Tourism throughout the world raises environmental issues that are often concerned with conflicting rights and responsibilities: the inherent right of mankind to travel, the no-less inherent right of indigenous people to guard their environmental heritage, and the responsibility of governments - local, national or (in the unique case of Antarctica) international - to protect environments over which they exercise stewardship. Additionally, the presence of international commercial enterprises, especially marine and other mass transport modes, represent unique governance challenges.This book deals mainly with environmental issues and the management implications arising from polar tourism, one of the fastest-growing sectors of world tourism. However, many of the issues discussed here arise no less urgently in temperate and tropical wilderness areas, and indeed in any region where sensitive environments are subjected to mass tourism. The principles and guidelines discussed here are of interest and practical use in tourism studies generally.

Polar Ecology is one ecologist's attempt to sum up plant, animal and environmental relationships in the polar regions. Ecology grabs ecologists in different ways. I was grabbed in Antarctica by Adelie penguins, incubating contentedly at - 20 DegreesC with unmelting snow on their backs, and by minute black insects basking at lOoC in tufts of moss, while winds at - 15 DegreesC swept past unheeded. Some time later I saw snow buntings sheltering under Canadian eaves at - 30 DegreesC, and wondered (as I still wonder) how so tiny an organism maintains body temperature against so sharp a gradient. The subtitle of this book, if it had one, would be ' ... an environmental approach'. My interests centre squarelyon plants and animals, but it is their responses to the environment-the physical conditions in which they find themselves-and effects of environmental constraints on their communities, that intrigue me most. In a small book, this has left little room for other important aspects of ecology-for example, the production and process ecology that currently preoccupy field researchers, and the biogeography and evolution of polar ecosystems that still provoke argument and speculation. My approach may provide background for other aspects of ecology, both polar and world-wide. I hope that the in-text citations and end-of-chapter bibliographies will help students to find their way into the broader fields beyond.

The political significance, scientific interest and outstanding natural beauty of the cold, exotic Polar regions are enticing more and more curious travellers to venture to these remote locations in search of unique experiences and recreational activities. Significant improvements in transport technology have made isolated places more accessible, and tourists now overwhelmingly outnumber residents in most Polar destinations. This book examines Polar tourism in its environmental, economic and cultural settings and explores the potential for growth as well as essential management for sustainability.