Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 743–761, 2002  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0160-7383/02/$22.00 www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures PII: S0160-7383(01)00087-1 BIODIVERSITY AND TOURISM Impacts and Interventions Rene ´ van der Duim Wageningen University, The Netherlands Janine Caalders Buiten Consultancy, The Netherlands Abstract: This paper sets a framework for intervention in the relationship between biodiv- ersity and tourism against the background of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is argued that intervention cannot and should not only be based on considerations of measur- able impacts of tourism on biodiversity alone. This action should also be weighed against arguments of legitimacy, feasibility, and effectiveness of its various types. Currently, feasibility seems to be the main principle on which interventions are based. As most instruments are non-compulsory, they are effective only to a limited extent. For reasons of legitimacy, the position of small-scale entrepreneurs should receive more attention in international and national policy debates. Keywords: biodiversity, interventions, sustainable development.  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Re ´sume ´: Cet article e ´tablit un cadre pour l’intervention dans la relation entre la biodivers- ite ´ et le tourisme dans le contexte de la Convention sur la Diversite ´ Biologique. On soutient que l’intervention ne peut pas et ne devrait pas e ˆtre base ´e seulement sur des conside ´rations des impacts mesurables du tourisme sur la biodiversite ´. Il faudrait peser aussi la le ´gitimite ´, la faisabilite ´ et l’efficacite ´ des diffe ´rentes sortes d’interventions. Actuellement, c’est la faisabil- ite ´ qui semble e ˆtre le principe maı ˆtre sur lequel sont base ´es les interventions. Puisque la plupart des instruments ne sont pas obligatoires, ils ne sont efficaces qu’a ` un degre ´ limite ´. Pour des raisons de le ´gitimite ´, la situation des entrepreneurs a ` petite e ´chelle devraient rece- voir plus d’attention dans les de ´bats de politique nationale et internationale. Mots-cle ´s: biodi- versite ´, interventions, de ´veloppement durable.  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION Tourism has long been considered a “clean industry”, without any negative effects on the environment worthy of mention (Bundesamt fu ¨r Naturschutz 1997). However, this image is now outdated. Most par- ties are aware of the possible negative impacts and see the need for action (UNEP 2000). At the same time, tourism is able to contribute to a growing awareness of the value of nature (Urry 1992) and, hence, Rene ´ van der Duim is Lecturer at the Department of Environmental Studies (Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands. Email: <rene.vanderduim@users.rpv.wau.nl>). His research focuses on the relation between tourism and sustainable development, especially in the Netherlands and Costa Rica. Janine Caalders is Partner in BUITEN Consultancy, Utrecht, the Netherlands, a research group working in the fields of urban, rural and regional development and tourism. She is currently completing a PhD thesis on rural tourism develop- ment in Europe. 743