Tourism Carrying Capacity Assessment in Islands

In recent years there has been considerable concern about the effectiveness of the available planning and management tools to control and regulate human activities in sensitive environments as in the case of small islands. This contribution examines some of the key problems existing in small islands’ ecosystems, the causes leading to conflicts (environmental degradation, intensive pressure on island resources, land use changes, pollution, and so on), and recognizes the necessity for environmental protection and for balancing conflicts between human and natural systems, towards sustainable development.