Considerations on Sustainable Tourism in Wetlands from Cases in Germany

Abstract

Wetlands have a strong attraction for people, due to their unique aesthetic appeal and the strong bond between people and nature. Therefore, protected wetlands designated under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, as national parks or world natural heritage often attract large numbers of tourists. The Ramsar Convention calls for the wise use of wetlands, a concept that shares similarities with sustainable tourism in that it aims to protect ecological characteristics of designated sites. Research on conflicts between wetland protection and tourism so far has mainly focused on developing countries. This paper analyses wise use and management structures in economically developed, densely populated areas with a strong tradition of outdoor leisure and natural tourism. To this purposes, it looks at the German part of the Wadden Sea, a world natural heritage stretching across 500 km of coastline and three countries.

First, types of leisure and tourism in water-based environments and their impact on wetlands are examined through literature review. Then, characteristics of nature based tourism and management structures of national parks in Germany are introduced. While interest in nature, environmental issues and nature-based leisure is generally high, on the other hand, national parks have often faced opposition from local stakeholder groups because they are perceived to restrict economic and leisure activities. Also, the efficiency of national park management suffers from a variety of regulations differing in each state and a lack of funds and management staff.

The Wadden Sea looks back on a long tradition as coastal resort where mainly German tourists spend their summer holidays, but also on tri-national cooperation on nature protection since 1978, leading to the designation as world heritage in 2009/14. The German part consists of three national parks, each with different zoning concepts and regulations on leisure activities like hiking, riding, boating or kitesurfing. Educational tourism with excursions in the wadden areas also plays an important role, supported by long-term volunteers. Due to zoning regulations and compared to shipping, fishing, military training and other uses of the Wadden Sea, tourism can be considered to have only limited damaging impact. However, the complicated management structure through three different national parks seems out of touch with the cross-boarder management demanded by a tri-national world heritage site and the constantly changing, fluid environment of the Wadden Sea.