Presentation made by Prof Robyn Bushell on the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas - Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group at the World Conservation Congress

1. Sustainable Tourism and
Protected Areas
IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas
Tourism & Protected Areas Specialist Group (TAPAS group)
Photographs © Anna Spenceley

2. Tourism and Protected Areas
Specialist (TAPAS) Group
Vision: We envision a future where tourism in protected areas has a
positive impact on biodiversity, and where tourism is
environmentally, socially and economically sustainable
Objectives:
• Provide strategic advice on sustainable tourism in protected
areas
• Strengthen capacity and effectiveness of protected area
managers, policy makers and others
• Develop and disseminate knowledge on tourism &
protected areas
• Provide an interactive forum for people working on protected2
areas and tourism

3. Institutional structure of TAPAS
IUCN Program on Protected Areas
World Commission on Protected Areas
Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group
Chair & Executive Full members (WCPA Members)
Committee & Associates (not WCPA members)
Working Groups
Membership Knowledge
Linkages and Capacity
conferences Development and
building
Communications Dissemination
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4. Membership – July 2012
• Membership: 229 members from 69 countries
• Full members are WCPA members and associates are not
Government,
Student, 8.7%
31.4%
Consultant,
39.7%
Institutional Protected area
authority, 27.5%
affiliations of
members
Academia/ Private sector
research/ tourism, 27.1%
education, 46.7%
Non-government
organization, 4
39.3%

5. TAPAS executive committee
• Dr Anna Spenceley - Chair
• Dr Glen Hvengaard and Professor
Ralf Buckley - Knowledge
development and dissemination
• Professor Steve McCool - Capacity
building
• Professor Robyn Bushell - Heritage
and conferences
• Dr Elizabeth Halpenny -
Membership
• Ron Mader - Communications
• Giulia Carbone – IUCN Secretariat
focal point 5

6. Action Plan 2010-14
Institutional strengthening of TAPAS
• Membership
• networking and partnerships
• Fundraising
Develop and disseminate knowledge
• tourism concessions manual
• revise 2002 Best Practice guidelines
• materials for PA managers/policy makers
• peer reviewed journal special editions
• linkages between stakeholder groups (e.g. public and private sector)
• evidence-based research (e.g. governance; impacts; ecosystems services;
economic valuation of tourism in PAs, visitation data; impact monitoring)
• online materials (portals), publications, meetings
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7. Action Plan 2010-14
Capacity building
• identify training needs
• develop and implement training programs (PA managers; private sector etc)
• develop learning platforms
• enhance networks of PA managers/policy makers through TAPAS
Enhance capacity of WCPA / IUCN in tourism
• Provide technical assistance when requested to commissions, SGs, TFs (and
visa versa)
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8. For more information
Online membership form: www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q69N3PG
Website:
www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/wcpa/wcpa_what/wcpa_capacit
y/wcpa_tourismtf/
Wiki: planeta.wikispaces.com/TAPAS
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Tourism-and-Protected-
Areas-Specialist-Group/122961127797095
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