Need information on carrying capacity

[GJ Gast]

Dear Duncan,

1. Does this mean that building more sewage treatment plants gives
coral reefs a higher carrying capacity for tourism?

2. There are no sewage treatment plants on Bonaire. So the allowed
number of tourist must be set on zero?

I understand that divers carrying capacity is a complicated issue
with many varying aspects and that it is hard to come to generally
applicable figures. The least one can do is to use the precautionary
principle, which in this case means staying way within known safe
limits. Using wastewater treatment as a criterium is definately much
too simplistic. On the contrary, the wastewater treatment capacity
should follow the numbers of tourists and local people. If only that
would become reality....

Best wishes, GJ.

On 7 Feb 2003, at 6:53, Duncan MacRae wrote:

> Dear Pedro,
>
> I did an extensive study on carrying capacity on Bonaire last year (as
> yet unpublished). I looked at 40 sites and the amount of damage around
> the mooring buoys. Some sites had in excess of 25000 divers visiting
> them and showed far higher diversity and greater 'health' than other
> sites with very few divers. If you would like to know more, do not
> hesitate to contact me.
>
> I suggest that you are very careful using diver numbers as a
> management tool, it has tended to open up a large can of worms. Better
> would be the number of tourists that the local wastewater treatment
> plants of the area can handle.....
>
> Regards,
>
> Duncan R. MacRae
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pedro Alcolado" <alcolado at ama.cu>
> To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 10:32 PM
> Subject: Need information on carrying capacity
>
>
> > Dear Coral lister,
> >
> > I need to get information about other papers than Hawskin's and
> > Roberts' = (1997) about carrying capacity in coral reef diving. I am
> > participating = in the elaboration of tourist diving regulations,
> > and so far I have = Haskin's and Roberts' figures of 5000-6000
> > divers/site/year. I think it = would be good a figure for begining
> > that could be revised an adjusted = after subsequent monitoring, but
> > I would like to know about other = alternative numbers. I would
> > appreciate to receive that information, as = well as any relevant
> > comment on the issue.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Pedro
> >
> > ~~~~~~~
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> >
> >
>
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=========================================================
Dr Gert Jan Gast
Seas and Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace Netherlands
Keizersgracht 174, 1016DW Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Phone +31 20 5236655
Mobile +31 6 5206 2976
Fax +31 20 6221272

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