Different areas in Latvias youngest National Park Rāzna has been visited and analyzed. One objectivewas to find out if ecotourism is a possibility and what improvements need to be made. Latvia has avery old history of nature conservation. Objectives to protect valuable species and habitats for thefuture are influenced by factors such as economy and politics. The laws and regulations concerningenvironmental care are dependent on the processes and conditions that have contributed to formingthem. What is considered normality in Sweden can be completely different in Latvia eventhough theintentions and wished results are the same. The conclusion is that there is potential for ecotourism,although many factors must be considered and disadvantageous situations be avoided in the natureprotecting process.

Bakgrund: Sedan mitten av 1900-talet har antalet internationella turister ökat kontinuerligt över hela världen. Samtidigt har flertalet nischade turismformer vuxit sig starka, en av dem är ekoturismen med dess miljöetiska förhållningssätt. Dock har tidigare forskning visat att turismindustrin är en bidragande faktor till den oacceptabla globala förändring vi står inför idag. Syfte och frågeställning: Syftet med denna studie är att identifiera ekoturismens effekter på miljön i relation till konceptet för jordens nio planetära gränser. Studien riktar sig till aktörer inom turismbranschen för att tillhandahålla kunskap om hur ekoturismen påverkar miljön. Med detta syfte i åtanke formulerades följande frågeställning: - Hur förhåller sig ekoturismens effekter på miljön till jordens nio planetära gränser? Metod: Genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys, som presenteras i form av en kartläggning, ger studien en översiktlig bild av vad för typ av effekter ekoturismen har samt hur de förhåller sig till jordens nio planetära gränser. Uppsatsen har en deduktiv ansats, då den tar avstamp i teori rörande ekoturismens miljöetiska förhållningssätt. Detta testas sedan gentemot ett aktuellt och nyintroducerat koncept inom miljövetenskapen, för att identifiera eventuella effekter på miljön. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet av vår studie visade att ekoturismens effekter på miljön både bidrog till en ökning och minskning av en eller flera planetära gränsers processer. Den slutsats vi kom fram till var således att ekoturismen har effekter som påverkar miljön. Dessutom upptäckte vi att den större delen av dem kan anses vara hållbara i förhållande till konceptet för jordens nio planetära gränser.

Tourism is one of the progressively evolving fields and due to the influence of globalization has become attractive and easily accessible matter for a broad group of people across the continents. Economical aspects of this perspective branch supported generally uncritical perception of phenomena called tourism. In recent years, however the negative impact of mass tourism became the subject of discussion and efforts are being made to find alternative forms which respect the environment and contribute to the development of the visited regions. The aim of thesis is study of ecotourism and biospheres reserves. Both concepts contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in Latin America. Biosphere Reserves based on the effort of harmonious coexistence between man and nature are the ideal environment for the application of the principles of sustainability. Ecotourism in Latin American practice is analyzed on the basis of case studies from Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands. Operation, management and benefits of biosphere reserves for the region demonstrate examples of Guatemala and Costa Rica. Keywords: biosphere reserve; ecotourism; Latin America; sustainable development

i Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Institute of Economic Studies MASTER'S THESIS Are Sharks Worth More Alive Than Dead? A Stated Preference Study on Shark Ecotourism in Costa Rica. Author: Bc. Alicia Maria Berrios Supervisor: Mgr. Milan Ščasný PhD. Academic Year: 2016/2017 ii Declaration of Authorship The author hereby declares that he compiled this thesis independently; using only the listed resources and literature, and the thesis has not been used to obtain a different or the same degree. The author grants to Charles University permission to reproduce and to distribute copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. Prague, January 01st , 2017 Signature iii Acknowledgments With boundless appreciation, I would like to extend my gratitude to Mgr. Milan Ščasný PhD., for his incredible support in writing this research. He spent a countless number of hours on this thesis work, and ultimately, this research wouldn't have been possible without him. I would also like to express my gratitude to Carlos Avila, for his generosity in helping me conduct the in-person interviews. I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. Melville Saayman, who helped tremendously in the experimental design of this work. Thank you to Mgr. Martin Kryl for programming the survey instrument. Lastly, I would like to...

M.Comm. / Tourism development has the potential to have significant impacts on the environment. To ensure that tourism is sustainable into the future there needs to be a balance between tourism development and environmental concerns. The move towards sustainable tourism development requires that there be a closer co-operation among four very different stakeholders. These stakeholders include the tourism business, the environment, the host population, and the tourist. The main purpose of this research was to identify, at the Kruger National Park, the levels of awareness and understanding of the concept of sustainable tourism development amongst the four stakeholders. Also are identified are their viewpoints on how to achieve sustainable tourism development, their efforts to ensure it, and the role that marketing can play to ensure sustainable tourism development. This study, being exploratory in nature, made use of in-depth interviews (a qualitative technique) to gather the needed primary data. In-depth interviews were conducted at the Kruger National Park with representatives from the various stakeholder groups. Observation of physical aspects and people behaviours were used to supplement the in-depth interviews. Overall, it was found that most groups are aware of the need to balance environmental concerns with tourism development. Tourists however, are less aware of concepts such as sustainable tourism development than the other stakeholders It is was found that in some cases there is a lack of communication between some of the various stakeholders on various issues. The respondents in this case thought that the other stakeholders might disagree with them on certain issues when in fact their ideas were similar. Strong emphasis is being placed on developing relationships with the local communities and involving them in the decisions that affect them. It is realised that these local communities can have a major impact on the larger ecosystem around the park and could eventually destroy tourism if they are ignored. Local communities need to benefit from the existence of the park. Overall, the respondents do not have a clear understanding of what marketing entails or the contribution it can make to ensuring sustainable tourism development. Marketing is viewed by most as simply selling bed-nights. The marketing function at the Kruger National Park is ineffective and not given the support or attention it requires to operate effectively. For marketing to play a significant role at the park serious attention needs to be given to redesigning the entire marketing department. It is absolutely essential that tourism be developed in an environmentally sustainable manner to ensure the industry's future existence. Marketing of the park needs to be done in a manner that will not lead to the environment being exploited. Marketing, apart from simply selling the park, can play an important role in developing a conservation ethic amongst tourists and potential tourists. This educational role extends to the youth of the country who are the future tourists, tourism developers and conservationists.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Three key objectives of transfrontier conservation are biodiversity conservation, local economic development and the promotion of peace and cooperation across international borders (Ramutsindela, 2004). Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA’s) may incorporate a variety of conservation land uses, and comprise of both consumptive and non-consumptive uses of wildlife (Hanks, 2003). It is critical that this mosaic of land uses is well managed and integrated in order to meet the conservation and socio-economic goals of TFCA’s. One challenge is that different conservation land use areas may have varying effects on wildlife. This study aims to further our understanding of these effects in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park of South Africa and Mozambique. The research uses the behavioural responses of wildlife as a way of determining the tolerance of wildlife to potentially disturbing activities. Four different conservation land use areas, namely trophy hunting, communal land, photographic tourism and exclusive photographic tourism were studied and compared in and around the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, southern Africa. The aim of this study was to firstly establish the diversity of mammals and the frequency of mammal sightings within each conservation land use area, and secondly, assess the response behaviour of five mammal species to an approaching vehicle. K-means cluster analysis was used on both the mammal sightings data and the response behaviour data in order to determine key influencing variables. Throughout the study period, the mammal diversity and frequency of mammal sightings were the highest in the private ecotourism concession, followed by the national park, and then the trophy hunting reserve and lastly communal land. The behavioural responses displayed by the five study mammals (African elephant, African buffalo, impala, chacma baboon and Burchell’s zebra) also varied considerably between the four conservation land use areas. The lowest response indexes and least number of flight responses occurred in the national park, followed by the private ecotourism concession, and conversely, a higher average initial response index and a greater occurrence of flight responses occurring in the trophy hunting reserve and communal land. According to the findings from the cluster analyses, the type of conservation land use impacts on the sighting potential and sighting quality of mammals, but so do iii topographical differences and seasons. These results can help in the management of each conservation land use area on its own and as an integrated part of a TFCA.

O objetivo central da tese é discutir a governança do turismo antártico. Com o crescente turismo no Continente Antártico, surge a ameaça da tragédia dos comuns, ou seja, na ausência de uma regulamentação internacional específica sobre o turismo na Antártica, o aumento desenfreado do fluxo turístico poderia ser insustentável levando a danos permanentes ao meio-ambiente da região. A partir de ampla revisão bibliográfica, documental de entrevistas com atores envolvidos e da execução do trabalho de campo a bordo do MS Veendam da Holland America a hipótese da tragédia dos comuns em curso foi rejeitada, pois foi possível observar que o turismo antártico tem uma governança dada pela existência de uma rede público privada de governança (RPPG). / The main objective of this work is to discuss Antarctics tourism governance. With the growing number of tourists visiting the Antarctic Continent increases the threat of the tragedy of commons. In other words, in the absence of a specific international regulation on Antarctic tourism the rapid influx of tourists may be unsustainable leading to permanent damages to the environment. After a thoughtful literature and documental revision, semistructured interviews with actors involved in the question and field work aboard MS Veendam from Holland America I rejected the hypothesis of an ongoing tragedy of commons. There is already in place a system of governance of Antarctic tourism through a network of public private governance (NPPG).

Le tourisme a connu une croissance spectaculaire à travers le monde depuis la seconde moitié du XXème siècle. Le tourisme ne concernait que 50 millions de touristes en 1960 pour atteindre 561 millions en 1995 et 980 millions en 2011, selon l’Organisation mondiale du tourisme.Liée à ce phénomène, la mondialisation a accentué la pensée écologique. En effet, on a vu apparaître avec le Rapport Meadows en 1972, une prise de conscience des problèmes écologiques de la planète sur la scène politique internationale.Depuis le Rapport Bruntland en 1987, en passant par le Sommet de la Terre à Rio et, plus récemment le Sommet Rio +20, le tourisme associé aux principe du développement durable semble correspondre aux attentes des sociétés.Le tourisme est-il synonyme de dégradation environnementale ou au contraire permet-il une préservation des espaces naturels ?Un travail de terrain à Madagascar et au Costa Rica nous a conduit à un questionnement de fond sur la pertinence des stratégies de développement qui s’appuie sur l’écotourisme, ainsi qu’à une analyse approfondie de la notion d’écotourisme dans son application concrète au niveau international. Il s’agit en définitive d’une étude dans le temps et l’espace, de la mise en place de l’activité écotouristique sur ces deux terrains de recherche et des implications économiques, sociales, culturelles et environnementales. / The tourist industry has seen spectacular development from the second half of the 20th Century. According to the World tourism organization, 50 million tourists in 1960 expanded to 561 million tourists in 1995 and to 980 million in 2011.Along with this phenomenon, globalization has increased ecological thinking and the Meadows Report in 1972 highlights political awareness to environmental problems around the world. From the Bruntland Report in 1987 to the Earth Summit in Rio and more recently, the Rio +20 Summit, the association of the tourism in the principles of sustainable development would seem to correspond to expectations of societies today. Does tourism induce environmental degradation or on the contrary, does it allow the preservation of natural sites ? Field work in Madagascar and Costa Rica has led me to question the pertinence of development strategies based on the notion of ecotourism, and an indepth analysis of this notion and it’s concrete application to major sites at an international level. It is a close examination in time and space of the establishment of ecotourism on these two areas of research and it’s consequences on the economie, social, cultural and environmental system.

O presente trabalho analisa um conjunto de ações e reflexões sobre o ecoturismo na Região do Alto rio Negro com o objetivo de preparar as comunidades indígenas, citadinas ou não, para que possam, através do processo de gestão territorial e do conhecimento desenvolvido por meio de educação ambiental e patrimonial, planejar, gerir projetos de sustentabilidade em ecoturismo ou outros para manterem a autonomia sobre suas terras e suas vidas. A metodologia da pesquisa participante adotada permite que os envolvidos demonstrem seus conhecimentos sobre seu território e sua cultura, fortalecendo suas identidades enquanto povos indígenas, como sua auto-estima e dignidade, possibilitando-lhes reafirmarem-se como protagonistas, ao assumirem o controle das forças de transformação da sociedade promovida pelo contato com a economia de mercado, predominante na sociedade contemporânea. Tal participação pode minimizar ou excluir os riscos dos impactos indesejáveis que o ecoturismo possa trazer, propiciando-lhes incorporar valores, práticas, significados do sistema mundial de acordo com suas visões de mundo e seus interesses. A autora espera que o resultado deste trabalho possa contribuir para a construção de Políticas Públicas para o ecoturismo indígena, propiciando uma reflexão sobre os conceitos turismo indígena, turismo étnico, etnoturismo, ecoturismo indígena e, ao mesmo tempo, sobre as formas de participação das comunidades tradicionais indígenas e não indígenas nos projetos e políticas públicas a serem implementadas pelo Estado e organizações não-governamentais em qualquer ramo de atividade. / This work analyses a conjunt of actions and considerations on ecotourism in Alto Rio Negro (High Negro River), in Amazonas State (Brazil), with the aim to prepare urban or country native communities to be able, through the process of territorial and knowledge management, developed through environmental and patrimonial education, to plan and run sustainable projects in ecotourism over their lands and their lives. The participant research methodology adopted allows the native to demonstrate their knowledge on their territory and their culture, encouraging their identities as native peoples and their self-esteem and dignity, making possible for them to reassert themselves as protagonists, by assuming the control of the of the transformation forces of society furthered by the contact with the market economy, predominant in present day society. Such participation might reduce or exclude the risks of undesirable impacts that ecotourism might produce, allowing them to incorporate values, practices, meanings of the word system according to their way of thinking and their interests. The autoress expects that this work might be able to contribute for the construction of Public Politics in native ecotourism, producing a reflection on the concepts on native tourism, ethnic tourism, ethnotourism, ecotourism, native ecotourism and at the same time on the forms of participation of native and non-natives traditional communities in public and political projects to be developed by the State and nongovernmental organizations in any branch of activity.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T10:45:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MARCIANA ALVES BARBOSA.pdf: 7137556 bytes, checksum: c727cd59e5b19ad630ccd00ea58c712d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-08-18 / The ecotourism in Conservation Units has been growing on a fast way. In Goiás state is the Serra Dourada State Park - SDSP, located in the districts of Goiás, Mossâmedes and Buriti de Goiás, located 131 km from the capital, Goiania - Go In this study examined the possibility of developing a sustainable ecotourism in the SDSP, held a discussion about tourism, sustainable tourism and ecotourism. Characterized the city of Mossâmedes and its relationship with SDSP, has also made the diagnosis (inventory tour) resources that there are in the SDSP (Vegetation / Florest / Ground / Wild animals and Natural Resources). Methodology used was an exploratory research through visits to the SDSP, qualitative and quantitative through a questionnaire among the Mossâmedes population. Most people who participated in the research knows what is a AEP - Area of Environmental Protection and believes that the SDSP should be exploited by ecotourism. It was noticed that the SDSP was created only by a government decree and that in practice the SDSP is totally neglect in (without infrastructure). Do not have the management plan and doesn t have environmental education activities to visitors. It was observed that the holding of a precarious leisure that can not be considered ecotourism. Through the tourist inventory carried out in the SDSP found that the potential for the development of ecotourism are enormous and that depends on the political mobilization of civil society and community in general as a way to stimulate concrete action in favour of ecotourism. / O ecoturismo em Unidades de Conservação vem crescendo de uma forma acelerada. No Estado de Goiás, está o Parque Estadual da Serra Dourada - PESD, localizado nos municípios de Goiás, Mossâmedes e Buriti de Goiás, ficando a 131 Km da Capital, Goiânia-GO. Neste trabalho analisou a possibilidade de desenvolver o ecoturismo sustentável no PESD, realizou uma reflexão sobre turismo, turismo sustentável e ecoturismo. Caracterizou a cidade de Mossâmedes e a sua relação com PESD, realizou também o diagnóstico (inventário turístico) dos recursos existente no PESD (Vegetação/Flora/Solo/Fauna e Recursos Naturais). Utilizou como metodologia a pesquisa exploratória por meio de visitas ao PESD, qualitativa e quantitativa por meio de um questionário junto à população de Mossâmedes-Go. A maioria das pessoas que participou da pesquisa sabe o que é uma APA Área de Proteção Ambiental e acredita que o PESD deve ser explorado pelo ecoturismo. Percebeu-se que o PESD foi criado apenas por um decreto governamental e que na prática o PESD encontra-se totalmente em descaso (sem infra-estrutura). Não possui plano de manejo e nenhuma atividade de educação ambiental para seus visitantes. Foi constatado que existe a exploração de um lazer precário que não pode ser considerado ecoturismo. Através do inventário turístico realizado no PESD verificou-se que as potencialidades para o desenvolvimento do ecoturismo são enormes e que depende da mobilização política da sociedade civil e a coletividade em geral como forma de estimular ações concretas em favor do ecoturismo.