Tolerance for wildlife resources through community wildlife-based tourism

Abstract

Southern Africa is rich in wildlife resources on which wildlife-based tourism significantly depends. The current dynamics in many African protected areas (PAs) are, however, the product of fortress conservation, which involves dispossession and forced displacement. As such, local communities have developed negative attitudes and animosity toward wildlife resources because of their exclusion from wildlife resource benefits. The implementation of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) programmes has been the focus of efforts to improve community tolerance for wildlife resources. As CBNRM has grown in popularity among conservationists, some proponents have turned to community wildlife-based tourism (CWBT) to ensure that participating communities’ profit from CBNRM. This chapter explores the role of CWBT in enhancing community tolerance for wildlife resources. A meta-synthesis of scholarly literature focusing on peer-reviewed journal articles, books, edited book chapters and academic theses related to CBNRM, wildlife conservation, and wildlife tourism was conducted. The descriptive interpretive qualitative approach was used to analyse the data. The chapter highlights that, while CWBT can generate revenue and provide other opportunities that increase tolerance for wildlife resources, CWBT programmes often face several obstacles that weaken communities’ tolerance for wildlife resources. To enhance the sustainability of wildlife resources, there is need for capacity building among local communities and creation of key linkages and partnerships in CWBT projects among all stakeholders. The chapter concludes that wildlife tourism activities hold significant potential for local communities to promote the conservation of wildlife resources. However, wildlife conservation and tourism practitioners should carefully assess the challenges and opportunities posed by wildlife-based tourism ventures.