Tourism and sustainability at a crossroads in Shiretoko UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in Japan

ABSTRACT

Sensitive natural environments of World Natural Heritage Sites (WNHS) are prone to damage from anthropogenic stressors including tourism. This article analyzes the case of Shiretoko Peninsula in Japan and identifies several challenges for natural heritage tourism. Shiretoko Peninsula is known for the connectivity between rich marine and terrestrial ecosystems symbolized by the formation of seasonal sea ice and the occurrence of several endangered species. However, the natural environment remains fragmented and visitor increase creates new pressure on the fragile ecosystems. Based on a visitor survey, multiple stakeholder interviews, and participant observation, this study identified problems such as low stakeholder awareness of ongoing environmental change and fragmentation of ecosystems in the WNHS area, emergence of tourism and ocular consumption of wildlife as novel stressors, lack of effective science communication skills in guides, and inadequate utilization of visitor centers. In addition, inadequate legal protection of endangered species, prevalence of a species control approach in the local management, and a lack of multilingual skills among local guides affect the site. This situation necessitates an open and critical dialogue between ecological experts, heritage managers, local inhabitants, and tourists, as well as a holistic understanding of the complex challenges affecting the natural environment of the place.

KEYWORDS:

• World natural heritage site
• Shiretoko Peninsula
• stakeholder dynamics
• tourism pressure
• vulnerability

Acknowledgment

We wish to thank Yuichi Aoki of Waseda University Research Institute of Manifesto for preparing the graphical representations of the questionnaire survey. We also extend our thanks to the Editor and the two Reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions for improving the paper.

A part of this research was funded by the Center for Tourism Research, Wakayama University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Japanese public documents usually count ‘footfalls’ rather than ‘visitors.’

2 This facility is used for refreshment breaks during winter guided tours so the actual number of people coming to visit the facility to learn about Shiretoko may be even lower.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Wakayama University: [grant number CTR Research Project Support Program].

Notes on contributors

Abhik Chakraborty

Abhik Chakraborty (PhD) is currently Associate Professor at the Faculty of Tourism, Wakayama University, Japan. His research interests include mountains, geological time, the Anthropocene, global environmental change, UNESCO WNHS, and eco/other forms of nature-based tourism in natural heritage landscapes. He is also engaged in exploring the role of qualitative research in understanding nonhuman counterparts and complex environmental problems. He has written several papers on these issues and was the lead editor for the co-authored volume ‘Natural Heritage of Japan’ (Springer, 2018). His other notable passions are mountaineering, trail running, and landscape photography. Scopus ID https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57209847221

Takeshi Takenaka

Takeshi Takenaka (PhD) is a renowned fish-owl ecologist who has studied ecosystems of Hokkaido for more than three decades. Currently, he runs his own independent research organization, the Fish Owl Institute, in Hokkaido. His research interests include fish-owl conservation, ecosystem management in national parks, restoration of natural forests, and stream ecology. He has recently been a contributor to ‘Biodiversity Conservation using Umbrella Species-Blakiston’s Fish Owl and Red-Crowned Crane (Springer, 2018)’ and his conservation work has also been reported in international media (The Guardian).