True sustainability

Saturday, 6 January 2018 00:51 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

This week brought disappointing news for wildlife enthusiasts after the Government reversed a previous decision to restrict jeeps into Yala and increased them to 600 per day. The move, which happened after much lobbying with an appeal from Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera to the President and Prime Minister, underscores the challenge Sri Lanka faces in protecting its resources while promoting tourism.

Tourism has been a boom industry in post-war Sri Lanka recording double digit growth and providing jobs to thousands of people in rural areas. Given the absence of other inclusive industries tourism has become a livelihood lifeline and a key factor in reducing poverty, at least to some extent, in rural areas.

But of course there is a flip side. Increased numbers of jeeps, together with other factors, has deep adverse environmental impact on these protected reserves. Ultimately unless Sri Lanka protects its natural resources it will kill the tourism golden goose. Limiting the number of jeeps into a wildlife reserve is an obvious point in this process but there are many other crucial measures that have been overlooked just as blithely.

A study done by the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) showed that environmental management has not received the attention that it deserves in the case of the hotel industry in Sri Lanka although sustainable growth in the industry requires consideration of such practices.

The hotel industry is extremely callous of focusing on energy, water, solid waste and waste water management. The study, which is based on data from 78 registered hotels in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, showed that the highest number of practices, 3.7 on average, adopted by hotels is in energy management, largely because of high tariffs.

However, the average number of water management practices is just 2.6. Majority of hotels which obtain ground water do not maintain water consumption data, which in the long term can take a huge toll on the water table of the region. Low adoption rates are observed for waste water and solid waste management practices. The study also showed adoption of good practices are more likely by large hotels, chain-affiliated hotels and classified hotels rather than smaller or informal hotels.

Analysis of electricity consumption shows that the occupancy rate and involvement of the hotels in environment management projects lead to a reduction in electricity consumption. From a policy perspective, small hotels, independent hotels, and unclassified hotels need to be motivated to adopt good environmental management practices through training, capacity building and financial support.

These are precisely the sort of policies that are severely lacking in Sri Lanka. A severe gap exists in the data available of hotel practices and other sustainable measures that can lead to improved policy making at a practical level so that they can actually be implemented. Even hotels that may be willing to make changes often find that they get no recognition or even less support for their efforts and are entirely dependent on their clients for motivation.

As tourist numbers stagnate Sri Lanka needs to understand how to do things differently and better. It is the only way to make tourism truly sustainable.