Environmental and Security Issues Posed by Marine Tourism to Sri Lanka’s Marine Ecosystem

Abstract

Sri Lanka is a small island in the Indian Ocean. The maritime environment has long been one of the most attractive settings for tourism and recreation. The concept of maritime tourism comprises all tourism activities linked to the sea and the coastline. In addition to the function of pleasure boats and sails, it allows for a wide range of bodily functions such as water skiing, windsurfing, underwater fishing, scuba diving, swimming, and marine park tours. Numerous reports on the socioeconomic and environmental effects of environmental change and adaptation, including such changes in marine and coastal contexts, have been published in the scientific literature on sustainability. The objective of the study is to investigate the environmental and security risks posed by the maritime tourism industry to Sri Lanka's marine ecosystem. Qualitative methodology was used for this research and secondary data sources were also used. The research work was carried out by analyzing the literary sources in multiple ways and for data analysis SPSS was used. Tourism adds another layer of challenges to our marine environment, and its rapid global growth means those challenges have multiplied dramatically over the past few years. Tourism’s impact on the marine environment examines these trends in detail. The impact of tourism on oceans’ waste, waste and plastics. A bi-directional relationship between climate change and global warming and marine environments and coastal tourist destinations and Impacts of recreational activities such as diving and offshore fishing on the marine environment, including coral reefs. The consumption of marine resources to meet the tourist demand for products of the sea and souvenirs that impoverish the oceanic resources. Natural and man-made disasters that have their origins in the oceans, but affect coastal tourism destinations. The challenges of marine tourism planning and management, as well as the impacts of the construction of new resorts and tourism infrastructure. According to all these studies factors, the maritime tourism industry in Sri Lanka has a number of irregular problems. This seems to have an impact on maritime security and the ecosystem as well.
 Keywords: Environment, Security issues, Marine tourism, Sri Lanka’s marine ecosystem