MANUAL SPORT ENVIRONMENT

More documents

Recommendations

Info

10 • env ironment al issues can be very diff erent f or each kind of sport . Environmental resourc es are draw n on in different w ays depending on the kind of sport being play ed; • potential impacts are not real impacts. Potential impacts can be reduced or even eliminated by choosing a sound place, adopting an environmentally sound management of events and transforming people's behav ior; • the extent of an impact is often more relev ant than its type. The siz e of an impact depends on: - how intensiv ely the sports place is used - how sensitiv e the natural setting is How ever, three kinds of impacts are es pecially relevant in regard to s ports events : • high c onc entration of people in a short time and in a limited plac e • increase of sports activ ities in time and place (w here prev ious ly there w as little or nothing) • indirec t effects due to the s port, often similar to those due to tourism Public attention has been focused on environmental problems generated by largescale ev ents like the Olympic Games, but little attention is paid to other sports activities and events w hich are prac tised regular ly and conc ern a majority of people. Impacts of big ev ents are more vis ible and more important, but daily practices may also have negative effects on the environment through the large number of people they involve. Sport may be related to touris m in the w ay that sports events and facilities (infrastructures, trails , natural s etting, etc .) c onstitute a tourist attraction. Although the env ironmental effects of touris m c an be s ignificant, they are not taken up in the pres ent Manual. We have identified below a series of environmental issues w hich may have to be addressed, w hether w hen engaging in a s ports activ ity or organizing a s ports event: • biodiv ers ity c onserv ation • protec tion of ecosystems • land use and landscape • pollution • resource and w aste management • health and safety • nuisances • safeguard of cultural heritage
1.1 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION 11 Biodiversity is the v ariety of all life, w ild and domes ticated, at ev ery level. It enc ompass es the Earth's 10 million s pecies of plants, animals and other organis ms. Biodiversity must be pres erved for sev eral reasons: • as a matter of principle (all s pec ies hav e the right to ex ist) • as a matter of survival (the Earths ability to sus tain life depends on the variety of life) • as a matter of ec onomics (biodiv ersity is the s ource of all biological w ealth w hich prov ides foods, drugs/medic ations, goods and s ervices) Biodiversity is threatened primarily by the extension of human activities w hich destroy and degrade the habitat of many species, but other factors like pollution and ov erharv esting play a signific ant role as w ell. Sports facilities and the practice of sport as a human ac tivity c an directly and indirectly contribute to the perturbation of ecosys tems , including their natural res ources and biodiv ersity. Although the impac t of sport on biodiv ers ity is not examined in this Manual, the impacts described in the sub-sections devoted to ecosystems and pollution represent a global threat to biodiversity. 1.2 PROTECTION OF ECOSYSTEMS An ecosys tem is a dynamic and complex system of plant, animal and micro-organism communities, and their non-living environment, all interacting as a functional unit w ithin a defined phys ical loc ation. All me mbers of the global ec osystem (the Earth) are interdependent and affect one another. The concept of an ec osystem is important because it conveys one of the key insights gained from the science of ecology: everything is related to and interc onnected w ith everything else. Given that no individual part of the global ecosystem exists independently from the others, none can be affected w ithout affecting the others. Ecosystems change ov er time, but this change is natural and occ urs in certain recogniz able, repeated patterns. The composition of spec ies of trees in forests, for example, w il change over time in a relatively predictable w ay. The evolution from natural systems to constructed systems constitutes a change from self-regulation to regulation by humans , a decline in nativ e biodiv ersity and a rise in introduced biodiv ersity. When s ports activ ities take plac e in a ecosys tem, they can introduce people, sports facilities and infrastructures. The impact is therefore greater if the ecosystem is at a natural stage or has been only slightly impinged on by human beings (Figure 3).
Page 1 and 2: 1 MANUAL ON SPORT AND THE ENVIRONME
Page 3 and 4: CHAPTER III: IOC ENVIRONM ENTAL POL
Page 5 and 6: FOREWORD 5 Over the last dec ade, t
Page 7 and 8: 7 reinforc ed this trend by creatin
Page 9: 9 Potentially , sport c an generate
Page 13 and 14: Destruction or m odification of the
Page 15 and 16: 15 Air • emiss ion of gas from tr
Page 17 and 18: 17 is affected if the quality of th
Page 19 and 20: 19 CHAPTER II: ENVIRONM ENTAL RECOM
Page 21 and 22: 21 authorities to comply w ith them
Page 23 and 24: most of their habits in order to ma
Page 25 and 26: 25 minimizing use protects the env
Page 27 and 28: 27 Although this partnership c an b
Page 29 and 30: 29 requires that env ironmental imp
Page 31 and 32: 31 • Outline the env ironmental o
Page 33 and 34: - protected sites - forests - w ate
Page 35 and 36: 35 supplied w ith w ater, energy an
Page 37 and 38: industry to meet env ironmental cha
Page 39 and 40: 39 saving meas ures • reduc e (he
Page 41 and 42: plants located in y our region •
Page 43 and 44: 43 CHAPTER III: ENVIRONM ENTAL POLI
Page 45 and 46: Rule 2, paragr aph 13 45 (...) to e
Page 47 and 48: 3.2 ENVIRONM ENTAL REQ UIREM ENTS F
Page 49 and 50: GLOSSARY 49 (adapted from UN, W HO
Page 51 and 52: 51 Recycling: processing and use of
Page 53: BIBLIOGRAPHY 53 Association Suisse

MANUAL SPORT ENVIRONMENT

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?