Abstract

Across the globe, conservation has been increasingly in conflict with other human activities. National parks are an important concept in nature protection and probably the most recognized institution in nature tourism worldwide. The concept of sustainable nature tourism became a part of the planning and management of Finnish national parks at the beginning of the new millennium. We analyze the environmental conflict and the idea and practices of sustainable nature tourism from a historical perspective in one Finnish national park: Koli. The main research question is how has the concept of sustainability been used to resolve the conflict between tourism and nature protection? Our perspective is based on the essence of sustainable nature tourism as humanity’s interaction with the environment. The main data of the study consists of interviews with park managers and planners and archival material from local newspapers. In Koli, the history of the founding of the park and tourism development were strongly affected by diverse nature relationships between different actors. In the human-nature relationship perspective, it was a matter of how the land was to be utilized, on an anthropocentric or eco-centric basis. From the park management point of view, sustainable nature tourism was a conceptual and practical tool to diffuse the conflict. Experiences in Koli show how eco-utilitarian perspectives toward nature conservation can help to resolve conflict. Today the idea of sustainability has been adapted by large-scale tourism developers and earlier failed vast plans for Koli are alive again, only reconceptualized with the idea of sustainability. This kind of economy-based sustainability in turn pushes the idea of sustainable nature tourism further from nature itself and eco-centric perspectives and provides foundations for a new conflict.

摘要

在全球范围内，保护与其他人类活动的冲突日益加剧。国家公园是自然保护中的一个重要概念，可能是全球自然旅游中最受认可的机构。在新千年伊始，可持续自然旅游的概念成为芬兰国家公园规划和管理的一部分。我们从一个芬兰国家公园的历史角度分析环境冲突以及可持续自然旅游的理念和实践：科利。主要研究问题是如何使用可持续性概念来解决旅游与自然保护之间的冲突？我们的观点基于可持续自然旅游的本质，即人类与环境的互动。该研究的主要数据包括对公园管理者和规划者的采访以及当地报纸的档案材料。在科利，公园的建立历史和旅游发展受到不同参与者之间不同的自然关系的强烈影响。从人与自然关系的角度来看，这是一个如何在以人类为中心或以生态为中心的基础上利用土地的问题。从公园管理的角度来看，可持续自然旅游是化解冲突的概念和实用工具。Koli 的经验表明，对自然保护的生态功利主义观点如何有助于解决冲突。今天，可持续发展的理念已被大型旅游开发商采用，早先失败的科利大型计划再次活跃起来，仅以可持续性的理念重新概念化。这种以经济为基础的可持续性反过来又推动了可持续自然旅游的理念，使其远离自然本身和以生态为中心的观点，并为新的冲突提供了基础。