THE botanist David Bellamy will be the guest speaker at a conference in Bundoran, Co Donegal, this Saturday on the dangers posed to the environment from tourism.
A number of expert speakers from both sides of the Border, including senior representatives of Bord Failte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, will address the one-day event, which is being organised jointly by Bundoran Urban Council and Erne Enterprise.
The conference organiser and tourism officer for south Donegal, Ms Aisling Cahill, said that while tourism could create jobs and bring in much-needed revenue to areas where there was little else to sustain the local population, there was also a price to be paid.
"Tourism can be very good for local economies, but we have to take control of it. It is up to us to put proper measures in place to protect the environment," she said.
The conference aims to examine ways to develop tourism while protecting the built, natural and cultural environment.
Bundoran is one of the locations selected for the Pilot Initiative on Tourism and the Environment set up by the Minister, Dr McDaid. The seaside town is undergoing large-scale development due to the resort tax incentive scheme.
Speakers at Saturday's conference will include the environmental consultant Conor Skehan, environmentalist Ian Lumley, the senior environmental officer with Bord Failte Noel Kavanagh, and Feargal Kearney, the cultural tourism officer with NITB.
The conference, "Tourism and the Environment - A Harmonious or Harmful Relationship?" is in the Hollyrood Hotel.