photo by National Geographic |
Tourism is one of the most effective ways to preserve Africa’s national parks and protected areas while creating jobs and income for local communities.
This
was one of the main conclusions of the First Pan-African Conference
on Sustainable Tourism in African National Parks, organized by UNWTO
and the Government of Tanzania (Arusha, Tanzania, 15-18 October
2012).
“Nature
is one of Africa’s greatest assets,” said UNWTO
Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, opening the Conference. “Many of
the 50 million international tourists visiting Africa each year are
driven by the continent’s unparalleled wildlife and natural
scenery. These tourists spend in
the local economy, sustain jobs and provide an incentive for
conservation, making tourism a powerful engine for sustainable
development.”
The
importance of sustainable tourism development for national parks and
the people living in and around them was echoed in the Arusha
Declaration, adopted by attending tourism ministers, tourism private
sector representatives and conservation officials.
Signatories
to the Declaration underlined the importance of good governance in
managing park tourism, calling for collaborative action among the
relevant stakeholders, particularly between public authorities
and the private sector. The Declaration further stressed “the need
to directly involve local communities in the management of parks and
protected areas to ensure they gain concrete benefits in terms of
employment and income generation”.
Knowledge
exchange between African countries should be prioritized, agreed
signatories, given the potential for countries with more limited
experience in park tourism to benefit from best practices elsewhere
in Africa.