GCSE Geography - Tourism and Resources - Revision Summary
By Anonymous (not verified), 22 April, 2026
Natural Resources
The 6 billion population of the world put pressure on the resources of the world, which in some cases are insufficient, and in some cases are rapidly running out.
Resources can be easily divided into two sections: Renewable and Non-renewable.
Renewable resources are ones that will never run out, either naturally or through good management.
Examples include forests, fish, animals, water and the sun.
Non-renewable resources are ones that will eventually run out. They are described as being finite.
Examples include oil, gas, coal, and minerals.
Managing Resources
The level of development that a country has reached can directly affect which natural resources they use.
Most of the major population growth has occurred in developing countries in places like Africa, where the pressure on food resources is intense.
Management of resources can include methods such as producing alternative forms of energy (HEP, wind power, solar power, geothermal power), conserving resources (forestry, fishing quotas) , resource substitution, recycling and pollution controls.
National Parks in Britain
Dartmoor is one of the 12 designated National Parks in England and Wales.
They aimed to preserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area and promote the enjoyment of the area by the general public.
Dartmoor plays host to over 8 million visitors every year.
Conflicts can occur between visitors, farmers, local residents, environmentalists and the army, all of whom have different ideas over how the land should be used.
Tourism in LEDC's
In many developing countries tourism is seen to be the answer to their economic problems.
However, as increasing numbers of people flood into places like Kenya, they are finding that tourism brings with it a range of environmental, cultural and social problems.
The increase in tourism has led to economic growth and the creation of many jobs for local people.
There are many problems caused by the massive numbers of tourists, such as environmental damage, cultures being lost and a reliance on the tourist industry.
Ecotourism
Ecotourism or Green Tourism is aimed at allowing people to visit naturally beautiful environments whilst protecting them for the future at the same time.
Ecotourism also aims to benefit the local people directly. One country to try this new form of tourism is Belize, on the Caribbean coast of Central America.
The main aim is to achieve sustainability, which means that the environment is not in any way damaged by the tourists.
All that is being attempted in Belize is building towards the goal of continuing to benefit from tourism, whilst protecting and nurturing the natural environment.
The impacts of tourism
Tourism has both positive and negative impacts for an area.
Tourism brings much needed investment into an area.
Tourism provides employment for many local people.
Income from tourism may be used to help conserve the natural environment.
Tourism may help to preserve local cultures and communities.
The jobs for the locals are often badly paid, with very poor working conditions.
The environment could easily be damaged by the huge number of tourists coming to see it.
Increasing numbers of tourists brings problems such as littering, pollution and footpath erosion.