PROFILE: Tourism Contribution to Agro-Ecosystems Conservation: The Case of Lesbos Island, Greece.
/ The modernization of agriculture and the development of other economic sectors have prompted the abandonment of cultivated areas, which are marginally productive. Specifically, olive groves in Greece are transformed into pastures due to their location in inaccessible mountainous regions where breeding and raising of sheep and goats are the main economic activities. Overgrazing degrades the environment, exhausts natural resources, and prevents natural regeneration. The Greek islands have limited possibilities of development, except for their coastal areas where the growth of tourism is possible.The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of tourism activities on olive tree cultivation and the human population of the island of Lesbos. The presence or absence of tourism is related with the maintenance or abandonment of olive tree cultivation and population changes for each community. A spatial segregation of the island is evident, related to tourist development, olive tree cultivation, and population change. The results of the study demonstrate that in communities where tourism plays an important role olive tree cultivation is preserved and the population is stable. The preservation of the agro-ecosystem is assured while the olive groves remain productive. Simultaneously, the landscape, which provides specific attractions for tourism, is not altered.
Loumou
A
Department of Environmental Studies, School of Social Sciences, University of the Aegean, Karantoni 17, Mytilini 81100, Greece
Giourga
C
Dimitrakopoulos
P
Koukoulas
S