scholarly journals Assessment of the main factors impacting community members’ attitudes towards tourism and protected areas in six southern African countries

Koedoe ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Snyman
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Conservation Implications ◽  
Community Based Conservation ◽  
Future Success

In southern Africa, many early conservation efforts from the late 1800s and early 1900s either displaced local communities or restricted their access to natural resources. This naturally affected community attitudes towards protected areas and efforts were later made to rectify growing tensions. In the last few decades of the 20th century, these efforts led to conservation and ecotourism models that increasingly included communities in the decision-making and benefit-sharing process in order to garner their support. Although the results of these policies were mixed, it is clear that the future success of conservation and, consequently, ecotourism in many areas will depend on the attitudes and behaviour of communities living in or adjacent to protected areas. Managing and understanding community expectations and attitudes under varying socio-economic circumstances will lead to more efficient, equitable and sustainable community-based conservation and ecotourism models. This study was based on 1400 community interview schedules conducted in Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, allowing for an accurate comparison of attitudes across countries, protected areas and communities. The results highlighted important demographic and socio-economic factors to consider in terms of understanding the attitudes of those living in and around protected areas. Suggestions were put forward for managing community relationships and garnering long-term support for protected areas and ecotourism. Conservation implications: It was observed that, in general, community members living in or adjacent to conservation areas in southern Africa have an understanding and appreciation of the importance of conservation. Formal education was found to positively impact attitudes and human–wildlife conflict negatively impacted attitudes, highlighting important policy focus areas.

scholarly journals A Critical Review of Environmental Governance, Land Restitution, and Tourism in Protected Areas

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10(6)) ◽  
pp. 1916-1931
Author(s):  
Takalani Ramukumba
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
And Function ◽  
Land Restitution

Natural areas, when protected, conserve the natural environment and function as social spaces in which tourism brings increased income, employment, and financial support for conservation. The inclusion of local community members in the planning and management of protected areas has been on the rise since the early 1900s. Tourism has been advocated as a strategy that can help in achieving economic development, especially in rural areas. However, governance issues and potential negative impacts of tourism development have been under inspection. Conservation efforts in Southern Africa especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s had negative impacts on the local communities since this led to many communities being displaced or having limited access to these protected areas. This has seen the need for ways and efforts to get local community members' despondency and attitudes towards protected areas change such that in the 20th century, there were efforts to use conservation models that included community members in the decision-making and benefit-sharing process to garner their support for protected areas. This paper reviews literature on environmental governance, land restitution in protected areas, tourism in protected areas, co-management, and the importance of community participation. These concepts are reviewed using Manyeleti Game Reserve as a case study.

scholarly journals A review of fire management practices in African savanna-protected areas

Koedoe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem A. Nieman ◽  
Brian W. Van Wilgen ◽  
Alison J. Leslie
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Fire Management ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
Past Century ◽  
African Countries ◽  
African Savanna ◽  
Conservation Implications ◽  
Comprehensive Information ◽  
Level Of Understanding

The level of understanding of the ecological effects of fires has improved over the past century, but comprehensive information on the practical application of fire remains restricted to a few well-studied areas, and management information is scattered. This article reviews the goals of fire management practices in African savanna-protected areas, and the approaches that have been adopted to achieve them. We identified 15 distinct fire management practices described in 107 papers from 19 African countries. Fire management has evolved in response to changing ecological understanding, as well as the shifting goals of protected areas. Currently, fire management practices can be divided into those that use fire to achieve specific ecological outcomes, those where fire is applied to promote diverse fire patterns across the landscape without necessarily having a specific ecological outcome in mind, and those that use fire to achieve specific, non-ecological or social goals. In larger, heterogeneous protected areas, fire management practices may vary at different sites in order to achieve a range of goals. We compared the effectiveness of each practice in terms of achieving 10 broad goals. These included ecological goals, for example, reversing woody and social goals (e.g. maintaining community relationships).Conservation implications: Fire management remains an important ecosystem process that can be manipulated to achieve particular goals in protected areas. The choice of a particular approach, or approaches, will depend on the circumstances pertaining to a particular protected area, and we provide examples of situations where each practice could be most appropriate.

The utility of non-formal education in addressing the school dropout phenomenon : a case study of Asifundeni Secondary School in Makonde District Zimbabwe

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 41-69
Author(s):  
Francis Muchenje ◽  
◽  
Pedzisai Goronga
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
School Dropout ◽  
School Level ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Secondary School Level

The study sought to explore students' views on the utility of non-formal education in addressing the school dropout phenomenon at secondary school level. Qualitative research approach was adopted and a case study design was utilised. The population consisted of all the students in the non-formal programme at the school from which a sample of 11 students (2 male and 9 female) was selected through purposive stratified sampling technique. Data were gathered through structured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Non-formal education was seen to address the school dropout phenomenon by providing school drop outs with an opportunity to continue their education and hence becomes a form of empowerment. A number of challenges such as lack of adequate tuition in some subjects, lack of conducive learning environment as well as negative perception of non-formal education held by pupils in the formal stream and community members were identified. The study recommends that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should review the staffing situation in schools to ensure the availability of teachers in the various subjects in the non-formal stream. Schools should make an effort to provide appropriate learning facilities for students in the nonformal stream. Furthermore, schools should conscientise their communities on the importance of non-formal education.

Tourism revenue-sharing around national parks in Western Uganda: early efforts to identify and reward local communities

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Archabald ◽  
Lisa Naughton-Treves
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Revenue Sharing ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Western Uganda ◽  
Tourism Revenue

Throughout much of the tropics, human-wildlife conflict impedes local support for national parks. By channelling tourism revenue to local residents, conservationists hope to offset wildlife costs and improve local attitudes toward conservation. To date tourism revenue-sharing (TRS) programmes have met mixed success. Local conditions and national policies that shape the success of TRS programmes were identified by comparing the experiences of both implementers and beneficiaries of pilot TRS programmes at three parks in western Uganda. Between 1995 and 1998, communities around these parks used a total of US $83 000 of tourism revenue to build 21 schools, four clinics, one bridge, and one road. In 1996, the Ugandan parliament passed legislation that changed both the amount of money available for TRS and the institutions responsible for sharing the money. The programme was suspended at all three parks while the implementing agency (Uganda Wildlife Authority) struggled to design a programme that complied with the new legislation. TRS funds collected before 1996 were shared through 1998, but since then no revenue has been shared. However, a revised TRS programme is expected to resume in 2001. In semi-structured interviews, both implementers and beneficiaries evaluated local TRS programmes and compared them to other benefit-sharing projects, particularly those promoting sustainable use of non-timber products within park boundaries (n = 44). Both groups of respondents listed revenue-sharing as the most important advantage of living next to a national park. Seventy-two per cent of respondents indicated that they thought TRS had improved attitudes towards the protected areas, and 53% thought TRS was more important then sustainable use of non-timber forest products. Although respondents were generally positive about TRS, in informal discussions respondents repeatedly mentioned four potential obstacles to TRS success, namely poorly defined TRS policies and unsteady implementing institutions, corruption, inadequate funds, and numerous stakeholders with differing priorities. From this survey and literature from experiences in other African countries, there are four key components of successful revenue-sharing programmes: long-term institutional support, appropriate identification of the target community and project type, transparency and accountability, and adequate funding. With firm institutional support and realistic expectations, TRS can play an important role in improving local attitudes towards conservation.

scholarly journals Restricting spatial lives? The gendered implications of conservation in Cambodia’s protected wetlands

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Perry ◽  
Josephine Gillespie
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Feminist Political Ecology ◽  
Geographic Thought ◽  
Legal Geography ◽  
Environmental Interactions ◽  
Tonle Sap ◽  
Gendered Roles

Environmental conservation through the creation of protected areas is recognised as a key tactic in the fight against degrading ecosystems worldwide. Understanding the implications of protected area regimes on both places and people is an important part of the protection agenda. In this context and in this paper, we build on the work of feminist legal geographers and feminist political ecologists to enhance our understanding of the constitution of localised socio-legal-environmental interactions in and around protected areas. Our approach looks to developments in feminist and legal geographic thought to examine the interactions between identities, law and the environment in a Ramsar protected wetland on the Tonle Sap, Cambodia. We bring together legal geography perspectives regarding the spatiality of law with insights from feminist political ecology examining gendered roles and exclusions. We found that conservation areas interact in complex ways with local pre-existing norms prescribing female weakness and vulnerability which, ultimately, restrict women’s spatial lives.

scholarly journals A strategic framework for biodiversity monitoring in South African National Parks

Koedoe ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melodie A. McGeoch ◽  
Mbulelo Dopolo ◽  
Peter Novellie ◽  
Howard Hendriks ◽  
Stefanie Freitag ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
South African ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Biodiversity Monitoring ◽  
Management Philosophy ◽  
Conservation Implications ◽  
Strategic Direction ◽  
Internal Pressures

Protected areas are under increasing threat from a range of external and internal pressures on biodiversity. With a primary mandate being the conservation of biodiversity, monitoring is an essential component of measuring the performance of protected areas. Here we present a framework for guiding the structure and development of a Biodiversity Monitoring System (BMS) for South African National Parks (SANParks). Monitoring activities in the organisation are currently unevenly distributed across parks, taxa and key concerns: they do not address the full array of biodiversity objectives, and have largely evolved in the absence of a coherent, overarching framework. The requirement for biodiversity monitoring in national parks is clearly specified in national legislation and international policy, as well as by SANParks’ own adaptive management philosophy. Several approaches available for categorising the multitude of monitoring requirements were considered in the development of the BMS, and 10 Biodiversity Monitoring Programmes (BMPs) were selected that provide broad coverage of higher-level biodiversity objectives of parks. A set of principles was adopted to guide the development of BMPs (currently underway), and data management, resource and capacity needs will be considered during their development. It is envisaged that the BMS will provide strategic direction for future investment in this core component of biodiversity conservation and management in SANParks. Conservation implications: Monitoring biodiversity in protected areas is essential to assessing their performance. Here we provide a coordinated framework for biodiversity monitoring in South African National Parks. The proposed biodiversity monitoring system addresses the broad range of park management plan derived biodiversity objectives.

scholarly journals Research to guide management of outdoor recreation and tourism in parks and protected areas

Koedoe ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Manning
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Outdoor Recreation ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
Management Framework ◽  
Management By Objectives ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Conservation Implications ◽  
Parks And Protected Areas ◽  
Recreation And Tourism

A framework for managing outdoor recreation and tourism in parks and protected areas was presented in this article. This management-by-objectives framework includes, (1) formulating indicators and standards of quality, (2) monitoring indicators of quality and (3) implementing management actions designed to maintain standards of quality. This management framework can be used to help balance the demand for outdoor recreation and tourism and the need to protect park resources and the quality of the visitor experience. A programme of research to help guide application of this management framework was described and illustrated. This research is part of a growing body of scientific and professional literature on outdoor recreation and tourism that can be used to build the capacity of park and protected area management agencies. Conservation implications: The management framework described in this article, and the associated programme of research, can be used by conservation practitioners to balance use and protection of national parks and protected areas.

scholarly journals Integrated Landscape Change Analysis of Protected Areas and their Surrounding Landscapes: Application in the Brazilian Cerrado

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Bellón ◽  
Julien Blanco ◽  
Alta De Vos ◽  
Fabio de O. Roque ◽  
Olivier Pays ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Landscape Change ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Productivity Loss ◽  
Landscape Dynamics ◽  
Natural Vegetation ◽  
Local Analysis ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Conservation Areas

Remote sensing tools have been long used to monitor landscape dynamics inside and around protected areas. Hereto, scientists have largely relied on land use and land cover (LULC) data to derive indicators for monitoring these dynamics, but these metrics do not capture changes in the state of vegetation surfaces that may compromise the ecological integrity of conservation areas’ landscapes. Here, we introduce a methodology that combines LULC change estimates with three Normalized Difference Vegetation Index-based proxy indicators of vegetation productivity, phenology, and structural change. We illustrate the utility of this methodology through a regional and local analysis of the landscape dynamics in the Cerrado Biome in Brazil in 2001 and 2016. Despite relatively little natural vegetation loss inside core protected areas and their legal buffer zones, the different indicators revealed significant LULC conversions from natural vegetation to farming land, general productivity loss, homogenization of natural forests, significant agricultural expansion, and a general increase in productivity. These results suggest an overall degradation of habitats and intensification of land use in the studied conservation area network, highlighting serious conservation inefficiencies in this region and stressing the importance of integrated landscape change analyses to provide complementary indicators of ecologically-relevant dynamics in these key conservation areas.

scholarly journals Lack of recreational fishing compliance may compromise effectiveness of Rockfish Conservation Areas in British Columbia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Haggarty ◽  
Steve J.D. Martell ◽  
Jonathan B. Shurin
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Area Ratio ◽  
Recreational Fishing ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Ecological Recovery ◽  
Recovery Education

Compliance with spatial fishing regulations (e.g., marine protected areas, fishing closures) is one of the most important, yet rarely measured, determinants of ecological recovery. We used aerial observations of recreational fishing events from creel surveys before, during, and after 77 Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) were established in British Columbia, Canada. There was no evidence of a change in fishing effort in 83% of the RCAs, and effort in five RCAs increased after establishment. Fishing effort in open areas adjacent to the RCAs declined with time and was higher than effort in the RCAs in all 3 years. Next, we used compliance data for 105 RCAs around Vancouver Island to model the drivers of compliance. Compliance was related to the level of fishing effort around the RCA, the size and perimeter-to-area ratio of RCAs, proximity to fishing lodges, and the level of enforcement. Noncompliance in RCAs may be hampering their effectiveness and impeding rockfish recovery. Education and enforcement efforts to reduce fishing effort inside protected areas are critical to the recovery of depleted fish stocks.

scholarly journals Repenser Le Rôle Des Institutions De Conservation De La Nature À L’ère De La Globalisation En Afrique: À Propos Du Parc National De La Salonga (RDC)

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Mampeta Wabasa Salomon
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Park ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
The Other ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Contemporary Management

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.

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