Sustainable Mountain Development - Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions - page 615

cur along the valley floors and on lower slopes, where most infrastructure is construc-
ted. The impacts include the loss of agricultural and residential land, water pollution,
and air pollution, particularly from traffic and in inversion conditions. However, as tour-
ists visit higher and more dispersed locations, levels of fecal water pollution often in-
crease (Monz 2000), and erosion occurs along trails and around campsites, requiring
restoration (Good and Johnston 2004). In the mountains of developing countries, trees
and shrubs are often used for cooking and heating, leading to changes in forest com-
position and structure (Chettri et al. 2002; Nepal et al. 2002; Byers 2005). In down-
hill ski resorts, there are impacts up to the summits of mountains, through the logging
and bulldozing of ski runs, the construction of chairlifts and cableways, the installa-
tion and use of snow cannons, and the disturbance of vegetation and wildlife by skiers
and machines. Yet, while all of these impacts have been recorded in mountain regions
around the world, the awareness and potential resources that tourism brings can also
provide opportunities to develop new technologies and strategies, for example, in en-
ergy production and utilization, water and waste treatment, traffic management, and
trail design.
AMENITY MIGRATION
Associated with tourism is the phenomenon of amenity migration, as discussed in
Chapter 10. Many people who first come to the mountains as tourists stay on, or return,
as amenity migrants; many start tourism businesses. Like tourists, amenity migrants
are often escaping urban environments, but at longer time scales. Yet their expectations
are typically those of urban people, their lifestyles often change little, and, like tourists,
they have diverse cultural, economic, and biophysical impacts (Moss 2006). Tensions of-
ten develop between them and longer-established residents, for various reasons. Their
relative wealth allows them to purchase property and take it out of traditional uses such
as agriculture, watershed protection, and residential use (Fig. 12.9). They tend to con-
sume more of everything, both local and imported. Consequently, prices for property,
goods, and services tend to rise, often beyond the capacity of local people. Amenity mi-
grants also often have different worldviews, particularly with regard to the conserva-
tion rather than use of natural resources. Sometimes they foster indigenous cultures,
though often their focus is on material objects rather than the culture as a whole. Amen-
ity migrants also provide new employment, particularly in the service sector, in which
most of them start businesses and are employed. Yet many of the new jobs, particularly
those available to indigenous people because of their lack of training, are not well paid.