The importance of environmental auditing and environmental indicators in islands

One of the major threats arising from any tourism development on islands concerns over-development in fragile landscapes. In this case, there are a number of environmental management techniques that can be used to minimize the effects of development. One of the techniques associated with environmental management programmes is that of environmental auditing. The purpose of this management tool is to measure the actual and potential environmental impacts in the ecosystems. Taking into consideration the limited and sensitive landscapes on islands, in conjunction with the attempts of destination authorities to increase the tourism activities in these areas, then such techniques are considered important. The aim of this paper is to outline the procedures by which environmental auditing could be used to select the appropriate environmental indicators. In general terms, however, there are a number of lists comprising environmental indicators. These indicators are general in nature, which sometimes may over-emphasize one area of the environment and over-simplify another. In using environmental auditing to identify environmental indicators, impacts on the islands can be precisely identified and the potential risks can be minimized. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.