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THREATENED ECOSYSTEMS: MOUNTAINS
source: www.uneptie.org/
pc/tourism/sust-tourism/env-3
main.htm
www.mtnforum.org/resources/
library/magen99a2.htm#dependence
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In industrialised countries, mass tourism and recreation are now fast overtaking the extractive industries as the largest threat to mountain communities and environments. Globally, mountains attract million of tourists…- in long-established mountain tourist regions in the Andes, the Alps, the Rocky Mountains or the Himalayas, tourism provides up to 90% of regional income;
- winter sport areas can now be found in mountains around the world. Their development has been a major driving force in mountain tourism, allowing the mountains to become playgrounds for urban areas - a market estimated at 65-70 million people worldwide;
- in the European Alps, tourism now exceeds 100 million visitors/day. The Alps alone account for an estimated 7-10% of annual global tourism turnover;
- since 1945, visits to the 10 most popular mountainous US national parks have increased twelve-fold;
- every year in the Indian Himalayas, more than 250,000 Hindu pilgrims, 25,000 trekkers, and 75 mountaineering expeditions climb to the sacred source of the Ganges River, the Gangotri Glacier. This tourism frequently induces poorly planned, land-intensive development;
- almost 70% of the Republic of Korea is covered by mountains, which are major attractions for domestic as well as international tourists. Nearly 1/3 of tourism activities are closely related to, or take place in, mountain settings: there are about 100 million visits to the mountains every year.
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