4. PHYSICAL IMPACTSAttractive lands

4. PHYSICAL IMPACTS
Attractive landscape sites, such as sandy beaches, lakes, riversides, and mountaintops and slopes,
are often transitional zones, characterized by species-rich ecosystems. Typical physical impacts include
the degradation of such ecosystems.
An ecosystem is a geographic area including all the living organisms (people, plants, animals, and
microorganisms), their physical surroundings (such as soil, water, and air), and the natural cycles that
sustain them. The ecosystems most threatened with degradation are ecologically fragile areas such as
alpine regions, rain forests, wetlands, mangroves, coral reefs and sea grass beds. Threats to and
pressures on these ecosystems are often severe because such places are very attractive to both tourists
and developers.
Physical impacts are caused not only by tourism-related land clearing and construction, but by
continuing tourist activities and long-term changes in local economies and ecologies.
4.1. Physical Impacts of Tourism Development
Construction activities and infrastructure development: The development of tourism facilities such as
accommodation, water supplies, restaurants and recreation facilities can involve sand mining, beach and
sand erosion, soil erosion and extensive paving. In addition, road and airport construction can lead to land
degradation and loss of wildlife habitats and deterioration of scenery.
Deforestation and intensified or unsustainable use of land: Construction of ski resort accommodation
and facilities frequently requires clearing forested land. Coastal wetlands are often drained and filled due
to lack of more suitable sites for construction of tourism facilities and infrastructure. These activities can
cause severe disturbance and erosion of the local ecosystem, even destruction in the long term.
Marina development: Development of marinas and breakwaters can cause changes in currents and
coastlines. Furthermore, extraction of building materials such as sand affects coral reefs, mangroves,
and hinterland forests, leading to erosion and destruction of habitats. In the Philippines and the Maldives,
dynamiting and mining of coral for resort building materials has damaged fragile coral reefs and depleted
the fisheries (Hall, 2001).
Overbuilding and extensive paving of shorelines can result in destruction of habitats and disruption of
land-sea connections (such as sea-turtle nesting spots). Coral reefs are especially fragile marine