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Conservation and the use of natural resources
in a sustainable way are essential to the long-term health
of the environment. Untouched areas in the Arctic are non-renewable
resources, once affected by any kind of development it is
impossible to return them to their original state. Therefore
it is important for tourism operations in the Arctic to
be carried out in a sustainable manner, with special consideration
given to the environment. Environmental assessment must
always be undertaken prior to any development of tourism
projects and the tourism activity should always comply with
all international conventions relating to the environment
as well as all national, state and local laws. This principle
stands for establishing and continuously improvements to
all environmental policies. Transportation, waste, lodging
routines and cultural as well as environmental impacts are
carried out with consideration to the specific demands of
the Arctic and further adjusted to local conditions. The
use of available best practices are continuously monitored,
evaluated and improved.
- Written environmental plan.
All operators have a written environmental plan for their
company and activities. This plan should consist of planned
environmental improvements and their connected schedules
as well as land-use planning. The environmental plan should
be visible to guests.
- Minimize waste and energy use.
Applies environmentally responsible practices concerning
waste management, recycling and energy consumption through
all phases of the operation. Be sure waste disposal has
minimal environmental and aesthetic impact and be efficient
in the use of natural resources like water and energy.
- Minimize transports.
Companies work with effective transport planning. Activity
based transport systems are connected with logistic planning,
minimised use of fossil fuels and use of best practical
technology that is available. Transportation systems with
minimised impact on environment are given preference.
- Respect the limitations of the destination.
Minimize the negative impact on visited natural sites
and local cultures. It is always the destination that
sets the limit for tourism activities. Land use planning
and environmental impacts should form the basis for planning
tourism activities.
- Monitor your impacts.
Monitoring is an important resource tool and needs to
be included as part of all operator's activities within
the sustainable tourism setting, especially in sensitive
areas like the Arctic. Two aspects of monitoring tourism
in sensitive areas are visitor impacts and service quality.
Ensure that measurements of tourism activities, volumes
and impacts are accurate, as complete as possible and
the data is effectively communicated. Monitoring will
give respectability to your environmental and conservation
efforts as well as acting as a marketing advantage.
- Evaluate all tourism activities to
ensure that business and environmental goals are met.
Monitoring, evaluation and management of impacts in the
surrounding areas should be accomplished on at least yearly
basis.
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