The assessment of Environmental subsequence of second homes tourism on rural areas in Babol township

جغرافیاوتوسعه ناحیه ای

Article 4, Volume 11, Issue 1 - Serial Number 20, September 2013   

Document Type: scientific-research article

DOI: 10.22067/geography.v11i20.30709

Authors

Fazileh Dadvar- khani^* ; Fatemeh Mohamadzadeh Larijani

Abstract

Extended abstract
1- Introduction
Among various types of rural tourism in the country, one of the most important types of tourism in rural areas is second homes tourism.
This article is going to analyse the effects of the expansion of second homes as a consequence of tourism development in rural areas of Eastern Bandpay villages, one of the townships of Babol countryside. Despite the growth of Second Home Tourism (SHT) in the North of Iran, particularly over the past 2 decades, there has been limited research into the nature or such effects. On the basis of importance of this phenomenon, this article is likely the first step towards investigating the matter at a local level in the area. By underestanding that SHT has different environmental, social and economic effects, the main approach of the article is the sustainable developmeant of tourism. It focuses on the environmental effect of tourism on the area.
2- Theoretical framework
The relationship of tourism with the environment is complex, and many activities can have adverse environmental effects. Many of these impacts are linked with the construction of general infrastructure, such as roads and airports, and of tourism facilities, including resorts, hotels, restaurants, shops, golf courses and marinas. The negative impacts of tourism development can gradually destroy the environmental resources on which it depends. On the other hand, tourism has the potential to create beneficial effects on the environment by contributing to environmental protection and conservation. It is a way to raise awareness of environmental values and it can serve as a tool to finance the protection of natural areas and increase their economic importance.
3- Methodology
This research has been done on the basis of descriptive and exploratory methods.
The statistical sample are the rural locals, second home owners and rural managers and decision markers. On the basis of the Cochrane Method, a Sample Size of 60 Participant was Chosen. The data were gathered by a questionnaire that was developed by the researcher. The validaty of the questionnaire was estimated by Chronbach’s alpha to be about 0.8, which is reliable. For analysing the data, we used the Spearman Correlation test and other descriptive methods by SPSS software.
4- Discussion
Second homes Tourism, in many parts of the world has negative environmental impacts , especially in rural areas. Thev negative impact of tourism occurs when the level of visitor use is greater than the environment's ability. Uncontrolled conventional tourism poses potential threats to many natural areas around the world. It can put enormous pressure on an area and lead to impacts such as: soil erosion, increased pollution, discharges into the sea, natural habitat loss, increased pressure on endangered species and heightened vulnerability to forest fires. Increased construction of tourism facilities has increased the pressure on these resources and on scenic landscapes. Direct impact on natural resources in the provision of tourist facilities can be caused by the use of land for accommodation and other infrastructure provision, and the use of building materials. Forests often suffer negative impacts of tourism in the form of deforestation caused by fuel wood collection and land clearing. Tourism can cause the same forms of pollution as any other industry: air emissions, noise, solid waste and littering, releases of sewage, oil and chemicals, even architectural/visual pollution.
In this article, we found that there is no positive effect on the environment, due to extension of tourism; so this article is going to analyse the negative effects of second homes as a consequence of tourism development on the natural environment of villages of Eastern Bandpay villages in the Babol countryside.
5- Conclusion and Suggestions
The results, based on the Tukey and Duncan tests, show that there are differences between the three groups of participants' attitudes. the most convergence is seen between the views of residents and tourists about the environmental impact, and the greatest divergence is observed between the rural managers with the views of residents and tourists on second homes tourism. The most important environmental challenge to the region is: the destruction of orchards and pastures, the scarcity of water and its pollution, the destruction of beautiful landscapes, increased natural hazards (floods, Landslides), etc.Finally, the findings show that SHT can lead to unsustainability by leaving negative effects on the environment of villages, so applying the land use zoning strategy and design the guidelines for the sustainable development can be useful in achieving rural sustainable development.

Keywords

Rural tourism; second homes; Environmental effect; rural community; local people attitudes; Babol; sustainable tourism