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CONSERVATION STRATEGIES
HDP is also examining conservation strategies to identify and consolidate best practices and lessons learned. Such strategies are in the areas of ecotourism, Integrated Conservation and Development Projects, community-based natural resource management, decisionmaker training, privately-protected reserves, and decentralization of protected area management. | |
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Tourism has become a booming business in many parts of the world, yet there have been virtually no comprehensive reviews of how it benefits biodiversity or helps local communities. HDP is addressing this lack of knowledge by studying how tourism affects wildlife, looking at factors such as disease transmission (e.g., measles in gorillas), foraging behavior, nesting, and reproductive behavior of some species. Primary research addressing these impacts of ecotourism on primate communities in Uganda and Belize is currently underway. HDP has also researched tourism revenue sharing in Uganda and found that when four conditions were present, revenue sharing can play an important role in improving local attitudes towards conservation.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs)
Brandon, K. 2000. Moving beyond integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) to achieve biodiversity conservation. In Lee, Dr.R., & Barrett, C.B. (Eds.), Tradeoffs or Synergies? Agricultural Intensification, Economic Development and the Environment. pp. 417-432. Wallingford, UK: CAB International.
Tourism
Grossberg, R., Treves, A., Naughton-Treves, L. 2003. The incidental ecotourist: Measuring visitor impacts on endangered howler monkeys at a Belizean archaeological site. Environmental Conservation 30(1): 40-51.
Conservationists are missing opportunities to protect species at mass tourism sites where wildlife itself is not the main tourist attraction. At such locations are 'incidental ecotourists', i.e., tourists with multiple interests who encounter wildlife or fragile ecosystems inadvertently. A case study from Lamanai Archaeological Reserve, Belize, reveals the motivations of incidental ecotourists and their impact on an endangered primate species, the black howler monkey, Alouatta pigra. Four hundred and seventy-one visitors were surveyed to assess their travel goals, conservation commitments, and reactions to viewing howler monkeys. Data were also collected on the behavior of tourists and monkeys during encounters. More intense tourist interactions with howler monkeys were correlated with the number of tourists and the duration of the encounter; guided parties interacted more intensely than unguided parties. Tourists were largely unaware that these interactions may harm the howler monkeys. Qualitative observations of howler response to tourists suggest short- and long-term negative impacts. These impacts could be mitigated through more effective guide training, limiting tourist group size, and increasing entrance fees at the Reserve. Improving environmental education may reduce impacts and motivate some tourists to become advocates for conservation of endangered species.
Archabald, K. & Naughton, L. 2001. Tourism revenue sharing around national parks in Western Uganda: Early efforts to identify and reward local communities. Environmental Conservation 28(2): 135-149. Reprinted with permission of Cambridge University Press.
Throughout much of the tropics, human-wildlife conflict impedes local support for national parks. By channeling tourism revenue to local residents, conservationists hope to offset wildlife costs and improve local attitudes toward conservation. To date tourism revenue-sharing (TRS) programmes have met mixed success. Local conditions and national policies that shape the success of TRS programmes were identified by comparing the experiences of both implementers and beneficiaries of pilot TRS programmes at three parks in western Uganda. Between 1995 and 1998, communities around these parks used a total of US $83,000 of tourism revenue to build 21 schools, four clinics, one bridge, and one road. In 1996, the Ugandan parliament passed legislation that changed both the amount of money available for TRS and the institutions responsible for sharing the money. The programme was suspended at all three parks while the implementing agency (Uganda Wildlife Authority) struggled to design a programme that complied with the new legislation. TRS funds collected before 1996 were shared through 1998, but since then no revenue has been shared. However, a revised TRS programme is expected to resume in 2001. In semi-structured interviews, both implementers and beneficiaries evaluated local TRS programmes and compared them to other benefit-sharing projects, particularly those promoting sustainable use of non-timber products within park boundaries (n = 44). Both groups of respondents listed revenue-sharing as the most important advantage of living next to a national park. Seventy-two per cent of respondents indicated that they thought TRS had improved attitudes towards the protected areas, and 53% thought TRS was more important then sustainable use of non-timber forest products. Although respondents were generally positive about TRS, in informal discussions respondents repeatedly mentioned four potential obstacles to TRS success, namely poorly defined TRS policies and unsteady implementing institutions, corruption, inadequate funds, and numerous stakeholders with differing priorities. From this survey and literature from experiences in other African countries, there are four key components of successful revenue-sharing programmes: long-term institutional support, appropriate identification of the target community and project type, transparency and accountability, and adequate funding. With firm institutional support and realistic expectations, TRS can play an important role in improving local attitudes towards conservation.
Langholz, J., & Brandon, K. 2000. Privately owned protected areas. In Weaver, D.B. (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Ecotourism. pp. 303-314. Oxford, UK: CAB International.
Alliances
Margoluis, R., Margoluis, C., Brandon, K., Salafsky, N. 2000. In Good Company: Effective Alliances for Conservation. Washington, D.C: Biodiversity Support Program. | |
| |  | | New Presentations on Hydrological Services Available Online: Sampurno Bruijnzeel, tropical hydrology expert, talks about vegetation, reforestation, and hydrological services in two CI-sponsored presentations.
Oct. 16 presentation at the World Bank (8 MB PDF)
Oct. 17 presentation at CI (7.2 MB PDF)New CABS Brochure Now Available: Click here to view the latest CABS brochure. Contact us to order a hard copy. The Environmental Systems Research Institute Awards CABS’ GIS & Mapping Lab: The Institute honored the Lab for the fifth time in six years, awarding it First Place in the Best Cartographic Design - Single Map Product category for the Coppename River AquaRAP by Mark Denil.
View the winning map Hotspots Revisited Available Online. Hotspots Revisited details the state of the earth's biodiversity hotspots. The book identifies 34 regions that cover only 2.3 percent of the Earth's surface but are home to 75 percent of the planet's most threatened species.
View Hotspots Revisited | |
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