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While traditionally fair trade has been about consumer goods, Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa (FTTSA) has developed a certification program to promote globally-sanctioned Fair Trade in Tourism principles - fair share, democracy, respect, reliability, t ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National parks are created as pristine wilderness reserves, and yet at the same time are designed for the use and enjoyment of visitors. The first involves isolating parks from adverse human impacts, the second, making parks accessible to the public. Within Canada, policymakers have tried to resolve this conflict through the adoption of sustainable development policy. The World Commission on Environment and Development (also known as the Brundtland Commission) defined sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Sustainable development must both satisfy human needs and at the same time include responsible use of society’s scarce resources. In Canada, this idea has been integrated into federal legislation though the Auditor General Act (1995). This research specifically addresses the question: given the stated commitment to sustainable development within national parks, what are the challenges and constraints of doing business in national parks? There has been significant research done on tourism and national parks, but significantly less so on the commercial and local administration side. While there are significant concerns about the effect of retail stores and other business on both the environment and the wilderness aspects of national parks, businesses serve an important role in Banff. Businesses provide vital services, alternative activities for those with mobility issues, serve an education role and generate significant revenue through taxes. How does the national park environment affect business operations? Operating within the parameters of environmental policy imposed on businesses, do business owners feel a sense of increased uncertainty and risk? What are the attitudes of business owners operating within Banff about the environment and the extent of environmental regulations affecting their operations? Banff National Park was chosen as the case study for this research because it has the most extensive commercial development of any park in Canada. As such this study will have broad implications for other national parks in both Canada and other countries that face many of the same issues. While extensive research has been done on the theories and practice of sustainable development in general, research has not yet been done on the meaning and practice of sustainable development for protected spaces such as national parks. Furthermore, because the town itself is a self-governed municipality with legislated boundaries within the park, and a permanent population of 7,600, this study will also have broad implications for our understanding of how sustainable development principles affect rural and regional development.This research is based on interviews with policy actors and a web survey of business owners located in Banff National Park. The research is funded by a grant from the Canadian Embassy. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1885, with the support of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) which had reached the site two years earlier, the Canadian government declared the 10 square miles around the Banff hot springs in Banff, Alberta as reserved land. The townsite of Banff was demarcated in 1886, and two years later the CPR opened the Banff Springs Hotel, its first hotel in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Tourism for the wealthy and elite were seen as the primary means for funding the construction of a transcontinental railway which was vital for the expansion of the nation into the west. In the 1930s, an east-west highway paralleled the CPR rail line, and the park expanded to its present size of 2,650 square miles. In 1984 the United Nations declared Banff National Park (together with neighbouring Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks) a World Heritage Site. Today, Banff is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Canada, renowned for its beauty, hot springs, hiking, camping and skiing. The town itself is now a self-governed municipality with legislated boundaries within the park, and a population of 7,600 permanent residents. With a fairly mild climate, abundant vegetation and great wildlife diversity, the area is both ecologically priceless and attractive to humans. Although development is restricted to approximately 1% of the park, its effects resound throughout the entire ecosystem. It has been argued that the emphasis on the economic potential of the scenery for tourism has entrenched an organization and philosophy of ?parks for profit.? This philosophy has resulted in increasing threats to the environment. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the use of tourism as an economic development strategy in Banff National Park. The evaluation of the strategy will address the National Park Act, the literature on tourism, the advantages and disadvantages of tourism in Banff National Park, and an analysis of local policy and the implications for the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question: Given the fact that it is states who ultimately have the authority to make decisions about international policy, what is the role of non-state actors in the international policy formation process? It will be argued that while policy subsystem theories and interest group theories have separately tried to answer this question, when the two approaches are integrated, it is hypothesized that they will better account for the realities of non-state actor participation in international policy formation. This research will explore the foundation of these two approaches, and then use that discussion, to create a new framework for understanding non-state actor participation in international policy formation to answer the above research question. This framework will then be tested through a survey, interviews and field research at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties in New Delhi, India from October 23-November 1, 2002. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research is to explore the dynamics of participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This work is based on the ideas of policy subsystems, interest groups and regime theory; and suggests an alternative framework for understanding group relations in international policy negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With growing threats from urbanization and the rise of factory farming/grazing lands, non-governmental organizations concerned with conservation are increasingly calling for nations to protect areas with high biodiversity or extraordinary natural features. Critics have argued that protected land fails to serve the needs of the poorest of populations who are dependent on the land for farming, living, hunting and firewood. While a number of theories have been proposed in the literature to determine the factors that lead to protected land status such as environmental threats, public support, political legacies, international pressure and the need for tourism through revenue generation, we know very little about the political, economic and ecological factors that facilitate the creation of protected land, including national parks.This paper asks the question: what political economic characteristics make countries more or less likely to designate areas as protected land? This research is based on a dataset developed by the authors. The dependent variable is percent of land protected and is drawn from the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The study will divide protected land into four categories: scientific/strict nature preserves, national parks, natural monuments/landmarks and managed nature reserves/wildlife sanctuaries. These areas must meet formal characteristics in each category, as well as have a substantive management regime to ensure it is protected. Independent variables in the dataset include measures of economic development, democracy, percentage of urbanization, public environmental awareness, GDP, industrialization vs. agriculture measure and biodiversity.Our findings will contribute to a better understanding of state characteristics that are likely to lead to protected land designations and the research provides information for creating strategies to expand protected land globally. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National parks are created as pristine wilderness reserves, and yet at the same time are designed for the use and enjoyment of visitors. The first involves isolating parks from adverse human impacts, the second, making parks accessible to the public (Lowry 1994, Kopas 2000). Within Canada, policymakers have tried to resolve this conflict between ecological protection and supporting the enjoyment of present and future generations of park visitors through the adoption of sustainable development principles. The purpose of this research is to explore the role of business within Banff National Park, and to determine how the commercial environment created by the business community affects the goal of sustainable development within the parks. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]