Should We Kill the Goose that Lays Golden Eggs: Issues about Tourism in the Andaman Islands

Islands are unique ecosystems due to their isolation and harbour species that are often not found anywhere else. It is estimated that islands have within them half of the tropical marine biodiversity. A third of the biodiversity ‘hotspots’ are found in island ecosystems. However, isolation also makes islands extremely fragile and vulnerable to changes that other ecosystems can withstand. The greatest number of extinctions on earth has been found to occur on islands.

 In the Bay of Bengal of India, lie the largest archipelago system of the islands - the Andaman and Nicobars, consisting of 306 islands and 206 rocky outcrops. The level of endemism in these islands is extremely high and the biodiversity extremely varied and fragile. The islands are at a critical juncture and any disturbance could have a serious impact on their biodiversity.

Today tourism poses perhaps one of the biggest threats to the biodiversity of these islands. The development of tourism on the islands started in seriousness, about ten years ago. The number of tourists and with it the number of facilities has been growing since then. However, most of the tourism in the Andamans is largely unregulated and unplanned. 

Building of tourism related infrastructure has led to degradation of the habitats, particularly unauthorised structures that have come up on many of the beaches. Construction material used to build tourism facilities also impacts the ecosystem. Sand, for example that is used in construction comes primarily from the mining of the islands beaches.  Many of the beaches in the Andamans are used as nesting sites by turtles. Mining and construction activities cause disturbance to turtles.

Perhaps the biggest threat from tourism is in the form of pollution. Pollution of water through garbage thrown in and oil from excessive boat traffic is already causing water pollution that will in turn affect marine biodiversity. Marine fauna have been known to choke on plastic and other material thrown into the water. Moreover, floating plastics may provide a vehicle for alien species to come to the islands. A disastrous consequence for isolated fragile ecosystems. Solid waste disposal is the biggest issue that any island system faces. Lack of a planned system of disposal will result in pollution at all levels. Burning seems to be the only system at present to get rid of garbage and this applies to plastics as well. This is going to lead to further air pollution as also the release of highly toxic gases.   

Coral reefs are an integral part of this island ecosystem and are highly sensitive to any changes in the environment. Ironically, it is these very coral reefs that attract a large number of tourists to the Andamans. There has been concern over the impact of tourism on the coral reefs. In fact marine biologists had cautioned against unregulated tourism activities on the islands even before tourism was being promoted as it is being today. Shell and coral collection by tourists and traders has resulted in a lot of damage already. Boatmen who take tourists snorkelling give the coral reefs another few years before they are completely degraded, if tourism is not regulated.

Increasing numbers of tourists to the islands put great pressure on these fragile ecosystems that are comparatively less resilient and prone to collapse due to extraneous pressures.  It is also not only the number of tourists but also the kind of regulation (or lack of it) that is a serious cause of concern.

How then can this be addressed? Tourism if well planned and regulated can be beneficial to the ecology and economy of these islands. The number of people coming to the islands certainly requires to be regulated. If the ecological concept of carrying capacity is followed then, this capacity needs to be first assessed and then number of tourist restricted accordingly. Certain areas with particularly fragile and significant coral reefs would need to be cordoned off from time to time to allow for regeneration. Waste disposal is something that the island administration needs to carry out on a war footing. Perhaps the most significant and most neglected is the issue of imparting good awareness and education about the islands and their fragility to the general public. Majority of tourists visiting the islands are not aware of these aspects that make the islands so special. Creatively designed and effective communication material in the form of posters, audio-visuals etc is urgently required.

Tourism is a double-edged sword. It can bring in substantial revenues to the state exchequer as also local communities. On the other hand unplanned and unregulated tourism can do inordinate harm, particularly to fragile ecosystems such as these islands. The situation is similar to that of the proverbial goose that laid golden eggs. Can we afford to kill the goose itself?