title: Responsible nature-based tourism: Rotorua Canopy Tours in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve in New Zealand; a critical review

authors: Senarathna, Dinesha Rasanjalie

subjects: Nature-based tourism

abstract: The overall objective is to examine whether the Rotorua Canopy Tours (RCTs) in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve (DRSR) follows the rules of sustainability. Tourism is primarily based on the natural environment because it plays a vital role for attracting tourists to various destinations. Consequently, massive tourist demand creates a huge stress on the natural environment. This has resulted in creating different concepts from time to time such as sustainable tourism, responsible tourism, ecotourism and ethical tourism in order to salvage the environment from tourism’s often predatory practices. New Zealand is popular as a clean and green country which has led to dramatic tourist flows to its unspoiled natural environments. This enormous demand emphasises the necessity for responsible nature-based tourism. My research seeks to discover whether any efforts are being made to render attractions more environmentally friendly. Such actions should ensure that commodification of the environment does not jeopardize its long-term sustainability.
This research uses a case study, RCTs, as an activity in the nature-based tourism sector to determine whether it offers a sustainable form of tourism. The research site in the DRSR was selected because it is known as the only native forest zipline canopy tour in New Zealand and brands itself as nature-friendly. This research focuses on how its owners conduct their activities and how they direct tourists to behave responsibly when on tour, in order to determine whether they fulfil the requirements of responsible nature-based tourism. The study scrutinizes how they discourse about the activities they have set up and their environmental consequences. It also examines how the conservation programme run by the Department of Conservation that they collaborate with addresses responsible tourism.
A qualitative research methodology was used for this research because my interest was in obtaining social perspectives and attitudes of the people involved in the commodification of nature. I was particularly interested about how they conceive responsible nature tourism and how they believe it can be implemented. Such issues are difficult to understand when using statistical or other quantitative methods and analysis. Critical discourse analysis was applied for data analysis. Both pros and cons have been identified in the various perceptions of key stakeholders on implementing sustainability principles to nature-based tourism. Even though the operators are making efforts to conserve the native birds, they need to have support of other stakeholders to make it effective and productive.

text: Responsible nature-based tourism: Rotorua Canopy Tours in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve in New Zealand; a critical review The overall objective is to examine whether the Rotorua Canopy Tours (RCTs) in the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve (DRSR) follows the rules of sustainability. Tourism is primarily based on the natural environment because it plays a vital role for attracting tourists to various destinations. Consequently, massive tourist demand creates a huge stress on the natural environment. This has resulted in creating different concepts from time to time such as sustainable tourism, responsible tourism, ecotourism and ethical tourism in order to salvage the environment from tourism’s often predatory practices. New Zealand is popular as a clean and green country which has led to dramatic tourist flows to its unspoiled natural environments. This enormous demand emphasises the necessity for responsible nature-based tourism. My research seeks to discover whether any efforts are being made to render attractions more environmentally friendly. Such actions should ensure that commodification of the environment does not jeopardize its long-term sustainability.
This research uses a case study, RCTs, as an activity in the nature-based tourism sector to determine whether it offers a sustainable form of tourism. The research site in the DRSR was selected because it is known as the only native forest zipline canopy tour in New Zealand and brands itself as nature-friendly. This research focuses on how its owners conduct their activities and how they direct tourists to behave responsibly when on tour, in order to determine whether they fulfil the requirements of responsible nature-based tourism. The study scrutinizes how they discourse about the activities they have set up and their environmental consequences. It also examines how the conservation programme run by the Department of Conservation that they collaborate with addresses responsible tourism.
A qualitative research methodology was used for this research because my interest was in obtaining social perspectives and attitudes of the people involved in the commodification of nature. I was particularly interested about how they conceive responsible nature tourism and how they believe it can be implemented. Such issues are difficult to understand when using statistical or other quantitative methods and analysis. Critical discourse analysis was applied for data analysis. Both pros and cons have been identified in the various perceptions of key stakeholders on implementing sustainability principles to nature-based tourism. Even though the operators are making efforts to conserve the native birds, they need to have support of other stakeholders to make it effective and productive.

year: 2017

title: The Lancet Commission on self-harm

authors: Moran, Paul

abstract: Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves on purpose, regardless of the reasons for doing this. Often, shame and stigma stop people from seeking help. Self-harming behaviour increases the risk of death by suicide, and it is a common cause of disability in young people. Currently, people attending health services only represent the tip of the iceberg; the proportion of teenagers self-harming has increased over the past 20 years—this is particularly so for young women and girls. 
 
The Lancet Commission on self-harm concludes that our cultures and societies play a major role in driving self-harming behaviours. The public health impact of self-harm has been neglected by governments globally. By delivering transformative shifts in societal attitudes, and initiating radical redesign of mental health care, we can fundamentally improve the lives of people who self-harm. Governments need to act to tackle the societal and commercial determinants of self-harming behaviours. The punishment of people who self-harm must stop. People who self-harm need better access to high-quality, compassionate services for support and treatment. Mainstream and social media outlets need to share information about self-harm responsibly and sympathetically.

text: The Lancet Commission on self-harm Self-harm is when someone hurts themselves on purpose, regardless of the reasons for doing this. Often, shame and stigma stop people from seeking help. Self-harming behaviour increases the risk of death by suicide, and it is a common cause of disability in young people. Currently, people attending health services only represent the tip of the iceberg; the proportion of teenagers self-harming has increased over the past 20 years—this is particularly so for young women and girls. 
 
The Lancet Commission on self-harm concludes that our cultures and societies play a major role in driving self-harming behaviours. The public health impact of self-harm has been neglected by governments globally. By delivering transformative shifts in societal attitudes, and initiating radical redesign of mental health care, we can fundamentally improve the lives of people who self-harm. Governments need to act to tackle the societal and commercial determinants of self-harming behaviours. The punishment of people who self-harm must stop. People who self-harm need better access to high-quality, compassionate services for support and treatment. Mainstream and social media outlets need to share information about self-harm responsibly and sympathetically.

year: 2024

title: Unpacking media narratives: Racism and problematic reasonings

authors: Tan, Kyle K. H.

abstract: In this research brief, we present summaries of four case studies of racism in mainstream and social media in Aotearoa. Through a series of carefully selected datasets sourced from TV episodes (Police TEN 7), print media such as news articles (including Northland checkpoints), and tweets (Three Waters reform), we outline how Māori are represented across these mediums. With an expert in language modelling on our team, we analysed large datasets that give us sufficient statistical power to infer specific Māori discourses on respective platforms. Further, we examined key themes that characterise how Māori are represented in the media and signal the scale of anti-Māori attacks. For instance, we found that the predominant discussion on Three Waters reform on Twitter focused on ‘conflict’ (distrust towards government; 33%) and ‘capability’ (questioning the credibility of the reform; 23%) rather than its core intention of promoting water ‘safety’ (7%). The modelling analysis was supplemented by in-depth qualitative analysis that integrates anti-Māori themes (Moewaka-Barnes et al., 2012) and problematic reasoning tactics (Sturgill, 2021) to elucidate how false, deficit-based rhetoric about Māori is deployed to fuel racism and disinformation. In summary, our findings reinforce Kupu Taea’s call for new media sectors to integrate Te Tiriti o Waitangi into their practices to safeguard Māori and other minoritised groups who are likely to be at the fore of racist attacks.

text: Unpacking media narratives: Racism and problematic reasonings In this research brief, we present summaries of four case studies of racism in mainstream and social media in Aotearoa. Through a series of carefully selected datasets sourced from TV episodes (Police TEN 7), print media such as news articles (including Northland checkpoints), and tweets (Three Waters reform), we outline how Māori are represented across these mediums. With an expert in language modelling on our team, we analysed large datasets that give us sufficient statistical power to infer specific Māori discourses on respective platforms. Further, we examined key themes that characterise how Māori are represented in the media and signal the scale of anti-Māori attacks. For instance, we found that the predominant discussion on Three Waters reform on Twitter focused on ‘conflict’ (distrust towards government; 33%) and ‘capability’ (questioning the credibility of the reform; 23%) rather than its core intention of promoting water ‘safety’ (7%). The modelling analysis was supplemented by in-depth qualitative analysis that integrates anti-Māori themes (Moewaka-Barnes et al., 2012) and problematic reasoning tactics (Sturgill, 2021) to elucidate how false, deficit-based rhetoric about Māori is deployed to fuel racism and disinformation. In summary, our findings reinforce Kupu Taea’s call for new media sectors to integrate Te Tiriti o Waitangi into their practices to safeguard Māori and other minoritised groups who are likely to be at the fore of racist attacks.

year: 2025