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in the context of local, small-scale ecotourism-type developments, although
larger scale (or even mass) tourism developments may be seen as being in
accordance with the principles of sustainability, particularly if the twin
requirements of local governance and ecological sustainability are taken into
account. The important point is that mainstream sustainable development,
both generally and in its tourism guise, fails to address a number of questions
with respect to, for example, decisions and yardsticks related to 'acceptable
damage', the freedom of destinations to develop tourism according to local
needs and wishes and their ability to take full and equitable advantage of
tourism developmental opportunities. In other words, the managerialist,
'blueprint' character of sustainable tourism serves to reduce the potential
environmental and developmental benefits of tourism. Development theo-
rists and practitioners have acknowledged the imperative of community
empowerment, participatory development planning, and the value of local
indigenous knowledge for two decades. The extent to which tourism engages
these same principles will, to a great extent, determine the industry's future.
Notes
(1) The second earth summit, or 'Rio
+
10' was, held in Johannesburg in 2002 while
20', the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development,
returned to Rio de Janeiro.
(2) The Torrey Canyon was the first of the big supertankers to come to grief. On 18
March 1967, she struck Pollard's Rock on a reef between the Scilly Isles and Land's
End, England. Some 31 million gallons of crude oil leaked from the ship, killing much
marine life along the south coast of Britain and the Normandy shores of France.
(3) It must be noted here that the National Parks in Britain differ from the more conser-
vation-oriented international model. Not only is most land within the parks privately,
rather than state, owned, but they are also living, working landscapes as opposed to
the more widely accepted model of wilderness. Not only do over a quarter of a million
people live within the parks, but also the land is exploited for farming, forestry, trans-
port, quarrying, water and power supply and, of course, tourism and conservation.
'Rio
+
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