Assessing Ecotourism from a Multi-stakeholder Perspective: Xingkai Lake National Nature Reserve, China

Ecotourism development is closely associated with the sustainability of protected natural areas. When facilitated by appropriate management, ecotourism can contribute to conservation and development, as well as the well-being of local communities. As such, ecotourism has been proposed and practiced...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental management (New York) Vol. 54; no. 5; pp. 1190 - 1207
Main Authors: Su, Ming Ming, Wall, Geoffrey, Ma, Zhong
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Springer US 01.11.2014
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Aquatic Pollution
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Boundaries
China
Citizen participation
Collaboration
Communities
Community
Community involvement
Community Participation - statistics & numerical data
community service
conservation areas
Conservation of Natural Resources - economics
Conservation of Natural Resources - statistics & numerical data
Cooperation
Desertification
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Ecotourism
Environment
Environmental economics
Environmental Management
Female
fisheries
Fishing communities
forestry
Forestry Management
Freshwater
governmental programs and projects
Humans
interviews
Interviews as Topic
issues and policy
Lakes
Land ownership
livelihood
Local communities
Management
Management Audit - statistics & numerical data
Natural resources
Nature
Nature Conservation
Nature reserves
people
planning
Policies
Policy and planning
Protected areas
Public Policy
Stakeholders
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Tourism
Tourism development
Travel - economics
Travel - statistics & numerical data
Travel - trends
Waste Water Technology
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
China, People's Rep., Heilongjiang Prov
China
Community participation
Xingkai Lake National Nature Reserve
Stakeholder
Ecotourism
China
Assessment
ISSN:0364-152X, 1432-1009, 1432-1009
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Ecotourism development is closely associated with the sustainability of protected natural areas. When facilitated by appropriate management, ecotourism can contribute to conservation and development, as well as the well-being of local communities. As such, ecotourism has been proposed and practiced in different forms in many places, including China. This study assesses ecotourism development at Xingkai Lake National Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province, China. Key informant interviews were conducted with representatives from the provincial Forestry Department, the Nature Reserve, and the local community. Observation was undertaken on three site visits and secondary data were collected. The potential for providing quality natural experiences is high and tourism development is occurring rapidly. However, current relationships between people, resources, and tourism have yet to provide mutual benefits necessary for successful ecotourism. The multi-stakeholder management style and the ambiguity of landownership within the nature reserve constitute structural difficulties for ecotourism management and operation. Although participation in ecotourism could provide a livelihood opportunity and interests in involvement in tourism have been identified among the local fishing community, current involvement is limited mainly due to the lack of mechanisms for participation. Therefore, it is recommended that management programs and government policies should be established to provide a platform for community participation in ecotourism. Then, a positive synergistic relationship between tourism, environment, and community could be developed. Planning and policy requirements are discussed for ecotourism development in protected areas in China.
Bibliography:SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 14
ObjectType-Article-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
ObjectType-Review-3
content type line 23
ISSN:0364-152X
1432-1009
1432-1009
DOI:10.1007/s00267-014-0360-5