A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

PART II
Protected Areas for Small Islands
– Remove all wastes other than organic biodegradable material when leaving the
island
– Not introduce flora and fauna to the island
Attitudes toward the introduction of exotic species must be influenced by
whether the island is inhabited or not. It may be necessary to strictly prohibit some
imports, even to inhabited islands, if parts of them have protected status. On Frazier
Island, off Australia’s Queensland coast, dogs imported by tourists have introduced
diseases to the local dingo population. Prohibitions on keeping poultry on some
oceanic islands and in the Antarctic is maintained because of the dangers of introducing
avian diseases (especially Newcastle disease) to breeding seabirds. Quarantine should
be applied to complete islands rather than to protected parts of islands alone.
Souvenir collection. The removal of natural objects from islands should be
tightly controlled. Seashells and driftwood on beaches add greatly to the aesthetic quality
of an island visit, and the first have considerable educational value. They can be quickly
stripped from beaches if collection is allowed.
Litter. Visitors to uninhabited island protected areas should be required to
remove all their rubbish with them. Pollution is a major problem on all islands since
they have a limited capacity to absorb waste.
Tourism development. Tourism may greatly increase the number of people on
islands and may alter the structure of island economies. Tourism is a fickle industry
influenced by political circumstances, natural disasters, global economic conditions,
and the attitudes of islanders. When Cuba became unavailable to U.S. tourists, the
pattern of tourist movement changed throughout the Caribbean (Figure II-39).
FIGURE II-39.
Jamaica attempts to overcome the resistance of locals to tourism.
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Photo by John Clark.