Sandford Principle and Britain's Breathing Spaces

UK National Parks go it right with the Sandford Principle:

“Where irreconcilable conflicts exist between conservation and public enjoyment, then conservation interest should take priority”

(Source: http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/learningabout/whatisanationalpark/ aimsandpurposesofnationalparks/sandfordprinciple)

UK Parks cite an example:

"A fisherman would like to fish at a lake shore. He has access to the lake and so he can enjoy his day fishing, which fulfills the National Park purpose of understanding and enjoyment.

There are also Ospreys nesting in a tree nearby, which catch fish in the lake. Ospreys are a protected bird species and are easily disturbed by noises and movements during their breeding season. Looking after the breeding Osprey fulfills the National Park purpose of conservation.

In this example the two main purposes of National Parks, conservation and understanding and enjoyment are in conflict. By applying the Sandford Principle the conflict is resolved and conservation, in this case the nesting Ospreys, take priority. The fisherman is encouraged to find another fishing spot during the osprey breeding season. When they Ospreys have migrated away in winter, the fisherman can fish in the lake."

Good Stuff.

Is health-care tourism sustainable?

Is it sustainable?  Well, do the local citizens have access to health care.  Let us explore that a bit.

There are no reliable records of the numbers on non-medical health care professionals globally, so the data on the number of physicians per 1,000 citizens in each country from the World Health Organization (2011) will be used to identify and quantify health provisions.  Globally the median density of health care professionals is 1.15 physicians per 1,000.  

Cuba (6.4 doctors per 1,000) and Greece (6 doctors per 1,000) are found next in physician density. Cuba should come as no surprise since this country has had a long and strong history of health tourism (Goodrich 1993b; Van Wilkinson 2008).  Likewise Greece, long known for the medicinal properties of its mineral springs has the benefit of the climate and bioclimatic conditions (Didaskalou et al. 2004). Progressing down the physician density list are two other countries, Malaysia and India, both known for health tourism.  Malaysia is one of the primary destinations in southeast Asia that has had the benefit of a deliberate marketing strategy by both the private and public sectors (Leng 2007).  And we find that the density of health care professionals in Malaysia (0.94) is comparable to Grenada and Peru (0.98, and 0.92 respectively).  Further west, India’s ranking of 0.60 is similar to the availability of doctors in Iraq, Morocco and Honduras (0.69, 0.62, and 0.57 respectively).

Linking Tourism and Conservation survey

Paraphrased from the website:

Linking Tourism and Conservation survey

A new UNEP/GRID-Arendal Linking Tourism and Conservation survey is available. This survey is aimed at collecting information on existing global Sustainable Tourism initiatives that support protected areas.

Click to take the survey now!

With this survey we hope to identify, learn from and replicate positive examples where tourism supports the creation, management, and development of protected areas. This is a global UNEP/GRID-Arendal project that supports the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD; www.cbd.int).

The main goals of the survey are to:

Capture global cases of Linking Tourism and Conservation
Identify communication tools that efficiently convey how tourism supports protected areas
Highlight functioning models and produce incentives for replication
This initiative supports the overarching aim of protecting global biodiversity and enabling future generations to experience healthy ecosystems and the beauty of nature.

Your participation in completing this survey will contribute to these efforts and is greatly appreciated. Please forward this information to relevant contacts. Follow the weblink to the Linking Tourism and Conservation

The Linking Tourism and Conservation initiative is a recognised project of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism (GPST).

The survey was developed by UNEP/GRID-Arendal as part of a partnership with the European Commission project entitled FAST-LAIN - Further Action on Sustainable Tourism.

and of course, food can be recreation

I'm getting into food tourism and the slow food movement. I mean, we should be more "locovores", enjoying the food products available in our home area. But that means more than using maple syrup, drinking local micro brews, and slurping whole belly clams. It means an overt attention to what we eat.

We can reduce our carbon footprint. Think about this when you eat something out of season.

I am building a bibliography so stay tuned.