Introduction
Tourism is one of the most appreciated economic activities in the country. The pillars of economic development in the country are mainly fisheries, agriculture, tourism and other forms of agriculture such as apiculture. The main area of interest in the proposal is Haldikiki that is one of the richest gold deposits in the northern part of the country. In this region, there are competing objectives between the wishes of the government and those of the local people, the Skouries. Although the people have been assured by the government of low or no risk of any environmental degradation, there are genuine concerns about the local people’s livelihoods that have lives integrated with the economic returns from tourism-related activities.
Mining and ecotourism especially in a locality that is rich in biodiversity are issue that have been considered mutuallyexclusive. The consideration of either of the two needs to be considered basing on informed perspective. Environmental Impact Assessment is needed in these circumstances to evaluate the likely impact of the activities not just in the short run but comprehensive assessment of long term also. This is especially in cases where the government is less involved in the mining decision and activities of the company. Muthukrishnan (2005) noted that in most cases, there is a degree of environmental degradation such as creating a space to store debris from pits sunk to extract gold or any other mineral resource that is extracted from underground. The surface flows from thesedebris also contaminate the rivers and other sources of water. Pits sunk are also a health risk and such regions created for pits means forests must be cleared. The area has to be developed before mining can begin and these do have impact on environment.
Ecotourism depends on natural environment for it to flourish. Social and economic perspectives should be considered when making a decision on granting a license to a mining company. In most cases, the economic gain which is often short run is used to guide the decision of mining in any area. According to Wehr (2011), ecotourism sustainability is affected whenever the decision is made on economic gain without weighing the social perspective. Wehr (2005) noted that often, less than 5% of the revenues go to the local people are those that are given jobs are only a temporary that disguise the long term losses to the community. As Fennell (2002) noted, tourism thrives in well protected areas, whether in developed or developing countries. Thus, the infiltration ofHaldikiki by the mining companies will no doubt leave lasting impacts on this cherished activity. This protection will need government support unlike exposing the local communities to the degradation where the forests are likely to be lost and affect the inflow of tourists from top sources such as Russia
Objectives
- To investigate effect of deforestation and numbers visiting the areas
- To find out environmental impact of mining in the region
- To investigate efforts by local authorities to reclaim the area to ameliorate the status.
Significance of the study
This study is useful in highlighting the likely impact of the mining activities in the area as a result of the mining activities that were sanctioned by the government. At the end of the study, the research will link the income from tourism especially the number from Russia and how this has changed in the past due to the mining activities. Besides the economic impact that results from gold mining, the research will bring to the fore the real impact on loss of biodiversity and the likely impact on the socio-economic livelihoods of the Skouries, the local people.
It is expected that the study will outline long term effects that will help the government to make informed decisions on how the area is to be regulated in terms and to assess how the two activities can cause minimum impact on the environment. The dependence of the Skouries on ecotourism related activities and the likely impact of the company’s mining activities in the long run. It is assumed that the effects have been not been fully assessed especially from the long term perspective. The effect of clearing indigenous will particularly be brought out in clear focus and compare the sentiments of the Skouries that have been advocating against the practicefor reasons of denying the people of their livelihoods especially from the fact that it is attached to the ecotourism activities. The effect of reduced tourists from Russia will be assessed and the report be used to give a practical perspective of long term effects of gold mining in Haldikiki.
Literature review (900)
Tourism and mining are two competing economic development objectives in the country that are equally important to the economy. The impact of tourism on economic development is estimated at between 15-20% of the GDP in the country. At the same time, the government committed 317000 acres of the land in northern Haldikiki that is rich both in gold and other minerals as well as a region that is destination of tourists visiting the country. Tourism is promoted by presence of rich sceneries that are provided by the forests and clean environment that is befitting for human survival. Due to the concentration on mining, there is a risk that the lush forests and green feature that have been used as the man source of attraction are disappearing as the land is utilised for a competing resource utilisation of gold mining.
One of the richest areas in gold, South Africa faced the same dilemma of using the area for mining instead of tourism. According to Allen and Brennan (2004), the company the was given the green light to mine gold in the area in what condemned as aaffront to clean environment that for the local people. The company defended that its actions did not in anysignificant affect the local ecological resources especially when seen in the long run. It was claimed that the company provided jobs for the locals in the region that worked for the mining firm. However, conservationists in the case of Greece argued that mining only provided temporary jobs and the damage caused by the mining companies in the process of extracting resources cause irreparable damage to the environment. The dilemma that affected the South African company’s St. Lucia caused an environmental impact assessment to be carried out, particularly the impact on tourism. The company’s mining activities were found to coexist with ecotourism but hat had to be planned before the project began.
It is not always the case as in more often than not, the case. For the effects of mining to be controlled, the government has to be involved and the process of development has to be controlled (Dunn, 1999). The environmental effects of tourism on mining have to be controlled if the natural effects offered for ecotourism have to be maintained. Where the practices of resourceexploitation are illegal, the effect on environment and consequently tourism are evident in the manner in which they are destroyed. Open cast mining has been particularly noted as one of the most destructive mining activities that leave lasting impact on the environment. According to James (1994), the economic impact that are associated with mining are often felt in the short run but the true effects mining are left to be felt by local residents. The residents that depend on the resources that are the main attraction to tourist attraction are often destroyed and take long before the effects can be reversed, if ever. The case Hellas Gold S. A.that controlled 95% of the project in which 4.1 square kilometres were cleared to pave way for the mining activities in the region is going to have effect on the local people if they depended on indigenous forests for their economic survival. Most indigenous trees take tens to hundreds of years beforethat are mature and form a forest that would form a habitat for wild animals, depending on the climatic condition of the area. GRReporter also noted that the company employed more than 1200 people from the locality but these were expected to last as long as the company was still active in its mining activities. The people that depend on the land for their economic activities will have to wait a while longer as the area is rejuvenated to its desirable status.
Given that the area is in a forest and the resource to be mined is gold, there are high chances that open cast mining will be used, a method that has been heavily criticised mainly in the danger they pose to the residents and damage impacted on local indigenous resources such as biodiversity (Wijaksana &Musthofid, 2002).Open pit mining has already been banned in some of the areas in the world due to these grave consequences. According to GRReporter (2013) mining activities in the northern parts of the country have been approved by the government that argued that the mining activities of the company will not affect the ecosystem stability in the region. However, this was not proved in the face of the already destructive activities such as clearing of forests toallow for construction of gold mining facility in the region.
Methodology
These are the scientific methods that will be used in data collection and its analysis to present findings that will be based on in the exploring the objectives of the research.The section is most important in research as it informs the reader on how objectives were handed, which methods were used and the rationale for using them.
- The number of Russian tourists have declined as a result of increasingenvironmental degradation in Haldikiki
- Mining activities have impacted on the quality of biodiversity and hence ecotourism in the region
- There are long term adverse effects of mining activities in the local area.
Research design
The research will use both explorative and descriptive research design in the approach of data collection from the region. In descriptive research, the situation will be explained using the theoretical framework of ecotourism and impact of mining in the region.In explorative research design, the aim will be to find the existing the patterns of the problem in focus rather than testing hypotheses.
Sampling
Local people that are opinion leaders in the region will be approached for the exercise in which unstructured questionnaire will be used to guide in the questions that will be used. Local people that have been involved in ecotourism such as in tour guides, sale of artefacts and local organisations will be the main source of primary data that will be used for the research.
Data collection procedures
The methods will include observation and informal interview that will use unstructured questions. People will be approached and their opinions assessed basing on the issues on the ground in the region.
Data analysis will be done using Excel and SPSS where tests will be carried out and results be presented in tables or raw figures.
References
Allen, G & Brennan, F (2004), Tourism in the New South Africa: Social Responsibility and the Tourist, IB Tauris,
Dunn, L D (1999) Tourism Attractions: A Critical Analysis of this Subsector in Jamaica, West Indies: University of West Indies
Fennell, D A (2002) Ecotourism programme planning, Wallingford: CABI
GRReporter (2013) “Environmentalists will not allow gold mining in Halkidiki”, Available online, http://www.grreporter.info/en/environmentalists_will_not_allow_gold_mining_halkidiki/8850#sthash.q3mfOi1M.dpuf [Accessed 12 may 2013]
James, D (1994), The Application of Economic Techniques in Environmental Impact Assessment, New York: Springer
Muthukrishnan, S (2005)Economics of Environment, New Delhi: PHI Learning
Wehr, K (ed) (2011) Green Culture: An A-to-Z Guide, London: SAGE
WijaksanaD &Musthofid ,(2002), “Open-pit mines endanger lives, nature”, MAC: Mines and Communities, Available online,http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=1851 [Accessed 12 May 2013]
