COMMUNITY-CENTERED SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION AND ECOTOURISM PLANNING IN THE BOSSOU FOREST RESERVE, GUINEA, WEST AFRICA

Ecotourism management has evolved over the years towards responsible conservation of the natural environment, sustaining the well-being of local people, enriching personal experiences and increasing environmental awareness. The development of a forest reserve is characteristic of the management–visitor–host community interface and the attendant competing interests in the face of new challenges, ideas and theories. In particular, host community participation in the conservation of the forest space tends to breakdown under weak ecotourism management, partly evident by the imbalanced exploitation of ecosystem services resulting in wildlife and society’s inability to cope effectively with the changes (Walker et al., 2016). The Bossou Forest Reserve in Guinea, West Africa, has deteriorated considerably due to the fragmentation of the reserve and the inexorable decline in chimpanzee populations from about twenty-seven in the 1970s to seven in present times. The situation is largely attributable to the fractured relationship between management of the reserve and the host communities and the inadequacies of established and workable socio-ecological support systems, reflected in the low level of community participation in the Bossou Forest Reserve planning. Against this background, the paper explores a community-centered and participatory approach towards sustainable conservation and ecotourism planning of the Bossou Forest Reserve, using the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) framework. The paper provides base knowledge for developing a robust ecosystem management plan capable of coping with the changing internal and external stressors