Awareness Building

All involved in tourism including the industry itself (developers), national and local government, local communities and consumers should be made aware of the positive and negative impacts of tourism, the consequences of natural resources mismanagement, encouraged to adopt more sustainable approaches, and to support conservation efforts through their activities. Awareness building can help achieve this goal of convincing local communities, tourists and developers alike of the value of protecting habitats and biodiversity to reap the long term, sustainable benefits that resource conservation can provide. Education or awareness building is meant to help people accomplish things themselves by alerting them to programs or actions promoted by agencies, groups, governments and which, in the long term, are meant to have social, economic and environmental benefits. Thus awareness plays a major role in realising coastal conservation objectives.

To be sustainable in the long run, tourism must incorporate the principles and practices of sustainable consumption. Sustainable consumption includes building consumer demand for products made from clean production techniques, and for services - including tourism services - provided in a way that minimise environmental impacts. Tourists and tourism-related businesses consume an enormous quantity of goods and services; moving them toward using those that are produced and provided in an environmentally sustainable way, could have an enormous positive impact on the environment. When designing awareness programs, it is important to appropriately identify and address the objectives of individual target groups. For example, tourist operators should receive recommendations concerning environmentally friendly activities on reefs. Moreover, tour operators and hotel managers can show tourists how to get more from their holiday by respecting local traditions and taking time to find out more about the place they're visiting.

Examples of techniques used include:

• Print media: newspapers and magazines can reach general and specific target groups.
• Radio: is available in most countries and has proven extremely successful in schools and teaching institutions especially is there is a strong story line children (and their parents!) can follow.
• Pamphlets: can be particularly useful in specific cases such as rules for management.
• Posters: are easy to make, attractive and cheap and can be used in a multitude of locations (schools, airports, and hotels) and thus address a wide range of target groups.
• Signage: are conspicuous and help remind tourists not to leave behind any garbage on the beach for example.