The Use of Geoheritage, Geopark and Geotourism Concepts to Conserve and Sustain Tourism Development in Zambia

Abstract

This paper examines how geoheritage, geopark and geotourism concepts can be used as tools for sustainable tourism development and conservation in Zambia. It introduces the various concepts in earth heritage namely geology, geomorphology, geological heritage (geo-heritage), geosite, geoheritage conservation, geopark, geotourism and sets out Zambia from a geopolitical context in Africa in relation to its neighbouring nations and projects its geodiversity and geoheritage in terms of the various geological formations that include the Basement Complex, Katanga Supergroup, Karoo Supergroup and the Kalahari Supergroup that houses the Barotse Floodplain of cultural heritage. Furthermore, key features such as escarpments, valleys, gorges and waterfalls are also described. Zambia is being depicted as very rich in geodiversity which has given birth to a numerous geoheritage sites. The National Heritage Conservation Commission (NHCC) Act is the principal law, which is applicable in the field of heritage protection and conservation in Zambia. This also involves declaring sites of nationally geological importance, rock art sites and caves of archaeological significance amongst many heritage typologies as national monuments. However, there are other pieces of legislation such as the National Museums Board Act and National Parks and Wildlife Act, as well as National Forest Act which are also relevant in the protection and management of earth heritage in Zambia. Besides the laws on heritage conservation and management, there are institutions that have an interest in geoheritage and these include the NHCC, the Geological Survey Department, the University of Zambia School of Mines, Water Resources Management Authority and National Museums Board. At global level, Zambia is a signatory to the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention which protects sites (including geological/geomorphological sites of global significance) such as the Victoria/Mosi-oa-Tunya Falls as World Heritage Site. Besides declaring a few geological heritage sites as National Monuments, Zambia has recorded 219 geological heritage sites, 225 geomorphological sites, 742 rock art sites, some of these are painted caves; over 139 sites as hot and mineralized springs. Amongst the geomorphological sites, there are also sinkholes and waterfalls. Zambia has also recorded type localities and the largest open-pit mines in Africa. However, despite this potential, Zambia has no geoparks compared to South Africa and Tanzania which have. Further, the discussion on geotourism has been seldom absent in the Zambian tourism marketing scenario despite the rich geological diversity of the nation as well as setting tourism as one of the priority socio-economic sectors by Zambia’s Seventh National Development Plan. The government through the NHCC has put in place deliberate measures of providing basic tourism infrastructure at most of these sites to improve on visitor experience at these sites. Entry fees are charged on visits to these heritage sites. Zambia also promotes palaeontological and archaeological research through research permits. Further, the government promotes sustainable tourism development at these geoheritage sites through tourism, public–private partnerships and community involvement policies. Any major developmental projects are subjected to environment/heritage impact assessments. The concepts of geoheritage, geopark and geotourism have not been applied but will indeed do so by fostering conservation and sustain the development of tourism in Zambia for socio-economic development.