Tourism in protected areas : economic impacts and local benefits in Southern Africa

Ph.D.Abstract: The establishment of Protected Areas (PA) is a widely accepted tool for biological conservation (Worboys, 2015), and PAs are primarily dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of natural or cultural heritage, the maintenance of biodiversity, and the maintenance of ecological life-support services (Dudley, 2008). However, PAs are also recognised as integral to achieving an increasingly diverse set of conservation, social and economic objectives (Watson, Dudley, Segan & Hockings, 2014). Local communities are more likely to have positive attitudes towards conservation and tourism if PAs generate benefits for those stakeholders (Sekhar, 2003; Chandralal, 2010; Lepp, 2007). Whilst it is clear from the research that biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction are not mutually exclusive, it is less clear the degree to which current conservation interventions already support poverty reduction (Roe & Walpole, 2010). As a result, research which quantifies the economic impact of nature-based tourism is needed, especially in Southern Africa where research is patchy (Spenceley, 2008). There is a growing concern regarding the local level impact on poverty alleviation and the attainment of the United Nation’s Development Goals (Rogerson, 2006; Saarinen & Rogerson 2014), as well as the effectiveness of using tourism to deliver economic development and conservation objectives (Bookbinder, Dinerstein, Rijal, Cauley & Rajouria, 1998; Goodwin & Santilli, 2009; Shibia, 2010; Walpole, Goodwin & Ward, 2001). This research has addressed this gap in knowledge by critically assessing the local economic benefits generated from nature-based tourism in selected PAs located in five countries in Southern Africa, specifically Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania. The research identifies and compares the impact of tourism and inclusion of local communities using different appropriate methodological approaches at different levels, namely national, destination and local-levels. The research firstly quantifies the economic impact in each location, and secondly, compares which approaches are most appropriate at particular levels of assessment. It provides information for destinations where little or no comprehensive economic assessments of tourism have taken place before. The contribution of this research to knowledge is two-fold: firstly, it provides assessments of the local economic impact and inclusion of tourism in destinations with little or no previous economic data. In this regard it provides baseline information for future analysis and decision-making. Secondly, the multi-level approach is an important characteristic that provides a comparison horizontally (between destinations) and vertically (between macro and micro levels) to review and compare the strengths and weaknesses of each methodological approach under different circumstances. The research systematically assesses economic data from more than 100 conservation and PAs in Southern Africa and incorporates over 180 primary interviews with stakeholders. Therefore, the scale of the data collection process collectively contributes a considerable level of novel information for the field of tourism in PAs. Overall, this study contributes to the existing literature on tourism, poverty reduction, rural livelihoods, local communities and local socio-economic development in Southern Africa. However, the application of the methodologies used in this research will also be applicable to other regions. The inclusion of research spanning five Southern African countries (i.e. Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania) provides baseline socio-economic information that can be used as a basis for future research. The conclusions are able to inform across national level policy-making and development programmes for land management systems. Finally, this thesis has produced six journal publications that will either be in print or in press by the time of submission