DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA:
Villages Becoming New Tourist Attractions
James Hall
MBABANE, Sep 26 (IPS) - As tourism becomes a greater economic force in the
region, local empowerment agencies and governments are seeking ways for
impoverished people to share in the boom.
But environmentalists have expressed concern over the damage to
wilderness areas and indigenous trees by unrestricted use by local people
untrained in and unconcerned about nature conservation.
"If all the indigenous trees of an area are cut down to make carvings to
sell along the roadside, and the natural beauty of a place is compromised
because of mismanagement, it is killing the goose that laid the golden egg,
because visitors come to see Africa in its wild and pristine beauty," says
Charles Filipe, a tour guide in the Maputo province of southern Mozambique.
Filipe brings European tourists, mostly from Germany, Britain and the
Netherlands, on a circular trip from Maputo to northeast South Africa on a
"Garden Route" newly created from the Lubombo Spatial Development
Initiative. It is a scenic drive intended to complement a long-established
Cape Garden Route on the diametrically opposite side of South Africa.
Tourism numbers are up this year. According to the Southern African
Tourism Services Association, the number of visitors from Britain is up 10.5
percent from last year, while there are 9.3 percent more visitors from
France, and 13.4 percent more tourists from Germany.
The Lubombo Mountain Range, shared by Mozambique, Swaziland and South
Africa, is being made accessible to tourism development through a treaty
signed by the three countries. It is hoped that previously isolated
populations will enter the economic mainstream through tourism initiatives.
The South African government offers low-income loans and outright grants
to communities that plan sustainable tourism projects. These have a better
chance of finding funding if they showcase local culture or are tied to
historic preservation.
In Swaziland, the Shewula community in the Lubombo region has become the
first village in the country to open its huts and cattle byres to cultural
tourists.
"We have built a guest lodge, and there are hiking and horse trails, but
most people come here to see how real Swazis live. The people of the village
all participate in the camp, and they keep their homesteads tidy for
visitors," says Jabulani Ndwandwe, an area resident.
The environment of the Lubombo region has been damaged by nearly ten
years of erratic rainfall or outright drought. The same water scarcity has
ruined crops, and left most residents at the mercy of international food aid
organisations for their basic survival needs. The droughty conditions have
also wreaked havoc on the indigenous flora.
"Some of the local trees that have been here forever are a hardy type
that can withstand drought. But they are being chopped down for firewood,
and the hardwood trees are more and more being used for tourist souvenirs,"
says Ndwandwe.
Alarmed by the depletion of old growth forests, Swazi agricultural
officials have made it a crime to cut indigenous trees, which have been
declared as protected species. But impoverished local people whose crops
continuously fail because of poor rains feel they have no choice.
"We need cash. We don't earn much by selling wooden masks to the
visitors, but it is something," says one wood carver who preferred not to
give his name.
Two-thirds of Swazis live in poverty. Currently, about one-third of the
population is without food due to drought and land use mismanagement. A
recent UN study showed that ten percent of Swazi children suffer from
chronic malnutrition. The HIV infection rate for adults is over 38 percent,
signalling more social stress and poverty in future.
For obvious reasons, local law enforcement agencies have never arrested
anyone for trafficking in endangered tree species, although the possession
of wood from protected trees is enough evidence for a conviction. Lubombo
police say the perpetrators are too poor to pay fines, and jail terms would
only worsen a problem of overcrowded prisons. Rather, police and tourism
authorities are stressing education as the answer.
"We are telling people that they are robbing themselves when they harm
their environment. Do they want to live without trees? Do they want their
children to inherit a desert? And if they hope to make money from tourists,
following the Shewula example, they must know that tourists come to enjoy
the environment," says veteran nature conservationist Ted Reilly.
Mozambique is facing similar challenges as its economic recovery attracts
more visitors, particularly to the country's long Indian Ocean coast.
The dredging of a second port at Maputo has been resisted by
environmentalists, who fear damage to rare coral formations, and the
destruction of cultural sites important to local villagers.
"Fortunately, this development is coming at a time when officials and
even businesses are more aware of environmental issues, and the need to
empower the poor who are usually left out of development schemes," says
Filipe.
He cites the construction of Mozambique's first toll way, which connects
Maputo with Johannesburg by meeting to a South African toll road at the
border. Cultural attractions were identified, so villagers could exploit
this awareness for tourism purposes, and a route was chosen that did not
bypass potential local tourist sites, but made them more accessible.
Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative projects underway in the
KwaZulu/Natal Province of South Africa, with its own Indian Ocean coast
connected to Mozambique, have been oriented more toward eco-tourism oriented
than conventional tourism operations like spas and sporting facilities.
"Wilderness is going up in value. But you have to leave it alone. The
best custodians of wilderness areas are the indigenous people who have
co-existed with the land for generations. They learned in the past that if
they overworked the land, they would get less back, and they might starve,"
says Reilly.
It is a lesson for tourism industry entrepreneurs, be they poor villagers
or large corporations, to heed, Reilly says. The key word of the past -
exploitation - has been replaced by a new reality: conservation management.
The World Markets Research Centre, in its report In Focus 2002 - Africa,
notes that Southern Africa - especially South Africa, Botswana, Namibia,
Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Swaziland - "is expected to take lion's share of
the increase in visitors".
According to World Tourism Organisation (WTO) forecasts, the region could
be looking at over 300 percent growth in tourist arrivals by 2020.
South Africa is the favourable choice for international tourists visiting
the continent, taking over 22 percent of all international tourist arrivals
to sub-Saharan Africa, according to official statistics compiled by South
African government. (END/2003)
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