Ecotourism fights for share of market

Zimbabwe’s resurgent tourism sector.
Some investors think ‘’home-grown” tourism is risky since multimillion-dollar ventures, mostly in rural areas, are likely to collapse due to poor business.
All over the world, ecotourism has enjoyed general acceptance and recognition as a means of contributing to the development of communities and improved natural resources management.
But, in Zimbabwe, ecotourism is a fairly young and emerging industry. It enjoyed support and enthusiasm from communities, the Government, private sector and donors during the 1990s and early 2000. After that, there has not been much meaningful support. In contrast, nature-based tourism, because of its larger scale, is often used to promote national development objectives rather than conservation objectives.
One of the advantages claimed for ecotourism is that it is seen as more ecologically and culturally sensitive and less likely to bring the negative impacts associated with mass tourism. How well ecotourism lives up to these criteria depends principally on the planning process prior to ecotourism initiatives and the management controls and involvement of stakeholders once they begin.
The demand for nature-based tourism in Zimbabwe has been steadily increasing, a trend that can be expected to continue, given the right economic environment and political commitment. Trips exist in a variety of price ranges and styles and more are being developed all the time.
The key determinants of what tourists want seem to be their knowledge, their desired level of excitement, time and cost. This means that there are limitations to the expansion of ecotourism to “rougher” sites where costs and travel times are high and there are low predictions about the quality of the experience, including elements such as reliable wildlife viewing. Remote ecotourism sites, often high in biodiversity, are notable in this category.
Ecotourism can generate benefits to local communities such as employment, although these are mostly seasonal or low paying jobs.
At the community level, ecotourism may generate increased revenues, stimulate development or maintenance of infrastructure such as roads and electricity, or provide proceeds from ecotourism for community projects such as school construction, and health centres.
Despite this, economic benefits from tourism often create insufficient incentives for local communities to support conservation. Such benefits may be offered in the eyes of local communities by the intrusion of tourists, greater income inequality within and between local communities, increased pollution, sequestering of profits by outsiders, and rising prices.
‘’Ecotourism is a field that needs to be fully exploited. Several systems are being tried out in different districts in the country,” says Charles Jonga, the director of the Community Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (Campfire). This is a local authorities membership organisation which supports rural development through the sustainable use of natural resources.
It operates in the country’s 57 districts. So far, Campfire has supported the establishment of 15 community ecotourism projects, and there are at least five private lodges on communal land that operate under Campfire principles.
The organisation has supported community-based ecotourism through capacity building, market research and development, monitoring of markets, business management training and development, and ecological support. It has also supported empowerment by establishing Community Trusts to run these projects.
Great strides have been made in a community ecotourism project in the Vhimba area of Chimanimani district, in Manicaland Province.
Between 1999 and 2003, the United States Agency for International Development’s Campfire Development Fund disbursed US$1,3 million to support large and small infrastructure Campfire community projects. Chimanimani was the first Campfire district to receive an ecotourism grant from this fund.
The money was used to develop tourism infrastructure adjacent to the Haroni River, upstream from the Chizire Botanical Reserve. This included the provision of accommodation for tourists, camping sites, and licensed tour operations in the Chizire and Nyakwaa Botanical Reserves. The camp is linked to the forests by walking trails.
The Vhimba community provided local materials and labour – moulding bricks, gathering stones required for construction and contributing voluntary labour for bush clearing and construction. The Vhimba Community Development Trust manages the enterprise. This is one of Campfire ‘s examples of its diversification initiatives. Initially, the programme had a heavy focus on wildlife utilisation, especially sport hunting.
“The local community wholly own the ecotourism enterprise, although like other tourism projects in the country, it suffered from the several years of poor local and international tourist arrivals,” says Jonga.
He calls ecotourism a means for both economic development and environmental conservation.
“The purpose of the ecotourism venture is to strengthen the capacity of the Vhimba community to establish an economically viable, environmentally sound and culturally acceptable tourist facility which generates additional income and employment for the community,” he said.
Campfire believes communities must look closely at issues such as cultural imitation, portraying an artificial sense of what is Africa in an attempt to sell the tourism areas as “raw Africa”.
Also, it warns against sex tourism and theft of indigenous knowledge in the form of art, rare paintings, significant cultural songs and traditional medicine.
International tourism trends indicate that today’s traveller is looking beyond the conventional “sun and sea” vacation and seeking a more enriching experience. Zimbabwe is well placed to take advantage of this trend, with varied opportunities for communities to engage in ecotourism, given the wild resources, attractive landscape and cultural heritage within which they live.
Business specialists and environmental economists in the Southern African Development Community are emphasising on the role ecotourism can play in the development of the region. But, there are still major challenges to be solved.
For example, many communal areas in Zimbabwe are remote and inaccessible, and rural communities often lack sufficient funds for the high quality infrastructure needed by tourists.
The development of tourist facilities is also being constrained by the lack of secure land tenure, and the prohibitive costs of providing roads, accommodation and telecommunications.
To make the most of ecotourism in rural areas, people needs clearly defined secure access to their natural resources, as well as technical assistance to successfully design and manage projects.
In addition, there is also a great need to look critically into benefits accruing to local communities who reside adjacent to parks estates. In Zimbabwe, for example, communities do not benefit much as joint ventures between them and national parks are few.
The Shangaan people of the south-eastern lowveld had to fight for their rights to benefit from Gonarezhou National Park, under the Campfire Programme, by establishing the Mahenye Wilderness Area adjacent the park to attract wildlife. Through the then Zimbabwe Sun Hotels, now African Sun, a high-end tourism initiative, Chilo Mahenye Lodge, was developed in the 1990s.
However, according to a research study by the International Institute of Environment and Development, the rest of the people who reside nearest the Gonarezhou National Park, and who have therefore borne most of the costs of exclusion appear to participate least in the tourism industry.
Research findings by the institute contained in a book entitled, “Tourism, Conservation and Sustainable Development – Case Studies from Asia and Africa”, suggest that although tourism presents additional income and employment opportunities, rural populations remain marginalised from development associated with protected areas.
Despite the rural location of national parks, the book argues, the industry retains a distinctly urban bias. Still, ecotourism represents one of the few areas where the link between economic development and conservation of natural areas is potentially clear and direct.
Protected areas site management should define clear objectives for the area as well as outline how ecotourism can be accommodated within those objectives; determine the acceptable limits of ecosystem change within ecotourism destinations and establish ongoing monitoring programmes.
They should develop and implement management plans and practices to control, regulate, and enhance tourism to the area, according to a publication of the World Bank, “Ecotourism and Nature-Based Tourism: A Review of Key Issues.”
This means local communities should learn about impacts, options and possibilities of ecotourism development, explore means for ownership of specific ecotourism ventures; and consider strategies for ecotourism. There is also compensation for restricted access to protected areas, including co-ordinated investments in local infrastructure and services that improve local quality of life and collecting of user fees from tourists which support local development initiatives.
The Government should supplement ongoing activities to improve the sustainability of ecotourism, including requiring the development of ecotourism strategies as components of government documents.
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