Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.04.2014, Blaðsíða 19

19
Following the rapid growth of tourists in Iceland, signs of
damage to the country’s fragile and vulnerable ecosystem
are starting to show. At the same time, surveys reveal that
nature is our main tourist attraction with more than 80%
of foreign visitors citing it as their main reason for visiting.
Building up infrastructure at popular tourist spots is in-
deed urgent to combat the increasing pressure of trampling
tourists. However, no holistic scientific analysis has been
conducted to determine the scope of damage control and
build-up needed.
Furthermore, building up infrastructure in some of Ice-
land’s more isolated and untouched areas would create visu-
al pollution that completely changes the natural experience.
In those areas, restricting access through visitor quotas may
be the only way of protection. Although this is as impor-
tant as protecting heavily frequented spots, no emphasis has
been put on the matter.
There is, therefore, a real need to move from fragmented
policymaking to a more coherent and holistic approach that
would take the aforementioned points into account.
The Nature Pass Is A Bad Idea
There are several reasons why the government’s proposed
Nature Pass is a bad idea.
Firstly, it contradicts the ancient right of people in Ice-
land to travel through uncultivated land (as does single site
charging, for that matter). These rights are secured in the
Nature Conservation Law. If areas are under severe stress
due to tourism, for instance, the law allows access to be re-
stricted. This is very important of course, but the restriction
should not discriminate against some people the way the
Nature Pass and single site charging does.
Secondly, and this may be more pertinent to Icelanders
than others, by charging people directly for access to nature,
I fear that people’s relationship with nature may change in
unforeseeable ways. Icelanders’ relationship to nature could
become more business-oriented rather than being based on
love and respect.
Thirdly, if Icelanders have to pay directly for access to
nature, the Nature Pass may lead to a divide between certain
groups of people and tourism itself. Is that what the tourist
sector wants?
Lastly, the Nature Pass requires comprehensive, not to
mention expensive, administrative infrastructure, includ-
ing marketing and sales and surveillance systems.
So What Can Be Done?
Increasing taxation on tourism needs to be looked into
more, particularly with regard to protecting the main asset
of tourism: nature itself. Landvernd, the Icelandic Environ-
ment Association, and four not-for-profit outdoors organisa-
tions have suggested that alternatives to the Nature Pass be
developed further before a decision is made on which path
to take. The proposals include a variety of ideas: a moder-
ate entry fee to the country that people pay once a year, an
increase in tax on accommodation, a tax on cruise ships that
dock in Iceland, a moderate tax on rental cars, etc.
None of these alternate ideas deny anyone the right to
access nature. Moreover, some of them are already in place;
a new comprehensive administrative body would not be
needed to implement them.
In the end, though, nothing—not even the Nature
Pass—will stop individual landowners from charging for
single site access. Other means of stopping that are there-
fore necessary.
You Shall
Not Pass
Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson is
the managing director of Landvernd,
the Icelandic Environment Associa-
tion.
Following the economic collapse in October 2008, the tourism
industry became the fastest growing sector of Iceland’s econo-
my. Today, it is the biggest breadwinner, earning more foreign
currency than any other sector.
The problem, however, is that the industry is growing too
fast to keep within the parameters of sustainable development.
Whereas the relative success of Icelandic fisheries manage-
ment is based on decades’ worth of data and research into the
management of ocean resources, tourism has grown without
much research-based management and it’s not clear how many
visitors Icelandic nature can sustain. Given the dire straits of
Iceland’s post-crash economy, the only way to finance the nec-
essary investments in research, national parks and responsible
management of the industry is to find new ways of financing
and the obvious target is the tourist.
Targeting High
Revenue Visitors
In the fall of 2012, McKinsey and Company published a report
called ‘Charting a Growth Path for Iceland,’ which advised that
Iceland’s three resource-based sectors—marine, energy and
tourism—focus on increasing value while keeping volume
down. Much as it advised the energy sector not to keep prices
too low as producing more energy won’t help unless value in-
creases significantly, it recommended that the tourism sector
focus on “targeting more high revenue visitors.”
It’s a no-brainer that too many tourists overcrowding pop-
ular nature spots will ultimately damage or destroy the very
resource on which tourism is based. And while most people
agree that tourists and Icelanders alike should pay for its up-
keep, the big question is: how? Arguably, a f lat tax on all visi-
tors, either upon arrival or departure, would be the simplest
solution. It would also meet McKinsey’s recommendation of
targeting high revenue visitors, while limiting the volume of
tourists.
An Anathema To Volume-
Driven Business
This approach, though, is an anathema to airlines whose busi-
ness models are based on increasing volume. It’s not surpris-
ing then that a consortium of companies including Icelandair,
Europcar and Isavia commissioned a report from the Boston
Consulting Group which advocated for the Nature Pass. In line
with recommendations by the BCG, Minister of Industry and
Commerce Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, who wrote a foreword
to the report, has strongly advocated the Nature Pass as the
best solution.
While foreigners may accept a fee for accessing valuable
nature areas, Icelanders will not unless a clear case is made
for nature conservation. Unfortunately, the aforementioned
Ragnheiður and Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð, who also
wrote a foreword to the report, have not come across as very
convincing nature conservationists. The Minister of Indus-
try bent over backwards last summer in order to prevent the
protection of the Þjórsárver wetlands. Meanwhile, the newly
elected Prime Minister didn’t waste any time to mock NGOs
for their critical comments on the Master Plan for Hydro and
Geothermal Resources.
Another Gold Rush
In The Making
The government seems quite unwilling to acknowledge that
Iceland must limit the number of tourists in order to prevent
permanent damage to heavily exploited areas such as Land-
mannalaugar and Herðubreiðalindir. The Nature Pass is about
keeping up the numbers game, as it was put in the McKinsey
report. Ultimately, this policy risks destroying Iceland’s na-
ture, which is the basis for the tourism industry. So why not
go with a f lat tax on airfare if as much money can be raised to
strengthen the infrastructure at a lesser cost to the industry
and environment?
Part of the answer, I fear, is ideologically motivated. This
government is opposed to the central management of resourc-
es, and to calling for a clear policy on how to manage protected
natural sites. Worse still, the Nature Pass heralds a new era for
landowners and small municipalities, allowing them to charge
fees for access to sites they either claim ownership of or the
right to manage. In the spirit of the Klondike Gold Rush, it’s
already started at Geysir (although it is probably illegal). And
let’s not forget, we have been there before.
Less Is More
The Nature Pass is not in line
with sustainable tourism
Árni Finnsson has been chair of the
Iceland Nature Conservation Associa-
tion for the last 16 years.
The Environ-
mentalists
speak
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