MEDITERRANEAN ACTION PLAN

Rapport de l’Atelier sur le tourisme et le développement durable en Méditerranée
Antaly (Turquie), 17, 18 & 19 septembre 1998
are used properly. Let me remind you however, about a series of negative
consequences of this type of yachting tourism:
1. Antifouling colours of most boats still contain significant amounts of TBT (an
organometalic compound of tin) which is proven very toxic, mutagenic and
carcinogenic, at very low levels. This and its metabolites concentrate not only
in organisms, which are affected and biomagnify organotins through the food
chain, but it accumulates also in sea bottom sediments transforming the dredge
and sludge of marinas into « spoil » and « waste » which is toxic, cannot be
dumped and cannot be used for other purposes e.g. for restoring eroded coasts.
2. The latter are quite frequently connected with poorly planned piers of marinas
and ports.
3. The poor planning many times results also in local inhibition of water
circulation, poor water renewal and consequently lack of effective oxygenation
mechanisms and causes intermittently anoxic conditions particularly during
late evening and night in summer months.
This has as a result side effects such as metal remobilization from sediments,
unpleasant odour from gases such as methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and
conditions favouring the presence of all kind of bacteria.
One more of the side effects, pleasure boats visit, with little monitoring and control
by coast guard, remote, clean, unspoiled areas among which vulnerable biotones
even designated ones. Many times very few people and definitely not « mass »
tourism cause disproportional damage to fauna and flora by scuba diving, fishing,
anchoring, littering (the coastline or the seabed) and by disturbing 'with their
presence, noise and light wildlife (such as monk seals, sea turtles, sea birds, fishes
and benthic species).
I may continue for a long if I elaborate on all the detrimental effects of tourism on
the environment; fresh water depletion, ground water salinisation, river water
diversions indirectly affecting water quality and ecosystems at the river delta
« mouth » ; colossal solid waste problems; increase of accidental forest fires by
tourists due to uncontrolled disposal of waste near the forest; intentional forest
fires for expansion of the tourist settlement, are only few of the pressures exerted
by tourism on the natural environment, particularly in the Mediterranean areas.
Many other direct and indirect effects are described in the background document.
Let me then elaborate on few aspects, which are less developed in the paper. The
first fact is that some fragile ecosystems do not need a « troop » of tourists to
collapse. A single person « ignorant » or super « expert » destroying or collecting
rare eggs or rare plants etc. is enough! A single 4x4 car on a sand dune with rare
flora or fauna may damage a whole ecosystem. That means that provisions should
exist and be observed so that certain areas will be « closed » exactly when the wider
area where they belong is becoming an « open » tourist destination. This quite often
creates serious problems at local level between developers landowners and
environmentalists.
The second is the « nature » of modern tourism and the factors and mechanisms
controlling it. From the image-making phase for customers living far away from
the destination, to the control of flows by tour operators agents and consortia that
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Plan Bleu