Using strategic philanthropy to improve heritage tourist sites on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey : community perceptions of changing quality of life and of the sponsoring organization

This paper examines the “Respect for History” project on Turkey's Gallipoli Peninsula sponsored by a Turkish oil company, OPET. The project sought to enhance and protect the cultural and historical experiences of tourists visiting Gallipoli, and to bring direct and indirect benefits to local communities through enhancing tourism-related business opportunities and improving community infrastructure. This research investigates the project's impact on residents’ perceived social and economic wellbeing, using a quality of life framework, and also ascertains residents’ views of the sponsoring firm. The context illustrates key differences between pure philanthropy and strategic philanthropy; the latter defined as doing good by purposefully achieving corporate and civic benefits. The role of strategic philanthropy as a sustainable tourism development tool, and its impact on tourism governance, are considered. Data were collected from 674 residents on the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula in areas impacted by OPET's investment program. The results, using structural equation modelling (SEM), identify that respondents generally believe that both their economic and social quality of life have improved. This, in turn, has positively influenced respondents’ views of the sponsoring organization. The concept of strategic philanthropy appears valuable as a private sector, non-tourism, sustainable tourism development tool in some circumstances.

The depoliticisation of accountability processes for land-based grievances, and the IFC CAO

Many development finance institutions have responded to calls for accountability for social and environmental harms associated with their lending by creating Independent Accountability Mechanisms (IAMs). We argue that IAMs can, at their best, provide relief for those concerned with the nature of the implementation of development projects, thereby addressing what we call immanent complaints about social and environmental impacts. However, IAMs are poorly placed to address what we call contestational grievances: those that entail a rejection of core tenets of the lending institution's development model. Such contestational grievances frequently arise when communities and their supporters reject the commodification of land and associated displacement of people and their livelihoods. Analysis draws on the International Finance Corporation Compliance-Advisor-Ombudsman (IFC CAO)'s handling of a complaint about the palm oil company Wilmar in Indonesia. We argue that because the CAO is institutionally embedded within the IFC, it shares its normative grounding with the institution it holds to account, and therefore risks organising and legitimating accountability failures related to contestational land-based grievances.

Fish assemblages associated with oil industry structures on the continental shelf of north-western Australia

This study provides the first assessment of fish associations with oil and gas structures located in deep water (85-175 m) on Australia's north-west continental shelf, using rare oil industry video footage obtained from remotely operated vehicles. A diverse range of taxa were observed associating with the structures, including reef-dependent species and transient pelagic species. Ten commercially fished species were observed, the most abundant of which was Lutjanus argentimaculatus, with an estimated biomass for the two deepest structures (Goodwyn and Echo) of 109 kg.

Environmental incidents in a developing country and corporate environmental disclosures : a study of a multinational gas company

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the environmental disclosure initiatives of Niko Resources Ltd – a Canada-based multinational oil and gas company – following the two major environmental blowouts at a gas field in Bangladesh in 2005. As part of the examination, the authors particularly focus on whether Niko’s disclosure strategy was associated with public concern pertaining to the blowouts.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors reviewed news articles about Niko’s environmental incidents in Bangladesh and Niko’s communication media, including annual reports, press releases and stand-alone social responsibility report over the period 2004-2007, to understand whether news media attention as proxy for public concern has an impact on Niko’s disclosure practices in relation to the affected local community in Bangladesh.
Findings – The findings show that Niko did not provide any non-financial environmental information within its annual reports and press releases as a part of its responsibility to the local community which was affected by the blowouts, but it did produce a stand-alone report to address the issue. However, financial environmental disclosures, such as the environmental contingent liability disclosure, were adequately provided through annual reports to meet the regulatory requirements concerning environmental persecutions. The findings also suggest that Niko’s non-financial disclosure within a stand-alone report was associated with the public pressures as measured by negative media coverage towards the Niko blowouts.
Research limitations/implications – This paper concludes that the motive for Niko’s non-financial environmental disclosure, via a stand-alone report, reflected survival considerations:
the company’s reaction did not suggest any real attempt to hold broader accountability for its activities in a developing country.
Originality/value – This is the first known paper that investigates a multinational company’s disclosure behavior in relation to environmental incidents which occurred in a local community.

Cetacean diversity of the continental shelf and slope off Southern Australia

We recorded a diverse cetacean assemblage from systematic aerial surveys in productive upwelling waters off southern Australia in 2002-2013. Surveys recorded 133 sightings of 15 identified cetacean species consisting of 7 mysticete (baleen) whale species, 8 odontocete (toothed) species, and 384 sightings of unidentified dolphins. This is the first assessment of cetacean diversity for the region and we found diversity to be comparable with other productive regions elsewhere. Differential spatial and temporal distributions of mysticete and odontocete species were apparent, and were associated with habitat variables and seasonal migration cycles. The study contributes new information to assist the environmental planning and management of activities in the region, including oil, and gas exploration and production, fishing, shipping, and renewable energy development.