Amanda Stronza

Collaboration theory and tourism practice in protected areas: stakeholders, structuring and sustainability

A growing body of research is emerging on tourism and partnerships in protected areas, but conceptual development remains fragmented. This paper tackles this challenge by focusing on three aspects important for sustainability: (1) complexity (nested systems of biophysical environments, tourism and park management structures, community–resident systems, local–global systems and use–conservation gap; (2) scale, structure and scope of collaborations (including community involvement and control) and (3) challenges of implementation and long term structuring (for sustainability and success). Some related questions are: How does the tourism system fit with the protected area system? Who represents “Nature” in negotiations over conservation and use? How can plans and programmes be effectively enacted at the local level for long term success? A theoretical discussion plus an example of community-based collaboration for conservation and economic development in Bolivia (Chalalán Ecolodge) are provided to explore these questions. Chalalán shows an evolving partnership between local and international stakeholders toward local control, and also a complex relationship between local–traditional and scientific knowledge, and cultural change.

The effects of tourism development on rural livelihoods in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

The Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program in Botswana aims to achieve biodiversity conservation and rural development in rich biodiversity areas like the Okavango Delta. CBNRM assumes that if rural communities derive benefits from natural resources, they will be obliged to use such resources sustainably. Using the sustainable livelihoods framework, this study analyzes the effects of tourism development through CBNRM on rural livelihoods at Khwai, Sankoyo and Mababe in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, using primary and secondary data sources. Results of long-term surveys and in-depth interviews indicate that the three communities have forgone traditional livelihood activities such as hunting and gathering, livestock and crop farming to participate in tourism through CBNRM. Livelihoods in these villages have been improved as a result. Basic needs such as shelter, employment and income and social services like water supply systems, transportation, scholarships and payment of funeral expenses are now provided to community members and funded with income from CBNRM. Social capital has been built up in order to agree, manage and develop the CBNRM process. These results show that tourism development in these villages is achieving its goal of improved livelihoods, contradicting claims that community development projects are failing to achieve rural development.

The economic promise of ecotourism for conservation.

Many conservationists have promoted ecotourism as a strategy to protect natural resources while also meeting human needs. The purpose of this study was to analyse effects of ecotourism on natural resource use and livelihoods in an indigenous community of 80 families in Peru. Household interviews and participant observation were used to track social and economic changes in the community as it partnered with a private tour company to build and co-manage an ecotourism lodge. Effects of ecotourism were measured among the same households before and after the lodge opened, and between households with varying levels of participation. The hypothesis that economic benefits from ecotourism would provide incentives for people to alter their livelihoods and change their uses of natural resources was tested. Results showed that ecotourism effects were ambiguous. Though employment led to a general decline in farming and hunting, new income enabled greater market consumption and expansion of production. Ecotourism also prompted sentiments not easily measured in economic analyses alone, including willingness to be involved in ecotourism work, despite relatively minimal economic returns. These findings are a reflection of the fact that ecotourism is not merely an economic ‘tool’ for conservation, but also the cause of new values and social relations.

Ecotourism and Conservation: Two Cases from Brazil and Peru

This article evaluates two theories to explain the relationship between ecotourism and conservation. One posits that economic benefits must accrue to local communities for ecotourism to result in conservation; the other holds that social benefits, including participation in management, must also be present. Although these ideas about causal mechanisms are not mutually exclusive, scholarly studies tend to reflect one more than the other. Two ecotourism projects from Brazil and Peru are compared. The Brazil study illustrates sea turtle ecotourism that generates economic benefits for coastal communities. The case in Peru also generates economic benefits for a local community, but has the added goal of building local management capacity. Both cases provide empirical evidence for causal mechanisms linking ecotourism with conservation. In the Brazil case, economic benefits alone seem to account for conservation outcomes. In Peru, local participation in ecotourism management has also sparked collective action for conservation.

The Institutionalisation of Ecotourism: Certification, Cultural Equity and Praxis

This paper offers a critical reading of the purpose, practice and institutionalisation of ecotourism. Tracing the evolving relationship between ecotourism and conservation, ecotourism and sustainable tourism, and ecotourism and certification/monitoring schemes as we do in this paper reveals conflicting values and possibly incompatible objectives. Sustainable tourism and ecotourism are rooted in notions of individual/societal and environmental well-being. Yet, our study indicates significant inequities in ecotourism practice, particularly with respect to cultural aspects such as human ecological relationships. It is argued here that various actions and programmes associated with ecotourisms inception and evolution have institutionalised a modernistic, commodified paradigm: the environment and its inhabitants (human and non-human) are dominated by scientific, industry and other interests that treat these primarily as means to an end, that is, instrumentally. The analysis suggests that ecotourism (and, by extension, ecotourism certification) needs to be re-oriented towards well-being, in other words, a social-cultural paradigm based on participatory democracy and equitable, meaningful relationships with the biophysical world. Suggestions are forwarded for re-envisioning ecotourism, particularly with respect to the notions of cultural equity, participatory practice and researcher praxis.

Changes in resident attitudes towards tourism development and conservation in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Negative attitudes of resident communities towards conservation are associated with resource decline in developing countries. In Botswana, Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) was adopted to address this challenge. CBNRM links rural development and conservation. However, the impact of CBNRM on changes of resident attitudes towards conservation and tourism is not adequately researched. This paper, therefore, assesses the impacts of CBNRM on resident attitudes towards tourism development and conservation in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. The study purposively sampled villages of Khwai, Mababe and Sankoyo. Household data using variables like: economic benefits from CBNRM; level of satisfaction with CBNRM; co-management of natural resources between resident communities and government agencies; and collective action was collected. This data was supplemented by secondary and ethnographic data. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, results indicate changes in resident attitudes from being negative to positive towards tourism and conservation. These changes are triggered by economic benefits residents derived from CBNRM, co-management in resource management; and, collective action of communities in CBNRM development. Positive attitudes towards conservation and tourism are the first building blocks towards achieving conservation in nature-based tourism destinations. As a result, decision-makers should give priority to CBNRM and use it as a tool to achieve conservation and improved livelihoods in nature-based tourism destinations of developing countries.

From Collaboration to Conservation: Insights From the Okavango Delta, Botswana

This article summarizes 10 years of ethnographic research in the Okavango Delta and describes how local communities are collaborating with government, tour operators, and conservationists to manage wildlife through the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program. CBNRM channels social and economic benefits to communities in exchange for their participation in wildlife conservation. Benefits include secured access to land, institutional support, employment, and share of profits from wildlife tourism. By some accounts, CBNRM has effectively achieved co-management and wildlife conservation; by others, the program has achieved only rhetorical success. We highlight collaboration between social actors at various levels—community, government, tourism industry, international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—as one indicator of success. We then consider the steps that need to be followed to ensure that collaboration leads to long-term conservation. Experiences from this case may provide insights for co-management and conservation in other places where the fate of biodiversity and local livelihoods are entwined.

Ecotourism and Sea Turtle Harvesting in a Fishing Village of Bahia, Brazil

Many environmentalists believe ecotourism has the potential to generate net benefits for people and nature. For more than two decades, the Brazilian Sea Turtle Conservation Program (TAMAR) has provided jobs and income through ecotourism in Praia do Forte, Brazil, in exchange for reduced harvesting of sea turtles. In this article we evaluate the relationships between ecotourism at TAMAR and local support for sea turtle conservation. Nine months of ethnographic research (2006-2008) suggest that ecotourism-related employment and income have been somewhat stable and reliable. The average income of respondents who worked with TAMAR was lower than that reported by people not working with TAMAR. Workers noted other non-economic benefits. Though the majority supported sea turtle conservation, it is unclear how feelings will waver with new mass tourism developments in the region. As the cost of living increases, residents may increasingly be inclined to look for work outside TAMAR. Development also attracts new immigrants, making it difficult for locals to control sea turtle harvesting. These trends challenge the notion that economic incentives for locals alone will ensure conservation. Further research is needed to understand the conditions under which ecotourism may foster long-term conservation in the face of larger developments surrounding community ecotourism projects.

Stage-based tourism models and resident attitudes towards tourism in an emerging destination in the developing world

Many researchers have used stage-based and life cycle models to describe destination development and local residents’ changing reactions to tourism. Typically, they report that resident attitudes towards tourism, and its perceived outcomes for host populations, worsen with increasing experience and involvement in tourism. However, stage-based models traditionally focus on mature destinations in developed countries. In contrast, scholarship on ecotourism derives largely from developing countries and suggests that increased participation leads to more favourable outcomes and attitudes towards tourism. This paper breaks new ground by exploring attitudes to tourism in an emerging destination in a developing country and linking that exploration to a revised stage-based model. It uses ethnographic data to evaluate responses to recent tourism development in Nicaragua. While findings are complex and do not support a linear relationship between the level of experience in tourism and the attitudes of local residents, they do indicate a relationship between these two theoretical perspectives that can be used to inform one another. Notably, workers in tourism are more critical of the tourism industry than residents are. Important amendments to stage-based models are suggested that will assist tourism planners with the creation of more sustainable, community-centred development.

Teaching international tourism: an interdisciplinary, field-based course

ABSTRACT An international tourism course involving coteaching international tourism subjects from different disciplinary perspectives in the form of a learning community and including a field trip to an international tourism destination was designed to explore opportunities to overcome some of the limitations inherent in traditional teaching approaches. This article provides a detailed description of the course structure, learning objectives, and contents as well as insights derived from the various evaluation processes, which involved the analysis of results from conventional evaluation surveys, field trip journals, student papers, posttrip discussions, institutional responses, and critical self-evaluation by the faculty.