IUCN published “Guidelines on Tourism and Visitor Management in Protected Areas”

IUCN, the world ’s most authoritative organisation defining nature conservation launched at the CBD COP14 in Sharm el-Sheikh a new “Guidelines on Tourism and Visitor Management in Protected Areas”. This publication is an important resource for anyone interested in linking tourism and conservation and has shed new light on the complex relationship between tourism and protected areas.

Protected areas are the key component of any global conservation strategy. Tourism provides a crucial and unique way of fostering visitors’ connection with protected area values, making it a potentially positive force for conservation. Protected area tourism’s economic benefits can also be a powerful argument for conservation. Tourism in protected areas is a major part of the global tourism industry — an industry whose scale and impacts are enormous. Such a high volume of visitors implies certain needs for fundamental infrastructure and requirements for employment and human services, all of which have ramifications for the economy, society, culture and the environment.

New Guidance available at https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/47918