TY - JOUR
T1 - Tourism and ecological restoration across borders
T2 - a political ecology approach
AU - Clark, Connor
AU - Nyaupane, Gyan P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - This study uses political ecology and social and environmental justice frameworks to examine stakeholder attitudes towards tourism development and ecological restoration in a cross-border context. The purpose of this paper is to develop conceptual frameworks for understanding stakeholder attitudes towards cross-border tourism and ecological restoration that occur in the context of uneven power relations. Data were collected through personal observations, secondary sources such as legal documents and reports, and 56 in-depth interviews and two focus groups with tourism and conservation stakeholders from the US-Mexico border. The findings revealed how abundant social and environmental justice issues, such as unequal social and ecological mobility, access to resources, and power relations impact stakeholder attitudes. This study offers a new conceptual framework that considers socioeconomic, cultural, and religious/spiritual ties to a border landscape, aimed at understanding the injustices related to stakeholder in tourism development and ecological restoration initiatives. The equitable distribution of benefits derived from tourism and landscape restoration is further emphasized in the conceptual framework, as is the need for expanding social and ecological mobility. The paper contributes to the political ecology of cross-border tourism destinations by augmenting social and ecological mobility as a critical component of developing nature-based tourism in border areas.
AB - This study uses political ecology and social and environmental justice frameworks to examine stakeholder attitudes towards tourism development and ecological restoration in a cross-border context. The purpose of this paper is to develop conceptual frameworks for understanding stakeholder attitudes towards cross-border tourism and ecological restoration that occur in the context of uneven power relations. Data were collected through personal observations, secondary sources such as legal documents and reports, and 56 in-depth interviews and two focus groups with tourism and conservation stakeholders from the US-Mexico border. The findings revealed how abundant social and environmental justice issues, such as unequal social and ecological mobility, access to resources, and power relations impact stakeholder attitudes. This study offers a new conceptual framework that considers socioeconomic, cultural, and religious/spiritual ties to a border landscape, aimed at understanding the injustices related to stakeholder in tourism development and ecological restoration initiatives. The equitable distribution of benefits derived from tourism and landscape restoration is further emphasized in the conceptual framework, as is the need for expanding social and ecological mobility. The paper contributes to the political ecology of cross-border tourism destinations by augmenting social and ecological mobility as a critical component of developing nature-based tourism in border areas.
KW - ecological restoration
KW - inequity
KW - political ecology
KW - social and environmental justice
KW - stakeholders
KW - Tourism development
KW - US-Mexico border
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U2 - 10.1080/13683500.2023.2266099
DO - 10.1080/13683500.2023.2266099
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85173786186
SN - 1368-3500
JO - Current Issues in Tourism
JF - Current Issues in Tourism
ER -