Sustainability performance assessment focusing on coral reef protection by the tourism industry in the Coral Triangle region

Coral reef based tourism in the Coral Triangle region is responsible for economic benefits but also for negative social and environmental impacts, thus an approach to evaluate this industry's sustainability performance would be valuable. We selected 10 key indicators, out of 681, that were directly relevant to the impacts of tourist activities on coral reefs in economic, social, environmental, and wildlife aspects of sustainability. Efficiency, inefficiency and overall models were developed to measure relative sustainability performance focusing on coral reef protection by the tourism industry for all six countries in the Coral Triangle, from 2008 to 2012. Our results showed that Indonesia had the best relative performance among countries in the region, followed in descending order by; Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Solomon Islands. Future plans to achieve higher performance by the tourism industry in each country can be made if a comprehensive sensitivity analysis is carried out.     

The role of Great Barrier Reef tourism operators in addressing climate change through strategic communication and direct action

The projected decline in reef health worldwide will have huge repercussions on millions of stakeholders depending upon coral reefs. Urgent action is needed to sustain coral reefs into the future. Tourism operators are recognised as stewards of Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR), a World Heritage Site, and are taking action on climate change, through their business practices and by engaging guests with interpretation and targeted messages. Yet little is known about how tourism operators along the GBR perceive climate change, or what actions they believe are most effective to address climate change impacts on the GBR. We describe a set of semi-structured interviews with 19 tourism operators in the Whitsundays and Cairns, the most popular tourism destinations along the GBR. Using a thematic analysis to code and report patterns within the data, we show tourism operators recognise the threat of climate change and strongly support increased action to address it. Most respondents are hesitant to engage their guests about climate change despite acknowledging an interest, expertise, and responsibility to do so. Understanding the barriers preventing tourism operators from addressing climate change is an important step towards helping them, and the tourists visiting the region, take action to protect the GBR.     

Effects of Great Barrier Reef degradation on recreational reef‐trip demand: a contingent behaviour approach*

There is a growing concern that increased nutrient and sediment runoff from river catchments are a potential source of coral reef degradation. Degradation of reefs may affect the number of tourists visiting the reef and, consequently, the economic sectors that rely on healthy reefs for their income generation. This study uses a contingent behaviour approach to estimate the effect of reef degradation on demand for recreational dive and snorkel trips, for a case study of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Results from a negative binomial random effects panel model show that the consumer surplus current reef visitors derive from a diving or snorkelling trip is approximately A$185 per trip. Furthermore, results indicate that reef trips by divers and snorkellers could go down by as much as 80 per cent given a hypothetical decrease in coral and fish biodiversity. This corresponds to a decrease in tourism expenditure by divers and snorkellers on full‐day reef trips in the Cairns management area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park of about A$103 million per year.     

生物礁滩在碳酸盐岩地层的分布预测

生物礁作为油气的储集体,被称为储集油气资源的"天堂",在全球范围内,许多大型油气田都是生物礁油气田。然而,在油气勘探中,生物礁预测一直是个难点,过去预测的生物礁其钻井多数落空,在现有的生物礁滩中,90%以上都属于随机钻遇。利用地震剖面反射结构分析方法对生物礁体的识别具有解释速度快、可靠性高等特点,如果能够提高甚至解决礁滩相的预测问题,重视生物礁油气田勘探的研究,对我国油气的勘探将产生深远的意义,在一定程度上,对于缓解我国油气资源的供需矛盾,以及促进经济可持续发展具有重要意义。     

Using an educational video-briefing to mitigate the ecological impacts of scuba diving

Recreational scuba diving is rapidly increasing, and the negative impacts to marine reef biota are of conservation concern. Educational approaches have been tested to mitigate diver damage to benthic organisms, but logistical constraints impede their implementation in many locations. We investigated the behaviors of scuba divers in terms of their contacts with benthic organisms, and assessed how an educational video-briefing caused changes in diver behavior. The video provided environmental information to divers, and enhanced their use of low-impact diving techniques. Divers who received the video-briefing exhibited significantly lower rates of contact with and damage to the benthos, than did divers who did not receive a briefing. The level of diving experience did not correlate with the rate of benthic contact in either group of divers. Male divers and photographers both contacted the benthos significantly less, and female divers and photographers both caused significantly less damage when they viewed the video-briefing prior to diving. Our findings highlight the importance of easily implemented, standardized educational approaches such as the use of video-briefings to mitigate the impacts of scuba diving. This study adds to the framework of tested strategies available to support the sustainable use of marine areas by the diving tourism industry.     

通道经济:蓬莱未来发展的新机遇——基于蓬(莱)—旅(顺)海底隧道项目的前景

在阐释相关理论的基础上,分析了蓬莱作为蓬-旅海底隧道的端口之一,发展通道经济将在区域崛起、优势特色产业发展、增强吸纳和辐射能力、城市扩张多方面的新机遇;对蓬莱适应未来通道经济大发展,提出了有关的对策建议。     

An application of protection motivation theory to understand the influence of fear-appeal media on stated donations for coral reef restoration

This study applied a Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) framework and Extended Parallel Process Model to explore respondents’ emotional and behavioral responses to video treatments that messaged varied outcomes for coral reef health and pro-environmental behavioral adaption. Four video treatments manipulating fear-appeal messaging with higher or lower proportions of content focused on threats to coral reefs and reassurance about coral reef restoration were presented to respondents (n = 1636). Messaging with equal proportions of threat and reassurance stimulated higher arousal, which had the greatest impact on stated behavioral intent to donate for coral reef restoration. Negative-affectivity, driven by higher proportions of threat in video messaging, was also related to higher stated donations. Sub-group comparisons revealed respondents who had taken vacations in coral reef destinations were significantly more aroused by the videos and stated higher donations than those who had not. PMT antecedents threat-appraisal, coping-appraisal, and response-costs dynamically influenced emotional responses to fear-appeal videos.