Exploring Creative Tourism Potential in Protected Areas: The Kruger National Park Case

2020 ◽  
pp. 109634802098353
Author(s):  
Jan-Albert Wessels ◽  
Anneli Douglas

Creative tourism strategies are often adopted by destinations as a result of its appeal to policy makers, without a serious assessment of tourists’ needs. Although there are significant cultural and heritage resources in and on the periphery of the Kruger National Park (KNP), these resources seem to be inadequately harnessed. The aim of the article is thus to explore the potential of creative tourism as a medium to harness cultural and heritage resources in the KNP by measuring the importance of local community (cultural tourism) elements to tourists when visiting the KNP. Convenience sampling is used to distribute questionnaires to tourists, and 201 responses are used in the data analysis. The results indicate that respondents have a neutral opinion regarding the importance of local community aspects, and recommendations are made to exploit the untapped potential for creative tourism. This study adds to the current debate on creative tourism by assessing its role in protected areas.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 11726
Author(s):  
Domenico Pisani ◽  
Pasquale Pazienza ◽  
Enrico Vito Perrino ◽  
Diana Caporale ◽  
Caterina De Lucia

Protected areas play an important role in the conservation and protection of biodiversity of particular territories, especially of ecosystems that provide resources for living organisms, including human beings. Different studies highlight the importance of biodiversity and its associated benefits in terms of ecosystem services of protected areas. The economic assessment of ecosystem services and biodiversity becomes a viable solution to help the policy maker to make decisions on the environmental preservation of these areas according to the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Nonetheless, very few studies provide an economic evaluation of the benefits of protected areas. To advance the current debate on the economic evaluation of the benefits provided by protected areas, the present paper purposes an integrated approach. It presents an overview of main ecosystem services’ mapping techniques currently available to researchers and policy makers and offers a systematic review carried out for the period 2015–2020 at an international level. The main findings are particularly attractive for the Gargano National Park (GNP) in the south of Italy, which is recognised as being a biodiversity hot spot at global level. The current study provides useful guidance for the assessment of trade-offs, the support to policy makers, and the provision of efficient allocation of public resources for protected areas.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. T. Maruping-Mzileni ◽  
P. J. Funston ◽  
S. M. Ferreira

Aims Indicators of pending state-shifts carry value for policy makers. Predator–prey relations reflect key ecological processes that shape ecosystems. Variance in predator–prey relations may serve as a key indicator of future state-shifts. Methods Lion (Panthera leo) diet in the Kruger National Park was evaluated as such an indicator. Over the three-decade time span reviewed, variance in diet in relation to rainfall, prey abundance, management strategies and disease emergence were reviewed. Key results Rainfall patterns, both seasonal and cyclical, were identified as key drivers of predator–prey selection. However, the intensity of management in the form of artificial waterpoints overrode and confounded natural process. The results suggest that savanna systems are stable and punctuated by climatic events in the form of extreme above-average rainfall that temporarily destabilises the system. However, droughts are a cyclical part of the savanna system. Conclusion Lion prey selection did fluctuate with changing environmental conditions. Abrupt state shifts did occur; however, the ecosystem returned to a stable state. Implications State shifts in ecosystems pose key challenges to conservation managers. State shifts appear to be primarily associated with management interventions and environmental factors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Mampeta Wabasa Salomon

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the protectionist conservatism influenced by colonialism, which exploited African countries for the prosperity of the colonizing countries, still has a high visibility in the Salonga National Park (PNS). If, in theory, the Central Africans seem to free themselves from the colonial powers on their land, in practice they are still there. The hostility of settlers who have become neo-colonists to the development of Central Africa remains intact, he adds (Ndinga, 2003). This reflects a "logic from above" that has disregarded local values. Yet, in the era of sustainable development and globalization, African protected areas appear to be essential tools for States to reposition themselves in a complex set of actors with the aim of capturing and using the new environmental rent (Giraut, Guyot, & Houssay-Holzschuch, 2003). This is a "bottom-up logic", placing people at the heart of all activities and aiming to reorganize their long-term relationships with the environment. From these two logics, a third "logic from the other side" emerges, reflecting a collective awareness of the fragility of the planet. The restoration of the rights of Africans in the various national frameworks constitutes a major challenge for the contemporary management of African protected areas. Because the protected areas inherited from the different colonial systems must accompany the change in management methods and the redefinition of their functions in order to better serve the local community in the long-term.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-104
Author(s):  
Marie Louise Aastrup

Environmental protection is never a controversy-free endeavor. Conflicts arise over land ownership, use, and access. Political ecologists have paid extensive attention to protected areas, especially in relation to power, rights, and marginalized peoples. This article draws on political ecology to examine a new proposed national park in the context of post-communism and neoliberalization in Romania. Using mixed-methods (semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and participant observation), this research investigates conservation narratives as articulated by different actors (environmental non-governmental organizations, local decision-makers, and local community members) with various levels of involvement in the proposed national park. Three chief narratives can be observed pertaining to tourism, restrictions, and deforestation. These narratives are embedded in the history and socio-economic context of the area, but also reveal the agendas of different actors regarding landscape values. Assessing these narratives, this research reveals how actors position themselves and the points of contention among the different actors in the brewing conflict that the national park represents.Keywords: Political ecology, conservation, conflict, power


Parasite ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Louis J. La Grange ◽  
Samson Mukaratirwa

Knowledge on the epidemiology, host range and transmission of Trichinella spp. infections in different ecological zones in southern Africa including areas of wildlife-human interface is limited. The majority of reports on Trichinella infections in sub-Saharan Africa were from wildlife resident in protected areas. Elucidation of the epidemiology of the infections and the prediction of hosts involved in the sylvatic cycles within specific ecological niches is critical. Of recent, there have been reports of Trichinella infections in several wildlife species within the Greater Kruger National Park (GKNP) of South Africa, which has prompted the revision and update of published hypothetical transmission cycles including the hypothetical options based previously on the biology and feeding behaviour of wildlife hosts confined to the GKNP. Using data gathered from surveillance studies and reports spanning the period 1964–2019, confirmed transmission cycles and revised hypothesized transmission cycles of three known Trichinella species (T. zimbabwensis, Trichinella T8 and T. nelsoni) are presented. These were formulated based on the epidemiological factors, feeding habits of hosts and prevalence data gathered from the GKNP. We presume that the formulated sylvatic cycles may be extrapolated to similar national parks and wildlife protected areas in sub-Saharan Africa where the same host and parasite species are known to occur. The anecdotal nature of some of the presented data confirms the need for more intense epidemiological surveillance in national parks and wildlife protected areas in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa to unravel the epidemiology of Trichinella infections in these unique and diverse protected landscapes.


2008 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk J. Roux ◽  
Jeanne L. Nel ◽  
Peter J. Ashton ◽  
Andrew R. Deacon ◽  
Ferdinand C. de Moor ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Fakhri Jamaluddin

<em>Tasikmalaya Regency is one of the areas in West Java Province which has a type of cultural tourism as its attraction. The type of potential cultural tourism in this regency is located in the Traditional Dragon Village Area, precisely in Neglasari Village, Salawu District. Kampung Naga is an area where the people still hold the beliefs or customs of their ancestors. The large number of tourists visiting Kampung Naga will have a positive or negative impact on this tradition. The purpose of this study is to identify the impact of tourism development on the life of the indigenous people of Kampung Naga, especially in implementing its traditions. The presence of tourists can affect the traditional life and culture of the local community, therefore it is necessary to have research on changes in the implementation of traditions (customs and customs) after the presence of tourists in the Kampung Naga area. The analytical method used is descriptive qualitative data analysis using the interactive model of Miles and Huberman. Based on this analysis, there are several changes in the implementation of the tradition as an impact felt by the local community after the development of tourism. The results of this identification are expected to be considered in tourism planning and development related to tourism policies and the ecosystem therein. Because by implementing a good and appropriate policy, the potential of the existing tourism area can run optimally by minimizing the negative impact on humans.</em>


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-74
Author(s):  
Yudha Eka Nugraha ◽  
Emy Chlarita Lema

ABSTRACTThis study aims to describe the tourism potential and formulate the development of the Matalafang Traditional Village as a cultural tourism destination in Alor Regency. Matalafang Traditional Village is one of the tourist destinations, where the Abui tribes live. The Abui tribe, as one of the largest tribes who inhabit Nusa Kenari Island, has various cultural potentials tourism to be developed. This is in line with the increasing number of tourists visiting. Through qualitative descriptive methods, extracting information is obtained by field observations, structured interviews with 6 key informants, documentation of traditional villages, and literature studies on Matalafang Traditional Village and Alor Regency Tourism. The results showed that the attractiveness of cultural tourism in the Matalafang Traditional Village in the form of the Balai Hatel Traditional Ceremony as a ritual to enter the garden, the Caka Lele dance, the unifying dance of the Alor community Lego-Lego, weaving Ikat for dancing, the fourth level traditional house, and various woven bamboo crafts for putting sirih pinang traditional snacks on it. The strategy formulation is an effort to develop the Matalafang Traditional Village as a cultural tourism destination, such as increasing the awareness of culture-based tourism for the local community, maintaining the authenticity of dance as a tourist attraction, increasing tourist activities after the ritual of opening the garden as alternative tourism, and maintaining the condition of the traditional village that is still original.Keywords: Destinations, Traditional Villages, Matalafang, Cultural Tourism, Development Strategies


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