Selling of Our World -- National Parks, etc.
(12-14-2003)In the 1980's the then Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, wanted to sell outright US public lands; now the threat of private take over of our public lands is more subtle, but just as serious.
The following are excerpts from an important paper presented last week
in Germany at the "Tourism: Unfair Practices" Symposium. It is about
industrial tourism and is subtitled: "The Disturbing Implications of
Privatization in the Tourism Trade." This FoYV writer has added a few
comments specifically relevant to Yosemite enclosed in brackets [ ]. We
will provide a link to the entire paper when it becomes available. Or
to
get a copy of the paper, send a message to
Also see FoYV Update, "Park Service Markets Yosemite as Tour Package
(7/1/02)" at www.foyv.org
[While this article is international in range, it begins by focusing
upon the privatization/ commercialization now taking place within the
US
National Park
System and by explaining how what is now happening within the USA is
serving as a world model.]
OUR WORLD IS NOT FOR SALE !
By Anita Pleumarom )
Paper presented at the International Seminar on “Tourism: Unfair
Practices – Equitable Options, 8th – 9th December 2003, Hannover,
Germany, hosted by DANTE/ The Network for Sustainable Tourism
Development
“Our world is not for sale!” was the rallying cry for activists in
Cancun last September. I am going to argue here that it is highly
necessary to come to terms with the globalized tourism trade where,
indeed, our world is for sale, probably more than in any other
sector.
The corporate tourism system, in the pursuit of maximum profits,
wants to own and commodify everything for tourist consumption, and it
is
known for using any and all means to achieve its goals. . . .
In fact, privatization of land and natural resources for tourism is
also
nothing new, as developers all over the world have a long history of
“privatizing” public assets - by simply stealing them! . . .
What is new, however, is that the robbery of people’s land and
resources
is increasingly organized under corporate regimes and legalized through
privatization and liberalization [in terms of trade] agreements between
government and industry. Among other things, that means authorities in
charge have less problems to ward off criticism for turning a blind eye
to the exploitative and illicit activities of tourism-related
businesses. Indeed, governments are now openly collaborating in the
corporate takeover of the public domain.
National parks
To illustrate that, I first want to focus on the degradation of
national
parks. Worldwide - from the United States, South Africa, China to
Thailand – parks are being privatized, built over and styled to lure
more tourists and their dollars. Among advocates, the argument goes
that
private sector involvement is in the “public interest” because
cash-strapped governments are lacking the necessary resources for
nature
conservation and visitor facilities to accommodate growing public
demand. But often, the consequences for local people and the
environment
are devastating. The recent World Parks Congress in Durban, South
Africa, was a reconfirmation that protected areas are threatened as
never before. Damage of ecosystems due to excessive developments,
social
inequality, and commercialization that often results in an irreversible
loss of authenticity are just a few of the problems to be mentioned.
[In Yosemite the massive Yosemite Valley construction project would
pave
over even more of the Valley and the Park, encroaching on undeveloped
areas while bringing in more dollars for the private concessionaire.
These developments will degrade more of the natural environment and
further interfer with visitors' opportunities to experience Yosemite's
natural values. The developments will increase the cost of visiting the
park through upscaling, and will end up shutting out the average
family].
America served as a model when it was to establish countries’ national
park systems, often at the cost of local and indigenous communities who
faced dispossession and displacement as authorities and
conservationists
stepped in to protect forests and wildlife. Now, it seems, land and
natural resource managers worldwide are copying the American model
again – this time in terms of privatization and Disneyfication of
parks. [In Yosemite a historic, hand built rock wall, was bulldozed
and
replaced with a simulated wall from casts of the former authentic wall.
What visitors now see is a fake, Disney-style replica.]
To many it may sound like a bad joke, but it is true that US government
agencies concerned with conservation - including the Forest-, the
Natural Resources Conservation- and the National Park Services - have
signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Walt Disney Company on
cooperation in land and natural resource management and environmental
education. And following this example, pristine natural areas
everywhere
are being transformed into money-spinning theme parks. At the entrance
visitors are stopped by private security guards and fee collectors and
instead of forests you might find the area plastered with the logos of
Coca Cola, McDonald, KFC and other US corporations. What is often
promoted as benign “ecotourism” is in reality industrial tourism with
hardly any authentic nature left. . . .
Privatization galore
It is disturbing that in tourism-related “public-private partnerships”,
the “private” appears to have gained absolute primacy. Often, these
cooperation agreements result in a weakening of governments’
decision-making power with the dominating private partners
appropriating
public agendas. . . .
[In Yosemite, a FoYV representative was told by National Park Service
planners that she could not see the plans for the park's Lower Yosemite
Falls development because they were paid for by private funds.
Documents
in a Freedom of Information Act request demonstrate the pressure the
private funder and their architect were putting on the Park regarding
this project.]
Common sense tells us that the world’s last nature reserves, important
cultural and religious sites and Indigenous Peoples’ ancestral domains
should be kept free from commercial tourism forces and properly
maintained for public good, now and in future. . . .
But wherever Big Business takes over state property and enterprises,
reports about corruption and fraud abound. [FoYV wants to make clear
its
distinction of Big Business versus the small, locally owned Mom and Pop
business which exist in the Yosemite gateway communities and are for
the
most part protective of Yosemite's and their local natural
environment] . . .
For years already, corporate-led forces have been active in sponsoring
tourism studies and trainings, with the result that tourism-related
knowledge has been increasingly monopolized and stripped of critical
content. . . .
With the power of democratically elected governments and the influence
of international political institutions fading, corporate tourism
forces
are well positioned to continue with their unprecedented attack on the
public domain and expansion of other harmful practices, with little or
no respect for human rights, social welfare and environmental
protection.
Fair trade in tourism?
. . . But notably, all tourist experiences are being traded, including
those that are part of the public domain – natural, cultural and
religious sites and features; rural and indigenous villages and
surrounding commons and so on. Everything is now given monetary value
and thrown onto the global market . . .
I believe there is something fundamentally wrong about such practices
that come along with unfettered trade in tourism - any form of trade:
free or fair. At the heart of the problem seems to me the rampant
erosion of non-material/human values in combination with growing
economic power and corporate culture. And that explains the increasing
ignorance of the fact that all places and things formerly valued as
beautiful, dear, and sacred to local people are now thoughtlessly
sacrificed for tourism, the self-proclaimed “world’s biggest
industry”.
. . . If we accept tourism as trade, are we not abetting the forces of
commodification and privatization? Where is the line to be drawn
between
tradable and non-tradable assets? What are the physical and
non-physical
features that, as a matter of principle, should never be up for sale on
the market? Who has the right to trade what? Who can claim ownership
over the tourism products? . . .
Challenges for civil society
Let me close with a couple of points for the discussion of
strategies:
Firstly, we need to join forces to stop progressive liberalization
[this
refers to "liberalization" as defined in trade issues] and
privatization
and the increasing monopoly control of the tourism industry in the
hands
of transnational and national corporations. Pressure needs to be
increased at all levels to prevent the expansion of the GATS; the
existing agreement should be amended to stop privatization and
deregulation of the tourism sector as well as basic services (e.g.
education, health, water, energy, environmental services).
Secondly, given the bad experiences with regard to partnerships with
Big
Business in tourism, we, as civil society, should take a different
approach and work for the disentanglement and separation of the public
and the private spheres. “Multi-stakeholder” dialogues can be useful,
but it is necessary to draw a clear line between
private/corporate/for-profit interest and public interest. We need
to lobby our governments at all levels to put people’s needs and wishes
at the center of development policies and projects and to regulate the
tourism sector in a way that it will not encroach upon the public
domain. [Public-private partnerships with National Parks and Yosemite
in
particular, are leading to the comodification of the natural and
cultural values of the park and the park experience.]
Moreover, we should support the international campaign for a
corporate-free United Nations because that can help to stop the global
tourism industry from advancing their self-serving interests and
influencing public agendas. As we are focusing on tourism issues, it is
especially important to call for an independent and impartial World
Tourism Organization. The WTO/OMT has just been transformed into a
specialized UN agency even though its anti-democratic procedures and
business machinations are obvious and by no means compatible with the
UN’s role in serving “We the Peoples…”
Thirdly, civil society should continue to clearly represent public
interests in the tourism arena and put emphasis on the support of
grassroots struggles to ward off corporate takeovers for tourism
development. This can be done by publicizing and denouncing the
industry’s unjust and damaging practices, for example. I believe it is
not the task of civil society to assist the tourism industry in the
development and promotion of “corporate social responsibility” policies
and programmes that are based on voluntarism (e.g. codes of conducts,
certification and labeling, fair trading schemes, and social investment
programmes). In this context, we have to clearly distinguish between
the
goals and agendas of (1) initiatives towards “corporate responsibility”
that are generally corporate-led, and (2) the “corporate
accountability”
movement, which takes a clear stance against industry self-regulation
and calls for legally binding frameworks to properly deal with Big
Business.
Too often, voluntary industry initiatives related to tourism
development
have turned out to be shams and a subversion of law and democracy.
Therefore, it is high time that we direct our efforts towards
strengthening democratic control over tourism companies in order to
check and redress their excessive activities. An important step can be
made by joining the burgeoning “corporate accountability” movement that
is vigorously lobbying the UN and its member states to put the right
legal and administrative measures in place to ensure that human, social
and environmental rights are respected by transnational corporations
wherever they operate in the world.
Bangkok, December 2003
------------
tourism investigation & monitoring team (tim-team)
Wild Wilderness
Friends of Yosemite Valley, yojo@batnet.com
The disturbing implications of privatization in the tourism
trade
Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team
Related web sites:
Webpage: http://www.twnside.org.sg/tour.htm
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Webpage: http://www.wildwilderness.org
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www.yosemitevalley.org
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