Jim Macbeth

From Thursday through Sunday this week the Australian Grand Prix will take over Melbourne’s Albert Park, bringing with it the glamour of fast cars, grid girls and Formula One drivers Raikkonen, Alonso, Hamilton, Webber and … noise and vibration. Which is strange, because public spaces such as national and urban parks, marine parks and coastal areas have traditionally been understood as an escape from the noise and pressure of urban life, used for appreciative recreation, tranquillity and conservation of the environment. While authors on The Conversation have suggested a need for more people in parks, the research of my co-authors and I indicates a problem with the rising tide of events that see a concentration of users who are motorised, on mountain bikes or part of running events. Does the impact of these activities on our environment and community outweigh the benefits?

Animals are a mainstay of global tourism development. They’re consumed in fishing and hunting, and used as part of “experiences” - horses in trail rides, marine mammals in theme parks, whale sharks for us to swim with. In Sea World USA, orcas (killer whales) are kept for the entertainment of the public. We deprive them of their liberty to do this, but it is rarely questioned – except, ironically, when a captive orca kills or injures their human “trainer”, or when animal rights organisations launch a specific campaign on the issue. Recently, an article on The Conversation stated: Because animals don’t have the strong protections that come from legal personhood, we don’t give their interests serious consideration when we make decisions about habitat destruction. A similar problem occurs in tourism, where the denial of personhood,or failure to recognise the individual, leads to a lack of care for the rights and welfare of animals, even in so-called ecotourism.