Mauritius, a popular tourist destination, is famous for its sandy white beaches and coral reefs. In a bid to boost a flagging economy, Mauritius is targeting an increase in tourist traffic to two million in 2007. This is a huge number of visitors, given the island’s resident population of just 1.3 million. However, there is a flip side to this. Scientists fear that increased tourist traffic could have an irreversibly damaging effect on the local ecosystem especially the coral reefs that are responsible for protecting the stunning beaches of Mauritius.
For environmental consultant Iain Watt, who has lived on the island for ten years, this raises some major concerns.
“If you put more and more hotels along the beaches then of course that is going to have an environmental impact.””Eventually there will come a time where the beaches have become so degraded that people will not want to come here because the product you are offering has lost its value.”
The reefs are already under stress from fishing, agriculture and other human activity. More tourists mean more hotels, increased release of effluents, and waste.
Coral reefs, the world over are already under threat from global warming which causes sea temperatures to rise suddenly, bleaching the coral and making it more vulnerable. Unless urgent measures are taken towards sustainable tourism, it could spell a slow but sure death for Mauritius’ tourism USP.
Via:CDNN, YahooNews
Image:Threebestbeaches
