- Recently, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), along with the UK-based charity Reef-World Foundation, launched the Green Fins Hub.
- Green Fins Hub is a global digital platform for diving and snorkelling operators worldwide.
- Green Fins is a proven conservation management approach implemented internationally by The Reef-World Foundation and the UNEP which leads to a measurable reduction in the negative environmental impacts associated with marine tourism.
- Originally established in Thailand in 2004, the Green Fins approach is a tool for supporting adoption and implementation of best practices in the diving and snorkeling tourism industry.
Aim:
- It aims to protect coral reefs through environment-friendly guidelines promoting sustainable diving and snorkelling.
- It provides the only internationally recognised environmental standards for marine tourism and its robust assessment system measures compliance.
Green Fins Hub
- The Green Fins Hub is the first-ever global marine tourism industry platform.
- It would give sustainable marine tourism a ‘major boost’.
- It is expected to scale up to reach a potential 30,000 operators worldwide from about 700 operators across 14 countries.
Significance:
- It is intended to catalyse a seismic shift towards sustainability in the marine tourism sector through Green Fins membership.
- Coral reefs are home to at least 25% of marine life, are the mecca for marine-related tourism, contributing up to 40% or more of the gross domestic product in some island nations. However, they are a most vulnerable ecosystem, especially to climate change with the difference between a global temperature rise of 1.5 or 20C being existential for reefs.
- Increasing accessibility of best practice, knowledge and citizen science through the Green Fins Hub could be a game changer in ensuring a future for coral reefs and other fragile marine ecosystems.
- The platform will help diving and snorkelling operators worldwide to make simple, cost-efficient changes to their daily practices by utilising tried and tested solutions.
- It would also help them keep track of their annual improvements and communicate with their communities and customers.
Sustainable Coastal and Marine Tourism
- Sustainable Tourism refers to sustainable practices in and by the tourism industry. It refers to addressing the issues of a greener tourism sector both on the demand as well as supply side.
- According to the UN, sustainable tourism should incorporate the following:
- Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.
- Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.
- Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.
- Coastal and Marine Tourism (CMT) represents at least 50% of total global tourism. It constitutes the largest economic sector for most Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and many coastal states.
- With anticipated global growth rates of more than 3.5%, coastal and marine tourism is projected to be the largest value-adding segment of the ocean economy by 2030, at 26%.
Challenges Associated with CMT
- Continued Depletion and Degradation of Natural Assets is putting the sustainability and viability of the industry, along with the local communities that rely on it, at risk.
- Covid-19 Pandemic Caused a Major Disruption in the tourism industry. The World Travel and Tourism Council has projected around 75 million job losses and a tourism-induced GDP reduction of more than $2 trillion globally.
- Climate Change will Affect Strongly the Coastal Areas with high anthropic vulnerability, through temperature increase, more frequent environmental events, water scarcity and sea level rise (SLR).
SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT