| Summary: | The field of environmental law is an area of competing interests in which disputes are bound to occur. Environmental issues cannot be perceived as separate from other resources. This article presents a detailed and critical review of Alternative Dispute Resolution as a non-judicial mechanism for the settlement of environmental disputes because they are cross-sectoral- covering such issues as tourism, agricultural, fishing, and urbanisation. The article therefore, is concerned largely with the wider environmental issues of economic impact in general, and tourism in particular, and their implications for sustainability and conservation of exhaustible and renewable productive and energy resources.
Ordinarily, disputes whether environmental or otherwise are resolved through court processes, but due to delays, costs, publicity and technicality associated with Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms evolved. An ideal environmental dispute resolution mechanism should not only be accessible, affordable and effective but must also be adaptable to various environmental disputes in a given situation. Alternative Dispute Resolution is a more effective dispute resolution. Adversarial
Litigation is the only means, apart from agreement, of resolving disputes. Important questions are: Are alternative dispute resolution mechanisms appropriate for use in resolving environmental disputes? If not so, what changes or improvements should be made? The article also considers the economic
concept of the failure of the market and then the consequences for tourism and the natural environment.
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