Abstract
National parks and protected areas are under dichotomy of pressures. On the one hand, they are faced with increasing economic burdens to become independent from state and donor grants, and on the other hand, they need to fulfill their mandate of conserving the environment for future generations. The South African National Parks (SANParks) is no different. Operating costs for managing 19 national parks are roughly 1 billion rand and requires management to generate 80% thereof in order to meet their primary mandate, i.e., conservation. The question thus arises how to balance these important yet opposing priorities. Interpretation is mooted as a possible solution to strive toward this balance. Through interpretation knowledge is instilled in visitors, attitudes and behaviors are changed, and tourists are encouraged to take care of the national parks and to become more responsible citizens. Added to this, interpretation services add to the visitors' enjoyment, create loyalty, extend stays, and increase expenditure and revenue for the park. Interpretation is therefore no longer seen as a 'luxury' but an essential management function of national parks worldwide and this is also the case in SANParks. This chapter reviews recent developments relating to the renewal or redevelopment of interpretation programs within SANParks.
Highlights
Governments are under tremendous pressure to balance social, economic and environmental expenditure this often results in national parks and conservation areas to often receiving reduced government allocations and subsidies
High expectations are placed on national parks namely that they have to enhance local economies, conserve natural and cultural heritage as well as provide an ever-increasing number of visitors with experiences in nature [17]
The question is, whether national parks should only consider soft/educational interpretation strategies or should they consider the hard interpretation strategies as part of the interpretation plans? interpretation can be categorized into primary, secondary and tertiary interpretation based on identifiable characteristics
Summary
Governments are under tremendous pressure to balance social, economic and environmental expenditure this often results in national parks and conservation areas to often receiving reduced government allocations and subsidies. Incredible increases in tourist visitation to natural and cultural protected areas has been observed and encouraged This increase has created the notion of tourists ‘loving national parks to death’ and if not managed carefully tourism is in danger of becoming a self-destructive process leading to the destruction of the resources upon which it is based. Interpretation is aimed at providing visitors first-hand enlightening experiences that lead toward greater understanding, appreciation and protection of park while contributing to greater visitor satisfaction and fulfilled expectations Interpretation can be both a program and an activity. The other part of the link is that interpretation satisfies the visitor’s need to learn through various innovative mediums and enhances the visit to the park
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