Vatican calls for sustainable tourism that protects biodiversity

(June 29, 2010) A properly organized tourism is an important source of development and welfare for many populations, but its impact on regions can also cause serious environmental damage, and hence tourism cannot be exempt from protecting biodiversity. The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People made the point in its annual message for World Tourism Day 2010 which will be marked on September 27. The message released on Monday has as its theme, “Tourism and Biodiversity.” The message spoke of phenomenal growth in both international and internal tourism, saying the industry can help contribute positively to cultural heritage and the environment. The pontifical council asserted that tourism cannot relieve itself of its responsibility to defend biodiversity, explaining that this sector's development inevitably needs to be accompanied by the principles of sustainability and respect for biological diversity. In this regard, the Vatican’s message said that the Church "has a responsibility towards creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere.” “In so doing, she must defend not only earth, water and air as gifts of creation that belong to everyone. She must above all protect mankind from self-destruction." Church teaching reiterates insistently the responsibility of the human being in the preservation of an integral and healthy environment for all, from the conviction that the "care for the environment represents a challenge for all of humanity. It is a matter of a common and universal duty, that of respecting a common good," the Vatican’s message for World Tourism Day said.