The paradox of tourism and the unspoilt environment

Peter George - Technical Director

Sitting on the train into London Waterloo this morning (a rare experience in itself) I found myself reading an article in the Metro about Nicaragua and its emerging tourist appeal as a result of its unspoilt beaches, adventure opportunities and rainforests full of unusual wildlife. The tourist potential of rainforests, this incredibly beautiful but globally diminishing habitat got me thinking about the paradox that presents itself in these situations, and my own experience of dealing with this in the context of EIA. The questions that arise are these: at what point does the unspoilt become spoilt because of our need to see it ‘in the flesh’, what is the carrying capacity of this resource and at what point does tourism development become part of the problem rather than a means to facilitate a solution?

Going back a hundred years, exploring wild and untamed lands was the domain of a few aristocrats with double barrelled names and both the time and financial resources to undertake expeditions to Africa, South America and other remote locations. Their motives were, arguably, centred more around self-promotion among their peers and the lure of big game hunting than any loftier environmental goals. After all, the world was considerably less developed and the population very much smaller (a mere 1.7 billion in 1900 compared with 7.2 billion today). There just weren’t anything like the pressures on natural resources, habitats and species that there are today. The Amazon rainforest would have been largely untouched and lions, tigers, elephants and other majestic species now teetering close to the edge of extinction would have roamed the African plains in vast numbers. How incredible it must have been to see that.

So what does this have to do with Nicaragua and its rainforests today? Globally, rainforests have suffered catastrophic devastation as a result of being cleared to make way for plantations and trees felled to meet the world’s seemingly insatiable appetite for hardwoods and other exotic materials and derivatives. And this devastation is not just restricted to rainforests. The seas around our islands are being decimated of fish and coral reefs are dying from bleaching as a result of rising water temperatures which in turn is linked back to climate change. Our fragile earth is under siege and so when small pockets of ‘untouched’ and ‘unspoilt’ habitats are found, we seem to feel a need to go and see them, perhaps to look back to a time when we were not so apparently hell bent on destroying the resources that breathe life into our planet and sustain our very existence. Which brings me back to the paradox I mentioned at the beginning. I have been very fortunate in my life and career to have experienced some incredible places around the world, from diving on the Great Barrier Reef, hiking through the rainforests of Borneo, to getting up close and personal with the amazing wildlife in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, to name but a few. But it was while working on a project in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) back in the late 1990’s that the issue of tourism potential and the unspoilt environment really came to my attention. The consultancy I was working for at the time won the contract for the EIA of a proposed runway extension at the main airport. At that time, only small 42 seat turbo-prop aircraft could land due to the short length of the runway. The plan was to extend it to accommodate larger 72 seat turbo-props and small jet aircrafts. The project was part of a wider redevelopment of the airport which included construction of a new terminal building. The existing one was, as I found out when I went out there, an old supermarket building from another island that had been taken down brick by brick and rebuilt at the airport. An interesting example of material re-use to be sure and somewhat amusing to experience going through customs and putting your bags on what was previously the check-out counter!

I was fortunate enough to spend 5 weeks on the islands and, in addition to project managing the EIA, undertook scuba surveys of the coral reefs and terrestrial ecology surveys. The island on which the airport is located was home to a diverse flora and fauna and fascinating habitats. There was also a small community centred around one of the idyllic white sand bays, which included local artisans and some charter boat operators, sailing being a very popular activity in the BVI. The problems arose from the plans for the airport. It was to be made significantly larger meaning it required more land and therefore encroachment in to the surrounding habitats. Furthermore, the extension to the runway required the infilling of another small bay. The land reclamation was to use sand dredged from nearby channels in between the islands resulting in at least temporary loss of habitat and impacts on fish and shellfish populations. Although ultimately the EIA concluded that the environmental impacts in the longer term would not be significant and extensive mitigation was proposed to address both short and long term effects, the question of tourism potential was one that vexed the team and myself. In consulting with tourism officials and local companies, the BVI’s ‘unspoilt’ islands with their rich flora and fauna, not to mention the surrounding coral reefs and excellent scuba diving, was cited again and again as a reason for bringing in more tourists and hence justified the expansion of the airport. However, what seemed to be lost on them was the fact that in order to do this it required some of those habitats, plants and animals to be destroyed. Furthermore, given the potential numbers of additional tourists anticipated as a result of the increased capacity of the airport, it became apparent that there would be insufficient hotel rooms to accommodate them. Of course, the solution would be to build more hotels, taking up more land and consequently destroying even more of the very thing that is one of the island’s main tourist attractions. And so the question arose as to how much development could be accommodated before the islands could no longer claim to be ‘unspoilt’. It was one that was never answered, at least not while I was there, and had been conveniently scoped out of the EIA before the consultants were commissioned.

Although I returned briefly to the BVI a couple of years later, I have not been again since the airport was completed. Aside from having an office on a palm fringed beach for five weeks, one of the things I enjoyed most about my time out there was driving and hiking around the main island of Tortola taking in the breath-taking scenery and experiencing the tranquillity of isolated bays and the incredible wildlife. I can see the attraction and can understand why those in charge of tourism in the territory could see the economic benefits of bringing in more people, although historically the BVI has been the most prosperous economy in the Caribbean thanks in large part to its principal industry of financial services. It may seem selfish and even a bit hypocritical having had the opportunity to experience it myself, but I don’t think we should be developing tourism based simply on somewhere being unspoilt or untouched by human hand. Building even one small eco-friendly resort inevitably means human interaction and potentially negative impacts unless very carefully managed. So I say let’s leave the unspoilt the way it is. This is the paradox, how can something continue to be considered unspoilt once we have built hotels and all their associated infrastructure to allow all of us environmental voyeurs to see it and interact with it.

As for the BVI, latest figures suggest visitor numbers have declined in recent years, mainly due to the recession, but it’s also worth noting that more than half of visitors still arrive by cruise ship and as such are very transient. They also do not require hotel accommodation on the islands which I suppose is a good thing from an environmental perspective. One wonders then whether the expansion of the airport was ever really needed and have some of the island’s natural habitats now been lost forever based on a potential that was never really there.

What's missing from DIY environmental management systems?

Martin Gibson - Head of Operations

This article was originally posted on 2degrees - https://www.2degreesnetwork.com/ on 07.03.14

I once led a project that helped businesses to come to terms with environmental issues. This was back in the 1990’s when most businesses didn't deal with environmental issues in their day-to-day operations. However, things were changing and the Welsh Office had set up a project to help lead the way.

One of the things we helped with was the, then new, idea of environmental management. A do-it-yourself guide to environmental management systems had been released and we asked some of the businesses we were helping if they wanted to have a go at using it.

The guide was easy to read and well set out. It told companies what they needed to do to put in an environmental management system. As part of our project, we gave a number of companies the guide, asked them to get started and arranged a visit for a few weeks later. All of the project leaders in the companies were keen to get started.

When we went back a few weeks later, we were disappointed to find that none of the companies had made much progress. We went through the first steps with them, explained how to do things and arranged to meet them again a few weeks later.

You may not be surprised to know that on the second visit, the companies had made progress on the issues that we’d covered with them but hadn't gone any further. We soon came to realise that the do-it-yourself guide told them what to do but now how to do it.

Since then, I have taken to heart the message of having to help people with the ‘how-to-do-it’. However, not everyone needs to know how to do something. Some people already know how to do the things that they are being asked to do. It may seem obvious to you but it took me a while to recognise this as competence. Nowadays, we are often asked to demonstrate that someone has the skills to be competent in a particular task or approach. This was rarely asked 20 years ago (or at least, it was rarely asked in such direct terms).

If someone doesn't have competence, it is imperative to provide how-to-do-it information to help them with what they need to do. This can be through formal training but is often communicated through written guides or informal coaching. Putting this type of guidance into written information is not always easy. However, when I was in charge of the now defunct Envirowise programme, I tried to ensure that the guides would be useful for people who weren’t competent but were capable. On the whole, I think we did a pretty good job. If you would like an electronic copy of one of the Envirowise guides on Environmental Management Systems to judge for yourself, please email me. The guides are available for free but harder to find than they used to be.

Temple helps judge Sir Peter Parker Award at the 2014 Sustainable City Awards

Martin Gibson - Head of Operations

Temple supports the Sustainable City Awards by supplying one of the judges for the Sir Peter Parker Award. We are delighted to see so many companies embracing sustainability and it is great to see many of them gaining recognition for their efforts. Of course, they will also have better businesses because of what they have achieved through pursuing sustainability.

Congratulations to Nampak Plastics Ltd for winning the Sir Peter Parker Award for Business Leadership 2014 at the Sustainable City Awards on Thursday evening. The award recognises that Nampak has successfully set new standards of innovation, performance and leadership for sustainability.

Nampak won a tightly fought contest because they have demonstrated real environmental and business benefits in developing a new plastic milk bottle. By starting at the design stage, they have been able to reduce material use by 20% and increase the amount of recycled material used in the new bottle. Nampak produce around 2 billion milk bottles every year. The new bottle would reduce the overall amount of resin used in milk bottles by 10,000 tonnes each year if it were to become the bottle of choice.

Nampak’s new bottle has been made easy for consumers to use and is, of course, fully recyclable. By helping to promote recycling and using a high level of recycled material, Nampak are leading the move towards a circular economy.

The Sir Peter Parker Award for Business Leadership is drawn from the business winners and runners-up of the twelve categories of the Sustainable City Awards. The range of activities that companies are taking to address sustainability is considerable. To demonstrate this, the Awards include categories for finance, resource conservation, food, building and fashion, amongst others. This year there were also awards for entrepreneurship for both businesses and social enterprises. The full range of the awards and the winners can be found on the Sustainable City Awards web site.

ISO 50001:2011, the new Energy Management Systems

Paul Downing - Temple Associate

Paul Downing, a Temple Associate, explains the new energy management system standard and its benefits. He also outlines how this can be used to apply a systematic approach to addressing the European Code of Conduct for data centres.  

ISO 50001:2011, Energy Management Systems (EnMS) is a new voluntary International Standard that establishes a framework for large and small businesses to improve the way they manage energy. Improved energy performance can provide financial benefits for an organization by maximizing the use of its energy resources and energy-related assets, thus reducing both energy consumption and cost. It also helps to provide evidence to customers that are demanding improved environmental performance from their suppliers.

The new standard is based on the tried and tested plan-do-check-act, (Demming cycle) which is used for many of the other standards such as ISO 14001:2004 (environmental management systems), so it can be easily integrated into these existing systems.

Although an energy management system (EnMS) can be part of an environmental management system (EMS), having a dedicated energy management system compliant to ISO 50001 can help deliver real benefits to organisations wishing to make savings on probably one of their most expensive resource costs, by providing a focus on oil, gas, electricity and general energy use. The EMS in contrast might focus on other regulatory issues such as waste production or chemical use, which, whilst important, do not have the same financial implications as energy.

Implementing an energy management system certified to ISO 50001, requires you to determine energy baseline(s), identify significant energy uses and energy performance indicators as well as structuring objectives and targets to drive down energy use via a systemised approach. There are also specific clauses relating to design (refurbishment projects, new build) and procurement, including specifying energy purchasing requirements for new assets or services.

The European Code of Conduct for data centres is a voluntary standard for data centre operators and owners which promotes energy efficiency best practice. The code is voluntary but includes many elements of energy efficiency which, if implemented, can help with energy savings across a number of KPI's within the data centre environment. These all help to drive down the PUE figure (Power Usage Efficiency) which is one of the main metrics of data centre energy management.

The code includes metrics related to supply and return temperatures, ASHRAE, CRAC unit temperature set-points and all other parameters all designed to optimise energy efficiency in the data centre environment. There is a natural fit with this CoC and ISO 50001 and the requirement of data centres to provide hosting in a most energy efficient way as possible.

ISO 50001 can be applied to any energy consuming industry in manufacturing or industry but as with most other systems there are some industries that seem to benefit from the standardised approach more than others. If you are looking to implement an energy minimisation project or change management programme please contact Temple to discuss your options further.

Temple does Climate Week - Part 2

by Robert Slatcher (Principal Consultant) & Sam Dawson (Graduate Consultant)

This is the subsequent edition of “Temple does Climate Week”; a blog describing the activities in which Temple Group participated in during Climate Week, encompassing particular causes and effects of climate change and the small things we can all do in everyday life to help combat this issue.

Thursday – Energy

The main focus of Thursday was a fracking debate. It is believed that trillions of cubic feet of shale gas is recoverable from underneath parts of northern England, which could significantly boost domestic oil production and drive gas prices down. It is reported that the US and Canada are generating electricity from fracking at half the CO₂ emissions of coal. This debate included heated discussions with arguments posed about whether the act of fracking was shifting the focus and monetary resources away from the effort to decarbonise the economy; distracting the attention of government and large energy firms away from investing in renewable sources and encouraging reliance on fossil fuels. The need to address fuel poverty was also a hot topic, with both teams arguing the case well. The event culminated in a tie between those for and those against fracking… the debate continues.

Friday - the 1 hour Challenge

Following on from Thursday’s fracking debate a film entitled “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” was shown. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half and food by 80%. The film looks at how a country has already managed an energy crisis and how they adapted without readily available alternative fuel sources. Can we draw inspiration from this to look at an alternative approach to our future attitude to peak oil? Do we change how we fundamentally live our lives or do we continue in the pursuit of hydrocarbons?

The final day of Climate Week also saw a selection of Temple employees from various sectors in the company competing in the Climate Week 1 hour Challenge.

This year’s Climate Week Challenge was “Get us out of hot water: come up with an idea that helps people use less energy heating buildings and water.”

The hour started with a discussion about the challenge, bringing about ideas such as developing non-diuretic coffee beans to reduce toilet use and hence minimise water usage; putting solar panels on the moon to enhance capture of suns radiation; Use of graphene to insulate buildings (this is an extremely strong material made up of densely packed carbon atoms, it could be described as a one-atom thick layer of graphite); use of the desert to store heat; and use of PV celled glass in office windows.

But the winner was “Cycling for future resilience” this is an idea whereby two bike dynamos are attached to each wheel of the bicycle (one to heat water and one ‘chargeable’ battery pack). Office workers would cycle to work, charging the dynamos on their commute. The dynamo powering the heating filament to heat the water can be used for the morning tea/coffee as employees get to the office; this would reduce the energy used heating water in the morning. The battery pack can be removed from the bike and plugged into the mains at the office; which would supplement the office’s energy supply to heat the building and hence reduce reliance on the main grid.

Stage 2 of the idea was that the bikes could be hooked into an office unit/rack; workers can utilise these bikes during breaks and can supplement energy generation at the same time.

Stage 3 was an idea for a “future resilience Box” (FRB) to be fitted to the offices mains supply; this would monitor both the energy used and energy generated for each appliance by each employee – this could be used to inform a reward scheme whereby the employee who generates the most energy is rewarded with an extra day in lieu for example. The box would also be able to calculate how much energy is offset and saved in order to raise awareness of energy use amongst employees.

As we are all aware Climate Change cannot be battled in a week, but we hope we have inspired you to grow your own food, reduce your carbon footprint and make even one small change to your lifestyle that can be applied all year round.

Temple does Climate Week - Part 1

by Robert Slatcher (Principal Consultant) & Sam Dawson (Graduate Consultant)

The fourth annual national Climate Week campaign ran between 3-9 March. The aspiration for climate week is to develop a long-term shift in societal attitudes towards climate change. The campaign encourages individuals and organisations to promote activities during the week that raise awareness of the issues, challenges and opportunities in relation to decarbonising our society. Temple organised a range of activities throughout the week with each day focusing on a particular issue. The table tennis room in the office became the climate week hub for the week.

                                                      Monday - Sustainable Food

Approximately 20% (2.2 tonnes of CO₂) of an individual’s personal carbon footprint in the UK comes from the food we eat. Factors that contribute to the carbon generated by food relate to the production process, processing, packaging, transportation, the seasonality and the storage. By eating in a manner that aligns with reducing the carbon required at each stage we can make a significant change to our personal footprint.

Climate Week kicked off with Eric Steltzer presenting on how to grow your own food and maintain an allotment. There was great interest from the 24 individuals that attended and plenty of questions at the end. Growing your own produce can significantly reduce the carbon associated with packaging and transportation. You are also more likely to grow seasonal produce thereby avoiding the use of energy to generate man made climatic conditions to grow out of season. Each employee that attended the event received their own pea seedling to inspire and kick start their own food collection.

At lunchtime a selection of low carbon food, prepared by Temple staff over the weekend, was set out. The aim was to use seasonal, local produce to reduce the carbon intensity of the food. The selection included a Kale and spinach tart; parsnip and apple soup; beetroot brownies; locally sourced cheese – the “Brighton Blue”; home-grown sprouts; and a kale, melon & orange smoothie.

Tuesday – Waste

The challenge for Tuesday was to produce zero waste. Although recycling saves energy (goods manufactured from recycled materials typically use less energy than those from virgin materials) waste prevention is the ultimate aspiration. This is because it is even more effective at saving energy (less energy is needed to extract, transport and process raw materials and to manufacture products). Reducing the demand for energy results in fewer fossil fuels being burnt and less CO₂ is emitted to the atmosphere as a result.

Reduction in excess printing and paper waste was attempted through scowling posters of a member of the office environment team positioned over the printers; waste prevention and recycling of paper allows fewer trees to be felled and hence the carbon sequestration process (whereby trees absorb CO2 and store it in their wood) can continue and be maintained.

Staff were encouraged to bring in their own food from home in tupperware containers; as waste prevention and recycling of organic matter can reduce the amount of methane produced during decomposition through the diversion of waste to landfill. Packaging waste is one of Temple’s largest waste sources and hence preventing this would significantly reduce Temple’s carbon footprint.

A Bags for Life appeal was also implemented in support of a drive to reduce Temple’s plastic waste; a significant waste contributor are plastic bags from supermarkets. Temple now holds a small collection of bags for life that staff can take to the shops at lunchtime; this will significantly reduce plastic waste.

Wednesday – Transport

Transport is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making up approximately one quarter of EU GHG emissions; this is only second to emissions from the energy sector. Whilst GHG emissions from other sectors are generally in decline (falling by 15% between 1990 and 2007); emissions from transport are increasing (rising by 36% in the same period) and are expected to continue to increase despite improved vehicle efficiency.

The importance of reducing GHG emissions was communicated through the results of Temple’s commuting survey and the sustainability transport results. This enabled staff to visualise the environmental effects of their commute to work and were able to discuss more sustainable transport methods. Temple’s total annual commuting distance equated to 980,000km (more than the distance to complete a return trip to the moon,770,000km, and the same as the total length of all railways operational in China in 2012).

Carol Somper presented a lunchtime talk about energy efficiency entitled “Energy Efficiency - is it all just hot air?” In the talk Carol explained the huge energy consumption and ultimately cost saving that could be achieved through a range of measures. The talk drew upon various pieces of work Temple has undertaken to assess and reduce the energy use within other organisations.

Keep an eye out next week for part 2 of “Temple does climate week”. In this edition we will further discuss how energy use contributes to Climate Change in addition to the outcomes of a debate revolving around a highly controversial topic and the finale of the week – the Climate Week challenge.

The Supreme Court set an important precedent in regards to Noise Nuisance

Dani Fiumicelli 

Technical Director

If you move into an area with an activity that could be considered a nuisance, should the nuisance be allowed to continue? This is a question that often arises but the Supreme Court has now given an answer.

COVENTRY & ORS v LAWRENCE & ANOR (2014) [2014] UKSC 13

This case involved claims of noise nuisance from motor sport activities. In 2006 the appellant (Lawrence) had moved to a bungalow near a stadium, constructed in 1976, where speedway and stock-car racing had taken place and where a motocross track operated at the rear of the stadium. Planning permissions covering the speedway racing and motocross activities had been granted, while a certificate of lawful use covered the stock-car racing. At the High Court the judge heard competing evidence from noise experts for both parties, the stadium’s expert preferring to compare the motorsport noise to fixed benchmark criteria, and the complainant’s expert favouring the comparison of the motor sport noise to the existing noise climate. The High Court judge gave considerable weight to the subjective evidence from the complainants and decided that the noise coming from the stadium and track amounted to a nuisance. But the judge's finding was reversed at the Court of Appeal. This caused the following issues to be presented to the Supreme Court for decision:

1. Did the fact that the stadium and motocross had operated for a relatively long time give them a prescriptive right to cause noise nuisance? 
2. Did the operators of the stadium and motocross have a defence to say they were there first i.e. the complainants had "come to the nuisance" ? 
3. Should the use of the premises for stock car racing, speedway and motocross be taken into account when assessing the character of the locality as part of the appraisal of nuisance? 
4. Could the grant of planning permission affect the question of whether the permitted use was a nuisance? 
5. What was the approach to be adopted by a court when deciding whether to grant an injunction to restrain a nuisance or whether to award damages instead?

The Supreme Court decided that:

1. It was possible to obtain by prescription a right to commit a noise nuisance, but in this case the necessary test to establish that right had not been satisfied. Because it was not enough to show that the activity which created the noise had been carried on for 20 years. It was not even enough to show that the activity had created a noise for 20 years. What had to be established was that the activity had created a nuisance over 20 years.
2. It was no defence to argue that the complainant came to the nuisance. Although it might well be a defence, at least in some circumstances, for a defendant to argue that, as it was only because the complainant had changed the use of, or built on, his land that the defendant's pre-existing activity was claimed to have become a nuisance, the claim should fail. 
3.  A defendant, faced with a claim that his activities gave rise to a nuisance, could rely on those activities as constituting part of the character of the locality, but only to the extent that they did not constitute a nuisance. Similarly, any other activity in the neighbourhood could properly be taken into account when assessing the character of the neighbourhood, to the extent that it did not give rise to an actionable nuisance or was otherwise unlawful. 
4. The existence of planning permission would normally be of no defence to  a claim of nuisance . Among other things, it was wrong in principle that, through the grant of a planning permission, a planning authority should be able to deprive a property-owner of a right to object to what would otherwise be a nuisance, without providing him with compensation, when there was no provision in the planning legislation which suggested such a possibility.
5. The court's power to award damages in lieu of an injunction involved a classic exercise of discretion, which should not, as a matter of principle, be fettered, although the prima facie position was that an injunction should be granted. 

The Supreme Court’s decision reinforces and clarifies some important principles in regard to the legal notion of nuisance; not least of which is that the often criticised variable (even erratic) nature of the concept lends it to being flexible enough to cover a far wider range of scenarios that could ever be sensibly prescribed by a more doctrinaire legal mechanism.

The full judgement can  be seen at: 

http://supremecourt.uk/decided-cases/docs/UKSC_2012_0076_Judgment.pdf