Tourism and Power Plant Development: An Attempt to Solve Land Use Conflicts

Abstract

Polar regions have many wilderness areas but the demand and competition for natural resources in those regions is increasing. Wilderness and natural areas are an important resource for the nature-based tourist industry as a stakeholder. The power production industry is another stakeholder interested in harnessing nature, and where the interests of these two stakeholders—nature-based tourism and power production development—meet, conflicts can arise. The main attraction of all tourism in Iceland is nature and wilderness, among them the Highlands. These same areas are also valuable for hydro-electric and geothermal power production. There are plans for further exploitation at many of the major rivers, as well as for a number of geothermal power plants in the Highlands. During the last decade a project ordered by the Icelandic government set up a plan to minimise environmental, social and economic cost due to power production. Four groups were asked to evaluate and rank 84 proposed power plant projects. One of them considered the impact of power plants on tourism and recreation. The methodology developed by that group is presented here, as well as its results. The methodology builds on system analyses and the Delphi method. The results show that many of the proposed plants are in the most valuable tourist regions. The results will form the basis of new legislation about land protection and power plant development.