Leisure Boating Environmental Footprint: A Study of Leisure Marinas in Palermo, Italy

Ports have played a significant role in the touristic development and further economic growth of Italy. It is the country with the highest number of berths among the nations in the Mediterranean Sea; over time, Italy has created ports with a range of functions. Therefore, it is of vital importance to evaluate the potential pollutants generated from these docks and propose ways to eliminate those problems. A survey that asked about the carbon footprint and the quality of the water in the water footprint calculation was created and distributed to the management of the marinas’ operations. After receiving the completed surveys, the data were analyzed and translated using emission factors into tons of CO2 equivalent. The amount of greenhouse gases generated by the investigated marinas was determined by calculating the carbon and water footprints of five representative Palermo marinas, and we aimed to better understand how these port-related operations affect the environment. To pinpoint the pollutant sources within the investigated marinas, an original P-Mapping/Pareto ratio approach was performed as supported by Pareto’s principle. The findings indicated that the primary operations of the marina sector are the main sources of pollution. However, a sizable portion of the emissions were also caused by pollution from supporting operations. Based on the study, the origins of CO2 and pollution in marina operations were clarified. The results obtained enable the authors to make recommendations that all recreational boating activities should be closely supervised in order to reduce CO2 emissions and their input in relation to environmental degradation.