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Workshop on Marine Ecotourism 4-6 October 2001
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Project Introduction
Marine
Ecotourism for the Atlantic Area (META-) is a
transnational research project, part-funded by the
European Regional Development Fund (via the Interreg IIc
Atlantic Area Programme) and the UK Department for
Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR). META-
was launched at an inaugural workshop in January 2000 at
Viana do Castelo, Portugal and has culminated in an International Workshop on
Marine Ecotourism, held in Dublin, Ireland in October,
2001.
The project is being led by a team of researchers from
the Bristol Group for Tourism Research, University of the
West of England, Bristol, UK with partners in Spain,
Ireland, the UK and an associate partner in Portugal. The
research has case studies in Torbay, the West of Ireland
and Gran Canaria.
Marine ecotourism may help provide the funds necessary
for the scientific study of marine species and
ecosystems, help fund conservation programmes, raise the
profile of marine resources in the planning process, and
provide an economic rationale for ecological stewardship.
The development of marine ecotourism also represents an
important route by which the quality (including
environmental quality) of the tourism products provided
by peripheral communities may be improved. Furthermore,
it has the potential to re-deploy some of the
infrastructure and resources formerly employed by the
local sea fishing and tourism industries. However, there
is a growing awareness that any such development should
contribute to wider sustainability objectives. The META-
project represents a way of bringing biodiversity and
ecological sustainability considerations into sectoral
policies of the EU, e.g. regional policies, fisheries,
transport and tourism.
With the aim of promoting genuinely sustainable marine
ecotourism as a tool of regeneration of peripheral
coastal communities, the twin principal objectives of
META- are:
- To generate appropriate local, regional, national and
transnational guidance on the spatial planning
structures, policies and frameworks that will be needed
to develop the potential of marine ecotourism without
prejudicing the natural environment on which it depends.
- To identify and evaluate opportunities for
diversification into marine ecotourism, thereby
developing products that not only enhance the quality of
tourism provision but also help to reinforce the economic
and social cohesion of coastal communities in the
Atlantic Area.
The META- project is also particularly timely as
preparation for the United Nations Year of Ecotourism, in
2002
The final reports associated with the META- project were
prepared in October 2001 and are available to download from this site.
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