Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

RECREATIONAL NATURE MANAGEMENT AND ARCTIC TOURISM AS A NEW TREND TOWARDS STRATEGY OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARCTIC COUNTRIES

D.V. Sevastyanov, E.M. Korostelev and L. F. Shitova

Abstract

This work is primarily concerned with the issues and prospects for recreational nature management and tourism development in the Arctic region of the world. In 1996, the Arctic zone countries – Russia, the USA, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Finland – signed the Ottawa Declaration and formed the Arctic Council with a view to developing a joint program to implement the regional sustainable development. At present, Russia, the United States, Canada, and the Nordic countries defend their economic and political interests in the Arctic. Also, China and Japan demonstrate their growing interest in the Arctic nature management. Thus, in the new century, the Arctic is becoming the scene of a special collective economic interest and international cooperation in the field of ecological safety of the region which should be enhanced by the development of sustainable Arctic nature management. As for recreational tourism development, it could only be achieved in conjunction with creation of a system of socio-economic centers and transport infrastructure in the Russian Arctic. Arctic cruise tourism should gain stable economic grounds in innovative programs of integrated economic development of the natural resources of the Arctic territories.