Course:CONS200/2024WT1/Environmental pollution from religious tourism

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Religious Tourism is a type of tourism where people go to do worship for their respective culture.[1] This specific type of tourism is vital to religious people around the world as serves as a great way for them to connect to their own culture. With the rise in the human population, these events have only gotten bigger and bigger as time has gone on.[2]

In return though, the cost of all this travel to and from these sacred places has taken a toll on the environments that surround these areas have taken heavy damage. On top of that, the Greenhouse Gasses (GHGs) that have been emitted have also been ramping up from these different events.[3] This is a major problem, as we already face a multitude of environmental concerns which threaten our future. There are some solutions that have been suggested to try and alleviate the strains these sacred trips have done to their respective local ecosystems.

History

Religious tourism generally involves people of faith who travel to destinations for the sake of their religious importance.[4] The earliest forms of these events date extremely far back in time; in fact, it is considered the very first form of tourism in history and can be cited as far back as the beginning of humanity.[5] Some of the earliest examples of religious tourism are pilgrimages, specifically, journeying to Jerusalem and Mecca carried out by Christians and Muslims respectively. There are also a considerable number of long past forms of religious tourism that have been identified in different areas across the world. For example, the Celts throughout all of Europe traveled to burial sites and holy groves in the 12th century, hundreds of thousands of people visited holy sites in ancient Egypt, including the Hittites for festivals throughout the first half of the 2nd millennium, the Assyrians for worship, and the Greeks who sought help and presented offerings of gratitude in natural areas deemed holy. This is just to name a few.[6] Due to these pilgrimages occurring before the middle of the 19th century, most travelers were required to reach sacred places by foot, with occasional travel by ships and mounts as their only methods of transportation. To put former travel methods through pilgrimages compared with current travel methods in perspective, it would require many months to travel from London to Rome in medieval times, whereas now, it is possible to do so in less than a day.[7] This has sparked a lot of debate about whether the journey to a holy site is now less fulfilling, having so many different and convenient modes of transportation. As a result, without the use of fossil fuels to power planes and vehicles in the past, religious tourism had negligible GHG emissions compared to recent decades.[6]

Scale

Fast forward to recent decades, globalization and innovations in transportation have facilitated a considerable increase in the religious tourism sector.[2] Current estimations for the number of individuals who participate in religious tourism range from 200 to 600 million per year.[8] Starting from the year 2000 to 2010 alone, there was a significant increase of 46% in the total number of people engaged in tourism in the context of religion, as well as a 34% increase in the number of international travel among pilgrims.[4] When considering large-scale pilgrimages, for example, the Kumbha Mela in India, where nearly 120 million people travel to several sacred sites across the country every 12 years, they pose just as many environmental implications as non-religious mass tourism.[8] This is a significant issue since it contributes to travel and tourism’s title of being the 5th greatest source of pollution globally.[4] While most of this pollution is the result of a large increase in travelers using fuel-intensive modes of transportation, much of the pollution occurs during visitation, particularly due to excessive waste combined with little to no waste management procedures in place. For example, Throughout India, Hindu temples are consistently visited along pilgrimage paths.[9] Due to the recent large influxes of pilgrims, considerable amounts of garbage are disposed of directly in and around temple grounds. Although this was previously a regular occurrence, the vast increase in the number of pilgrims has greatly amplified the problem of excessive waste. More importantly, these holy sites, as well as others around the world, lack proper waste management, which are polluting the air and water in surrounding environments with garbage and other refuse.

Drivers

As previously mentioned, people visiting places that have a religious significance drives religious tourism.[4] People who are devoted to visiting holy sites are typically those who come from religious backgrounds and are motivated to embark on the journey to experience them.[10] Although, people visit sacred sites for a multitude of reasons, including worship, healing, and prayer, as well as to find peace, ask for forgiveness, create vows, and simply be in the presence of holiness.[11] In fact, living through the COVID-19 pandemic has driven people more than ever to visit holy sites in hopes of finding purpose and deeper meaning in their lives.[10] However, there are other outside drivers that can influence people to engage in religious tourism.[12] For example, since religious tourism is a very large industry, economics can play a large role in whether someone travels to holy sites or not.[13] Hotels, tour operators, communities, and various other organizations can profit greatly from religious tourism and have pushed for an increase in its popularity. Regarding the local communities that live and work in areas with religious significance, religious tourism is responsible for greatly stimulating the local economy, notably generated through rituals and performances. When implemented sustainably, the local residents are engaged with the management of holy sites and receive direct economic benefits. In addition, it is becoming extremely popular to sell souvenirs representative of a given holy site not only to bridge the purchaser to the religious significance of that holy site but also to allow them to return home with its divine power.

Environmental Impacts

The extent of the impact religious tourism has on the environment is hard to quantify as it’s a nuanced matter involving many variables. Therefore, we have less quantitative data compared to other areas influenced by pilgrimage (e.g., economic impact). However, there is enough evidence to spotlight the immense stress religious tourism inflicts on the environment; particularly on the  local environment of regions hosting large-scale pilgrimage events.

One of the most prominent examples of environmental strain caused by religious tourism is the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia which attracts over two million participants annually.[4] The concentrated flood of pilgrims demands extensive infrastructure, including temporary accommodations, sanitation facilities, and expanded transportation systems.[1] These developments often result in habitat destruction, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. The alteration of landscapes to accommodate such infrastructure disrupts local ecosystems and reduces the availability of natural habitats for wildlife.[1][14] Additionally, the temporary nature of many facilities can lead to poor construction practices, creating lasting environmental damage even after the event concludes.

Waste management is one of the most glaring environmental concerns associated with religious tourism. Large gatherings inevitably result in massive amounts of waste; notably, in the form of packaging, disposable plastic bottles, and other single-use items.[1][15] Local waste management systems often cannot handle the amount of waste created during large pilgrimage events such as the Hajj.[3] This results in littering, pollution of nearby water bodies, soil and overflowing landfills.[1][16] Plastic waste is extremely problematic for the environment long-term due to its non-biodegradable nature. Without effective recycling systems or waste diversion strategies, the aforementioned plastic waste accumulates which exacerbates the already significant strain on local environments.

In addition to waste, air pollution is another hazardous environmental consequence of religious tourism. The transportation of millions of pilgrims to religious sites, especially by air, generates substantial greenhouse gas emissions.[4] Local transportation systems (often reliant on fossil fuels) should not be ignored as they further contribute to air pollution. The influx of vehicles can be reasonably expected to lead to increased levels of pollution in the air which contributes to climate change, but also poses health risks to fellow pilgrims and local residents.[4][14] El Hanandeh in his "The case of Hajj" indicated that transportation accounted for 80% of CO₂ emissions.

Water resources are also greatly impacted by religious tourism. Pilgrims require significant amounts of water for drinking, sanitation, and religious rituals. In arid regions such as Saudi Arabia, the high demand for water during events like the Hajj places immense pressure on local water supplies given the already scarce state of their supply. Reduced water availability for local residents is a significant consequence and can leave them in a precarious position where their access to this essential resource is compromised.[1] Additionally, the increased production of wastewater often exceeds the capacity of local treatment systems, leading to contamination of nearby rivers and other water bodies. Some of these water sources used for religious rituals have become hazardous. Shinde in their "The Routledge handbook of religious and spiritual tourism"[1] notes that between May and June in Rishikesh-Haridwar, India, 500,000 additional visitors cause 20x more pollution in the upper Ganges river compared to the entire rest of the year.

Additionally, the impacts on said sacred natural sites as a whole is note-worthy. Many sites are located in ecologically sensitive areas (forests, rivers, mountains, etc.) and are considered holy by local indigenous groups. The stream of visitors to these sites can result in a disturbance to wildlife and the environment as a whole. Shinde once again mentions in their work[1] that religious tourism in sacred natural areas can leave irreversible damage; namely, the discarding of ‘ritual litter’, taking objects as souvenirs, and vandalism of local heritage were among other issues that were reported.

Sacred site of mass cremations.
Burning ghats in Varanasi, India.

Beyond impacts to heritage, the strain on local resources can have a ripple effect on the communities surrounding as well. The increased demand for necessary resources (food, water, energy, etc.) during pilgrimage events can drive prices up and pose a threat to local residents who either will face a shortage or cannot afford higher prices. There are a multitude of effects in which it is only fair to label as ‘unpleasant’ surrounding religious tourism; among those, the accumulation of waste and pollution which pose health risks to both the local population and the visiting pilgrims.[14] There may actually be a decline in their quality of life which is taken on by residents due to these environmental stressors.

Another additional and intriguing concern is the potential for increased natural hazards such as tectonic activity and landslides which are linked to the large concentration of people surpassing the carrying capacity of the ecosystem in the specific areas.[1] This was just a brief mention and has not been studied in depth-but encapsulates the spectrum of concerns related to environmental tourism.

Green House Gases

This is an image of the religious gathering at Mecca.

Travel and tourism are two of the largest industries in the world and are both large contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Tourism activities significantly contribute to CO₂ emissions, so much so that roughly 8% of the world's total carbon emissions comes from the tourism industry. Religious tourism is a fast-growing sector within the tourism industry, which naturally only fuels the released GHG emissions even more rapidly.[4] The pilgrimage to Mecca represents a considerable portion of the greenhouse gases being released associated with religious tourism. This is one of the oldest and largest religious tourism events in the world drawing over two-million participants from all around the world. Each tourist who comes to participate in the pilgrimage releases an average personal emissions of 60.5 kg CO₂-eq per day. This number accounts for the emissions caused by transportation, hotel stays, meals, and waste management. If each tourist produces 60.5 kg CO₂-eq, the total emissions produced by all the pilgrims is a whopping 168,795,000kg CO₂-eq, per day. This case study highlights the sheer quantity of emissions that can be released from just one religious tourism attraction alone. This addition is the cherry on top of an already alarming climate crisis. These numbers underline and display the detrimental impact that religious tourism has on the environment.

The reason for this immense release of greenhouse gasses in most cases of religious tourism is because most of the time, traveling to these religouse tourism destinations means traveling overseas by flying. Jets consume enormous amounts of fossil fuels and then burn those gases that emit large quantities of CO2, which is a leading cause of greenhouse gases. Examples include the Catholic pilgrimage to the Vatican City where the traveling pilgrims leave massive carbon footprints. Other transport systems that include buses and individual cars, especially during regional pilgrimages also contribute massively to emissions. Other than travel, religious tourism also helps in environmental degradation due to the facilities used for such purposes. Facilities like accommodation, food, and souvenirs use energy which almost entirely comes from non-renewable sources. Areas with a high concentration of religious activities like temples, mosques, and churches tend to increase their electricity consumption due to the periods of excessive demand created by the non-recurring activities when there is extra need for lighting, heating, air conditioning, and various other services. In addition, large numbers of people raise even more issues since there are more demands for waste and water supply which are regarded as energy-intensive processes. Construction and maintenance of roads, airports, and other facilities to accommodate growing numbers of tourists. All these factors come together to create the emissions created by religious tourism.

Another example of CO₂ emissions being emitted due to religious tourism is the Camino Lebaniego walk. The Camino Lebaniego walk is a 73 km long trek through the north of Spain, spanning about three days.[17] The reason why religious tourists choose to set out on this pilgrimage is the belief that this was the same route the gospel took when entering into Spain. A case study conducted in 2017 took into account the carbon being produced per person participating in this walk. The Carbon number was calculated using the CO₂ emissions caused by the religious tourists food, accommodation and waste management. The transportation of the tourists was not taken into account. Each religious tourist emitted 13.69 kg CO₂-eq total for the three-day trek. Since 12000 people participated during the 217 case study the total carbon release was 164,280 kg CO₂-eq. This is far less than the CO₂ emitted in the Mecca case study, yet there still is a considerable amount of Carbon being released due to this religious tourism pilgrimage.

These two case studies are just a couple of examples of the carbon that is emitted due to religious tourism. The total amount of greenhouse gasses emitted due to religious tourism fluctuates from year to year, but the impact that religious tourism has on the environment stays substantial.

Possible Solutions

Now the issue we face is that pilgrimage will not be going away anytime soon. This means that the negative effects caused by this problem will remain; so, rather we should start implementing some possible solutions to mitigate the risks, and the most promising mitigation strategy has been different religious sector's involvement with their surrounding ecosystems. This can be seen in Saudi Arabia where the main Islamic community and government are actively trying to include more renewable energy into the pilgrimage.[18]

Why does this help? As explained by Nawaz et al.,[19] Religious leaders and tourists can play an important role. They can spread the message of wanting cleaner environments to their peers. This will lead to much more forward action as many of these pilgrimages are huge in scale. The main roadblock has always come from these religious people not being considered in policy. So with them being factored in, many policy changes will now benefit from the large gatherings. Again look at Saudi Arabia, the government plans to host more religious tourists in the future.[18] They then plan on using that momentum to increase renewable energy supplies and phase out fossil fuels.

Another sector that could be improved is transportation. As discussed prior, traveling is the biggest pollutant part of religious tourism. So because of that, we should implement a solution to save the ecosystems of the areas of religious significance. That's where electric vehicles come in as they are much less damaging than oil-powered ones.[20] While no religious sector has talked about this solution, electric vehicles are a potential alternative. The implementation of green public transportation could have an enormous impact in cutting down the amount of emissions produced by the hordes of tourists. Again, considering Saudi Arabia, they are already poised to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, they are most likely going to shift from gas to electricity to meet their net-zero emission goals.[18]

These will not fully mitigate pollution, however, if these strategies are applied to more sites of worship and pilgrimage destinations, there will be a guaranteed positive change. We are still waiting to see the future effects of these practices, but we have seen small-scale success.

Conclusion

In summary, solving the issue of religious tourism impacting the climate presents a substantial challenge. Religious tourism will remain prevalent as millions of people value pilgrimage and spiritual experiences. People will continue to utilize transportation as a means of travel. The climate detriment religious tourism contributes to is vast, spanning from copious emissions generated by transportation, to waste management straining local resources. Considering the inevitable future of religious tourism, we can work to mitigate its effects. As mentioned, Saudi Arabia is making strides in terms of innovative practices, allocating more renewable energy into sustainable religious tourism. Such efforts set an example for other nations to follow, showcasing that it is indeed possible for eco-friendly infrastructure and deep-rooted tradition to co-exist. This could have a major global effect and could help alleviate environmental straining while simultaneously validating the significance of religious tourism to many. Ultimately collaborative efforts between governments, communities, and religious organizations are the key to satisfying as many different values as possible and finding a healthy medium.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Shinde, K. A. (2021). The environmental impacts of religious and spiritual tourism. In The Routledge handbook of religious and spiritual tourism (pp. 315-331). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429201011-27/environmental-impacts-religious-spiritual-tourism-kiran-shinde
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hassan, T., Carvache-Franco, M., Carvache-Franco, W., & Carvache-Franco, O. (2022). Segmentation of Religious Tourism by Motivations: A Study of the Pilgrimage to the City of Mecca. Sustainability, 14(13), 7861. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137861
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shinde, K. A., & Olsen, D. H. (2023). Reframing the intersections of pilgrimage, religious tourism, and sustainability. Sustainability, 15(1), 461. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010461
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 El Hanandeh, A. (2013). Quantifying the carbon footprint of religious tourism: The case of Hajj. Journal of Cleaner Production, 52, 53-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.03.009
  5. ↑ Alaverdov, E. & Bari, M. (2021). Global Development of Religious Tourism. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-5792-1
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rinschede, G. (1992). Forms of religious tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 19(1), 51-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(92)90106-Y
  7. ↑ Berg, J. L. (2016). The pilgrim journey: A history of pilgrimage in the western world. Catholic Library World, 87(1), 50. https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=eegdDQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=The+Pilgrim+Journey:+A+History+of+Pilgrimage+in+the+Western+World&ots=J7kjVyh-18&sig=yaSp6DY8h_v0gKAuPGKhCdZLwos#v=onepage&q=The%20Pilgrim%20Journey%3A%20A%20History%20of%20Pilgrimage%20in%20the%20Western%20World&f=false
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Shinde, K. A., & Olsen, D. H. (2020). Religious tourism and the environment. Cabi. https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=YggBEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR3&dq=religious+tourism+environmental+impacts&ots=2QKyQKraYI&sig=txgJrdU50vCpn5IZLHUIfBQLwt8#v=onepage&q=religious%20tourism%20environmental%20impacts&f=false
  9. ↑ Apollo M, Wengel Y, Schänzel H, Musa G. Hinduism, Ecological Conservation, and Public Health: What Are the Health Hazards for Religious Tourists at Hindu Temples? Religions. 2020; 11(8):416. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11080416
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Choe, J. (2024). Religious tourism. Tourism Geographies, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2024.2423168
  11. ↑ Türker, N. (2016). Religious Tourism in Turkey. In: Egresi, I. (eds) Alternative Tourism in Turkey. GeoJournal Library, vol 121. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47537-0_10
  12. ↑ Amber, G. R. (2018). Religious tourism – a review of the literature. [Religious tourism] Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 1(2), 150-167. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTI-10-2017-0007
  13. ↑ Shinde, K. A. (2024). Religious tourism: the journey so far. In Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks (pp. 1–20). https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803928746.00007
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Alipour, H., Olya, H. G., & Forouzan, I. (2017). Environmental impacts of mass religious tourism: From residents’ perspectives. Tourism Analysis, 22(2), 167–183. https://doi.org/10.3727/108354217x14888192562285
  15. ↑ Lin, H.-H., Ling, Y., Lin, J.-C., & Liang, Z.-F. (2021). Research on the development of religious tourism and the Sustainable Development of rural environment and health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), 2731. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052731
  16. ↑ Alsebaei, A. (2014). Solid waste management during Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia: A case study. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Sheffield]. White Rose eTheses Online. https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/8275/1/Alsebaei%20Thesis-%20full.pdf
  17. ↑ Goswami, D., & Kumar, R. (2015). Carbon footprint of public transportation – a case study of religious tourism to Shri Mata Vaishano Devi shrine in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Journal of Chemistry, Environmental Sciences and Its Applications, 1(2), 73–79. https://doi.org/10.15415/jce.2015.12007
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Jbir, R., & Saâdaoui, F. (2024). Climate change and the impact of religious tourism in Saudi Arabia’s energy landscape. International Journal of Green Energy, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/15435075.2024.2389257
  19. ↑ Nawaz, M. Z., Guo, J., Nawaz, S., & Hussain, S. (2023). Sustainable development goals perspective: nexus between Christians’ religious tourism, geopolitical risk, and CO2 pollution in Italy. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(22), 62341-62354. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-023-26463-x
  20. ↑ MIT Climate Portal. (n.d.). Electric vehicles. MIT Climate Portal. Retrieved December 6, 2024, from https://climate.mit.edu/explainers/electric-vehicles


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