The importance of nature-based
tourism is not lost on national governments. They are fully aware that it can
bring numerous socio-economic benefits to a country or locality, by generating
foreign exchange, creating local employment and raising environmental
awareness. But a surprising number of countries are neither fully exploiting
this potential nor managing current nature-based tourism effectively. This is
evident from the low priority generally assigned to tourism planning and
coordination. It is also evident from the fact that many protected areas are
deteriorating rapidly as a result of over-visitation and insufficient investment
in protected area management, (Inskeep,
1991).
A general failure to acknowledge
the importance of tourism and environment, and lack of coordination and
cooperation between those responsible for these areas, are much to blame. Thus
although the tourism industry is often represented at ministerial level, its
interests are frequently not fully integrated with those of the various
ministries, or are considered much less important. The same applies to the
environment. A minister with responsibility for the environment often has to
deal with ministers who represent supposedly more important defence or industry
interests. In such situations, the environment usually loses out. The
environment may not even have a spokesperson of its own.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, natural resources
remain central to rural people’s livelihoods. Local norms and customs shape
people’s everyday forms of resource use. In contrast, the commercial uses of
natural resources often remain highly centralized, conditioned by government
policies of the colonial and post-colonial eras.
A pan-African review of the impacts,
challenges, and future directions of community-based natural resource
management (CBNRM) highlights the diverse range of forms of community
involvement in natural resource management that have emerged across the
continent during the past twenty years. Community based natural resource
management means different things to different actors in different places
across sub-Saharan Africa. In much of western and central Africa, community
based natural resource management is interpreted by government authorities,
donor agencies, and NGOs as benefit-sharing or outreach between national parks
and adjacent communities.
