Monitoring

Monitoring habitats is fundamental to understanding the dynamics of habitat and biodiversity loss. Monitoring includes several factors: (1) recording changes in the geographical area a particular ecosystem covers, (2) recording changes in the condition or state of the system, and (3) documenting any fragmentation within this system. However in order to be able to monitor changes in habitat and natural resources structure and condition due to tourism on natural resources through time, local conditions first need to be described and catalogued - into habitat maps for example. Beyond to the need to record existing information, new information on environmental conditions using standardised or comparable monitoring and assessment tools need to be gathered at set time intervals. This can be done using locally available and widely used tools such as coral reef monitoring manuals. These habitat maps should be used in conjunction with other environmental and natural resource maps in order to locate areas of interest for biodiversity ground surveys. Ecologically sensitive areas and habitats can be identified from a combination of existing maps and field surveys, and measures taken for their protection. In the Caribbean, the Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity Programme (CARICOMP) has gathered a wealth of standardised environmental data useful to regional planners from 25 sites around the Caribbean. The Coastal and Beach Stability in the Caribbean Project (known under its old acronym (COSALC) is accumulating a similar volume of information on the physical aspects of a number of beaches in the Eastern Caribbean.

In addition to monitoring habitat and associated biodiversity, a consistent review programme of tourism activities should be warranted. Such a programme should: (1) ensure that problems are detected early on and action enabled so as to prevent further damage (2) establish indicators for overall progress of tourist areas towards sustainable development, and (3) establish institutional and staff capacity for monitoring.

In April 2002, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has developed an ecotourism environmental monitoring mechanism to keep tabs on possible environmental destruction by tourists. The mechanism was instituted at national parks, national scenic areas, and county-level scenic areas. The system aims to monitor possible overuse, even providing for the temporary shutdown of sensitive environmental areas in order to let them recover. For these sensitive areas, the EPA has conducted surveys of land ecology, water ecology, cultural landscapes, water quality, transportation, air quality, and noise pollution, with further reviews to be carried out on a regular basis. Should overuse be discovered, environmental protection authorities are to issue a warning, and, depending on the severity of the environmental conditions, could even order the closure of a particular area to allow recovery.

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