderstood and can lead to general confusion. Topic aspect and focus I found choosing the aspect of the topic a little difficult at the start, mainly as there were a lot of topics I found personally interesting and was keen to pursue further. I have since changed the topic to what I started with due to struggling with defining the questions and feeling comfortable with the possible end result. Since changing the topic I have found creating questions easier and have been excited about finding out the actual results and opening the learning further. I wanted to create questions that would give me a structure of the aspect of what I wanted to focus on, making sure that I actively sought out facts and information that might lead me to the right answers. I had limited knowledge of the possibility of any proven actual links between tourism and the effects on the environment, so as I worked through the questions it became clearer how I could gather the information I needed. As I started my questioning process I did start with the initial idea of covering a certain period of time, this has changed twice. Initially I started with covering a 10 year period, then changing it to a one year period. As I worked through the questions and answers it became apparent that finding information over that length of time would be very difficult and the scope of the topic would have been too large. I have now reduced the research timeframe to any current issues, which should offer easier understanding. Topic sources Being once only a tourist of New Zealand I have read many books covering all aspects of New Zealand and what is expected of tourists, this has given me further background knowledge. Now that I am an expat and a Resident of New Zealand I am an active member in many charity organisations, in relation to my chosen topic I am actively working and learning alongside the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary and Forest and Bird. Although work is at a ground level through these organisations I have had advice and been given fantastic literature which has helped me to make defining some of my questions easier. Task 3 Identification and thoughts on Information Repositories Tourism New Zealand website (www. tourismnewzealand. com) The Tourism New Zealand website may offer the best information when it comes to seeking and overview of tourists entering New Zealand. It might have information on the growth or decline of tourists over the last few years and may even have information linked to any current environmental issues this in itself should give me a starter point. Using a website based information centre like this can normally give you a quicker and easier view to gathering information. There might be a variety of sections throughout the site which can pin point the detail I am looking for. The Open Polytechnic Library TOPNZ (http://library. openpolytechnic. ac. nz) The Open Polytechnic Library has a massive database of books and articles. Within this I should be able to find any previous published fact or information as written by people who study or have worked in a tourism or environmental situation. Some of the information should be able to offer good advice on where to search for facts or statistics. Using the online version of the TOPNZ will be quicker and easier when it comes to seeking information on any literature that may be available. Using key words I can possibly find related documents quicker and this making gathering information much easier overall. Ministry for the Environment (www. mfe. govt. nz) The MFE website is a Government website which should give a direct over view of any current environmental issues. The New Zealand Government is currently active in monitoring any environmental issues and so this website may give an overview on any current issues and it could show any possible links to past issues. As this is a government based website it might list latest publications and news relevant to tourism and especially the environment. This will help guide me to a better understanding and it may be interesting to see if there is matched information between this site and the Tourism New Zealand site. Library Upper Hutt Library The Upper Hutt Library should hold and extensive collection of literature based not only on tourism around the world, but also tourism within New Zealand. There should also be sections dedicated to the environment. Between these possible sections that are dedicated to what I need to find out, it should be easier and quicker to the retrieve information I require. I should have access to not only books but newspaper articles and other possible websites I may not have considered. There may even be DVD’s available. I may also be able to talk to other students or people at the library for further guidance. Forest and Bird (www. forestandbird. org. nz) Forest and Bird have an online site and as I am a member I have access to the quarterly magazines that are issued. The information within the website and the magazine may have information based on tourism impacts in relation to what I need, it may have any current immediate issues that are being addressed and either may show advisory ways to improve these issues. Having both the website and a magazine to review should help me immensely with understanding of any immediate issues, it might show me if these are linked to tourism, but should definitely show any current environmental issues.