La Natura Come Costruzione Sociale

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La Natura Come Costruzione Sociale Corso di Laurea magistrale (ordinamento ex D.M. 270/2004) In Sviluppo Interculturale dei Sistemi Turistici Tesi di Laurea La natura come costruzione sociale. Il Parco Nazionale di Yellowstone e lo sviluppo controverso del turismo sostenibile. Relatore Ch. Prof. Francesco Vallerani Laureando Maura Calabrese Matricola 810360 Anno Accademico 2012 / 2013 INDICE PRESENTAZIONE ..................................................................................................................... 3 1. INQUADRAMENTO TEORICO .......................................................................................... 7 1.1 Il turismo sostenibile: un problema di definizioni ............................................................... 7 1.1.1 Il concetto di sostenibilità ............................................................................................ 7 1.1.2 Il turismo sostenibile .................................................................................................. 10 1.2 “L’invenzione americana” dei Parchi Nazionali ............................................................... 13 2. INQUADRAMENTO STORICO ........................................................................................ 18 2.1 1872: Nascita del primo Parco Nazionale al mondo ......................................................... 18 2.2 Dagli anni ’20 fino allo scoppio della Seconda Guerra Mondiale .................................... 22 2.2.1 La mobilità privata e l’intensificarsi dei flussi turistici .............................................. 22 2.2.2 Il Dopoguerra e la “Mission 66” ................................................................................ 24 2.2.3 Il “Leopold report” ..................................................................................................... 28 2.3 Dagli anni ’90 ad oggi ....................................................................................................... 30 2.3.1 Il grande incendio del 1988: limiti della politica amministrativa di un Parco Nazionale ............................................................................................................................. 30 2.3.2 L’UNESCO, l’inserimento del Parco all’interno della “Lista del patrimonio Mondiale in Pericolo” e i nuovi problemi ........................................................................................... 33 3. L’IMPATTO DEL TURISMO SUL PARCO..................................................................... 35 3.1 I flussi turistici ................................................................................................................... 35 3.1.1 Numeri e tipologie ...................................................................................................... 35 3.1.2 Turismo e variazioni demografiche, tecnologiche e sociali nell’area di Yellowstone 41 3.2 Effetti economici derivanti dal turismo ............................................................................. 43 3.2.1 Caratteristiche socio-economiche degli Stati che includono il Parco di Yellowstone 43 3.2.2 Effetti economici, sociali e ambientali derivanti dal turismo ..................................... 47 3.3 Principali problematiche ambientali legate al flusso turistico ........................................... 51 3.3.1 Inquinamento delle motoslitte e l’apertura del parco nei mesi invernali ................... 52 3.3.2 I ripetitori wireless per i cellulari ............................................................................... 58 3.4 Il rapporto fra il Parco e i Nativi americani....................................................................... 62 3.4.1 La storia dei Nativi americani nell’area di Yellowstone ............................................ 62 3.4.2 Gli effetti del turismo sui Nativi americani ................................................................ 68 3.4.3 La collaborazione fra i Nativi e l’amministrazione del Parco .................................... 70 4. LA POLITICA DI SOSTENIBILITÀ AMBIENTALE ..................................................... 73 4.1 Evoluzione della politica ambientale nel Parco ................................................................ 73 1 4.1.1 “Yellowstone Environmental Stewardship (YES!) Initiative” (2008) ....................... 74 4.1.2 “Strategic Plan for Sustainability” (2012) .................................................................. 75 4.2 Il coinvolgimento dei turisti .............................................................................................. 86 4.3.1 I Visitor Center per la sensibilizzazione del turista .................................................... 86 4.3.2 Il programma “Junior Ranger” rivolto ai bambini ..................................................... 87 4.3.3 La campagna “Do not feed wild animals” .................................................................. 88 4.3.4 Lo slogan “Only you can prevent wildfires” .............................................................. 90 5. L’AZIENDA RICETTIVA XANTERRA PARKS & RESORTS E LA SOSTENIBILITÀ AMBIENTALE ......................................................................................................................... 92 5.1 Xanterra Parks & Resorts: Fred Harvey e la creazione della ricezione turistica nel “lontano West” ........................................................................................................................ 92 5.2 L’impegno per la sostenibilità ambientale: il programma “Ecologix” ............................. 93 5.2.1 I rifiuti solidi e la raccolta differenziata ..................................................................... 94 5.2.2 Il risparmio idrico ed energetico ................................................................................ 95 5.2.3 Le iniziative per la costruzione di edifici “green” ...................................................... 97 5.2.4 I trasporti .................................................................................................................... 98 5.2.4 I rifornimenti “sostenibili” ......................................................................................... 98 5.2.5 La cucina sostenibile ................................................................................................ 100 5.2.5 La sensibilizzazione dei dipendenti per le tematiche ambientali ............................. 101 6. NOTE CONCLUSIVE ........................................................................................................ 102 BIBLIOGRAFIA ..................................................................................................................... 105 SITOGRAFIA ......................................................................................................................... 124 RINGRAZIAMENTI .............................................................................................................. 138 2 PRESENTAZIONE Nessuna immaginazione umana, con tutti gli aiuti che le descrizioni possano dare, potrebbe mai ritrarre la bellezza e il wilderness degli scenari di cui si può essere testimoni giornalmente in questa romantica nazione. G. Catlin - Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North America Indians1 Il Parco Nazionale di Yellowstone fu istituito il 1 marzo del 1872, in un periodo storico in cui gli Stati Uniti iniziavano ad affermare la propria "presenza" nello scenario politico mondiale e a modellare una propria identità nazionale. Esso non era solo l'atto conclusivo di un processo politico volto alla legittimazione della sovranità territoriale in regioni considerate wild, era altresì l'inizio di una nuova fase storica che usufruiva dell'ambiente naturale per creare simboli nazionali condivisi. Le radici di questo rapporto antropocentrico con l'ambiente naturale risiede nel termine "ambiente" stesso: dal greco antico οἶκος (oikos), "ciò che è intorno", esso indica ciò che è esterno alla propria abitazione, alla propria familiarità; è pertanto l'uomo a distinguere ciò che appartiene all'ambiente naturale da quello fittizio umano. In particolare, nella cultura americana il wilderness è presentato come il miglior "antidoto" alla società umana e come "rifugio" da preservare per "salvare il pianeta";2 eppure ciò che è wilderness è un "prodotto", frutto della civilizzazione e della cultura "moderna". Prima del XX secolo nella cultura e nell'immaginario europeo non esisteva, infatti, l'idea della c.d. wilderness experience e fino ai primi anni del XIX secolo stesso, il termine wilderness nell'accezione comune, si riferiva ancora a una landa deserta e 1 G.CATLIN, Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the North American Indians, vol.I, Dover Publications, New York, 1844 2 W. CRONON, "The trouble with wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature" in W. CRONON (a cura di), Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature", W.W. Norton & Company, 1996, p.69. 3 selvaggia; inoltre, le emozioni evocate per descriverlo erano di confusione e terrore. Verso la fine del XIX secolo, invece, vi furono dei cambiamenti culturali decisivi, testimoniati dalla celebre frase di Henry D. Thoreau, "In the Wildness is the preservation of the world":3 ciò che prima era deserto, ora diveniva assimilabile all'Eden, assumeva delle connotazioni sacrali come testimoniato dai primi esploratori dei territori dell'ovest degli Stati Uniti, 4 i quali utilizzavano espressioni appartenenti alla sfera religiosa per descrivere le intense emozioni che provavano dinanzi al paesaggio. 5 Questo
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