NOTE: The following is from notes I took during the talks: apologies if I’ve misunderstood anything. The powerpoints for all will soon be on the Best EN website

 

Keynote speaker: Dr Anna Spenceley

Title: A decade of progress in sustainable tourism in protected areas

Part 1 Tourism and the World Parks Congress, Durban (2003, 3000 ) and Sydney (2014, 6000 delegates)

Tourism was not an official stream or even named as a cross-cutting issue, which was disappointing.

However, there were 125 tourism and visitor related presentations, with some in each of the streams

There were also tourism-related events such as TAPAS, and parallel events: (Global Eco conference by Ecotourism Australia, wildlife tourism workshop by Wildlife Tourism Australia)

A Tourism Journey was developed by TAPAS as an informal stream, a five-page handout for those wanting to know where and when the tourism-related talks and other events would be held.

Who presented?

The main presenters were from (in order): Universities, NGOs, Protected Area management, governments, other

Main geographic areas (in order): Oceania (mainly Australia), Africa, North America, Asia, S America, Europe

Major themes: reconciling development challenges, reaching conservation goals, respecting Indigenous and traditional cultures, various others

Some major topics:

• Sustainable use of nature/culture/diversity: case studies, certification, sustainability indicators, best practice guidelines
• Collaboration and poverty reduction: quantify $ benefits to local people, longterm technical and capacity support for communities, generate enough$$ to change behaviour that damages biodiversity
• Financing Protected Areas: partnerships with NGOs (e.g. citizen science), collecting fees, tourism concession tools, Transfrontier parks, events tourism across borders, visitor number monitoring, shift from state funding to tourism fees

• Inspiring Solutions: health treatment (via interaction with nature), building new markets (Canadian program ‘how to camp’ for Asian residents afraid of camping, partnered with camping suppliers, showed how to erect tent, education about wildlife, e.g. ‘raccoons are really not so scary”) “What makes it work?” (, partnerships, good monitoring, community participation, WTA’s wildlife research network)

Formal outputs from Durban and Sydney

• 2003(Durban): Tourism noted as a Vehicle of Conservation and Support
• 2014 (Sydney): Tourism mentioned only 5 times in Vision and Stream outputs, no overall tourism recommendation

Informal outputs: Facebook, YouTube, Planeta Wiki, Slideshare: reaches many more people than could be reached at the congress itself

Global programs:

10 year framework (one section is tourism, partnerships and multi-stakeholder advisory committee: associations can apply o join this)

Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Core activities: criteria for sustainability (4 pillars: sustainability management, social&economic, cultural, environmental), integrity program, destination program, market access, sustainability training

IUCN’s TAPAS

members (in order): Europe, N America, Asia, Africa

Develop knowledge, build capacity, network, webinars, online review and comment, new working group on communities

FB, Linked-In, other social media

 

 

Part 2. Problems in global tourism

UN Resolution A/RES/69/233: promote sustainable tourism for sustainable goals

Decision XII/11 on Biodiversity and Tourism Development

(these are ‘hot off the press’, plenty of potential to develop them further

Children in the Wilderness (childreninthewildernss.com) Cross-border mountain bike event through S Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe raises funds for children’s outdoor educational

 

Think Tank Visioning Session:

Divided delegates into three groups to discuss and record ideas on issues pertaining to policies, communities, businesses relevant to sustainable tourism Results to be collated and presented tomorrow

 
Contributed papers:

Session 1: Tourism in Protected Areas Facilitated by: Prof Haretsebe Manwa

Richie Wandwi University of Lapland, Finland Enhancing stakeholders participation for sustainable management of protected areas

Challenges: inadequate stakeholder participation, clashes of interests, negative impacts can outweigh positive benefits, lack of common understanding towards sustainability concept and tools, centralized decision making systems

Stakeholder management should occur through involvement, collaboration, cooperation and partnership. Need good indicators to measure, monitor and control tourism development in Protected Areas, need clear lines of communication and better coordination, build trust amongst stakeholders

 

Michael Kweku Commeh University of Science and Technology, Ghana
Deconstruction of Man-nature Dialogue Nexus: A Critical Assessment of Stakeholders’ Relationship with Mole National Park

Stake-holders include: government wildlife departments, tour operators, acadenics, farmers, communities in/near the park, traditional energy producers

Problems: greed, corruption, ineffective laws …

Need to find common ground and seek solutions, e.g. clean efficient cookstoves reduces need for firewood, smart farming is productive without pollution etc.

 

Jones M. Muzirambi & Kevin F. Mearns, University of South Africa
Active community participation in nature conservation and tourism management: A case study analysis of the state of power relations in Southern Africa

Historical perspectives

• Yellowstone model: separation of untouched nature from humans
• conflicts due to ignoring local community’s interests and rights, and excluding them from planing, management and decision-making
• poor protected area governance

Where land has been restored to formerly displaced communities it is right of access, not as owners, can’t settle there

Imbalance in levels of understanding and negotiation skills compromise rights of local communities compared with other stakeholders

Ololoskwan-Serengeti (Nelson 2010, Spencely 2010) more successful than mst

Most restoration has not really empowered local communities

Hampered by:

• poor governance
• absence of conducive environment for communication
• lack of transparency or monitoring

 

Dorothy Queiros, Kevin Mearns & Cine van Zyl, University of South Africa Towards pro-conservation behaviour by local communities in ecotourism ventures around protected areas in Southern Africa

Early days of Phd thesis, looked at three situations

Interested in actual actions, not just attitudes or intentions

Future success of conservation success depends on attitudes and behaviour of communities living in and around protected areas Benefit distribution is a necessary but not sufficient condition for communities to engage in pro-conservation behaviour (Snyman 2012)

Benefits -> positive attitudes -> proc-conservation behaviour? Mixed results from the few studies that have been conducted on this. Mostly it is unknown. Using Interactive Qualitative Analysis to explore

What guidelines and model can integrate and consolidate wisdom from locals and conservationists?

Moren Tibabo Stone & Gyan P. Nyaupane University of Botswana & Arizona State University Protected areas and community wildlife-based tourism influential dynamics on the spiralling of community capitals

Should conceptualise Protected Areas tourism and livelihoods as complex systems, with multiple interacting factors. Seek to understand by examining the ‘whole’, not parts

Chobe NP, Botswana, 5 villages

Abundance of wildlife, before tourism no interaction between those involved in nature protection, agriculture etc. Tourism development brought training, workshops, donors, financial assistance, controlled hunting tourism areas, photographic projects, local region now earns far more $$. BUT some tourist accommodation obstructs animal access to river. So do crops on floodplains

Benefits: mud and reed houses giving way to cement structures (but tourists want to see former), improved sanitation.

Future problems: increased demand for agricultural land, more fencing (including electric), wildlife corridors minimised

 

Lesego S. Stone, Gyan P. Nyaupane, University of Botswana & Arizona State University, USA Why Africans do not visit their national parks: A case of Botswana

Self-drive tourists, mobile tour operator clients, clients in lodges in and near protect areas: overwhelmingly international, not domestic travelers

Why do locals not go?

Western/nonwestern differences: Yellowstone model *separate nan and nature) differs from man/nature combination in Africa.

Many have been displaced from their lands: how does this affect attitudes?

Locals consider tourists as white by definition, even if they themselves travel (don’t consider themselves tourists), see NPs as being set up for white recreation

Packaging of products follow western ideals of quietness, wide spaces, undeveloped untamed wilderness, not of interest to locals

Other members of the community will condemn those who leave their families just to see animals, if it brings no tangible benefits. Role of family doesn’t end with children growing up: you still have responsibilities as grandparents

 

Ronda J Green, Wildlife Tourism Australia Inc. Conserving biodiversity as wildlife and nature tourism activities expand

My abstract:

Governments throughout Australia and elsewhere recognise that tourism is an important sector of the economy, and are encouraging its growth in a variety of ways, some more environmentally sound than others. This papers presents not the results of basic research but of discussions by tour operators, staff of wildlife parks and national parks staff, academics, NGO members and others, spread across four separate workshops conducted by WIldlife Tourism Australia Inc. (WTA) between 2012 and 2014. Many topics were discussed at these workshops, but those presented here are relevant to protecting biodiversity as tourism expands in terms of numbers of visitors and the introduction of new activities, especially in protected areas. The topics are divided into: (1) expanding the potential of sustainable wildlife tourism; (2) potential threats to wildlife and their habitats; (3) management of tourism in protected areas, and contributions of tourism to conservation; (4) encouraging wildlife tourism outside of protected areas; and (5) research needed for sustainable wildlife tourism and biodiversity conservation, and how tourism operations can assist. The report is not intended as a final set of guidelines endorsed by WTA but rather a report on the results of open discussions: however they are being used to formulate such guidelines and direct current and future actions by WTA members.

More soon…