Measurement of carbon dioxide emissions for eco-tourism in Malaysia

Abstract

Tourism sector is one of the main sources of carbon emission. The transportation used in tourism is the major contributor when considering all the factors in the tourism industry for energy consumption and carbon emission. Malaysia emphasizes ecotourism for tourism development. There are 42 recreational forest areas situated in East Coast Economic Region (ECER) of Malaysia. The aim of this study was to measure the carbon emissions from Sekayu recreational forest in Terengganu by tourists. The study highlights the considerable issues and policies of carbon emissions in the forest by ecotourism activities. The study considers only the carbon emissions from transportation sector. Local tourists' vehicles have been used to measure carbon emissions. The study shows that carbon emissions from buses and motorcycles are lower than those of small car (compact-size) and big car (family size). The study suggests that some initiatives can be taken for low carbon emissions in this ecotourism destination. Those are low-carbon technologies, sustainable tourism, low-carbon tourism consumption, paid carbon taxes, government and tour operator initiatives, institutional facilities development and tourism friendly traffic system. The ecotourism destinations, government, tour-operators and tourists are trying to reduce carbon emissions by improving and changing their transportations usage and other service systems. Finally, Malaysian government should develop linkage with international organizations for developing low-carbon ecotourism in ECER. © 2012 Asian Network for Scientific Information.