The primary and overriding purpose of national parks is nature conservation. Recreation and tourism are secondary and should not undermine the park’s environmental and cultural integrity.
Visitor caps and serviced experiences are part of the toolkit to cater to an increasingly diverse population while protecting the very attraction visitors come to see.
Tourism development in protected areas, however, needs a social license, and local community engagement is an important sustainability principle.
For national parks to operate as they are intended, free or low-cost options and access must be available alongside premium experiences.
National parks belong to everyone and their management must reflect this. While tourism developments can offer benefits, they must not come at the cost of accessibility, affordability, or most importantly, environmental integrity.
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By Pascal Scherrer, Associate Professor, Southern Cross University; Isabelle Wolf, Vice Chancellor Senior Research Fellow, University of Wollongong, and Jen Smart, PhD student, University of Wollongong
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
