South African National Parks (SANParks) says more emphasis on community inclusivity will play a vital role in curbing poaching and illegal hunting.
This was the central thread of a panel discussion on Tuesday at the Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani hotel in Durban. The event was part of the annual Africa’s Travel Indaba aimed at boosting tourism on the continent.
The discussion, on the role of biodiversity conservation in the success of South Africa's tourism sector, was led by a panel comprising SANParks scientists and other conservation heavyweights.
SANParks CEO Hapileo Sello said community inclusivity will help immensely in addressing the thorny issue of poaching and illegal hunting.
Sello said conservation has to move in a different direction by looking at new ways to address issues faced by wildlife parks.
“The battle against poaching is a difficult one and we have to explore new ways of dealing with it. Perhaps we need a new way, bring communities on board and closer as co-partners to help us fight this. Communities surround the parks and it is them that we need to reach, as opposed to closing them out. For the longest time, the conservation language has lacked the benefit part — what benefit biodiversity conservation offers to communities residing around the parks,” said Sello.
Furthermore, Sello said it is important for the community and tourism sectors to understand the importance of biodiversity.
SANParks said after the Covid-19 pandemic it had to find ways to reinvent itself to being more adaptive and innovative, in particular looking at tourism as the backbone of conservation.
Without tourism, SANParks said it would not be able to conserve and protect many parts of the country.
To better respond to the conservation challenges, SANParks said it has to come up with exciting and fresh ideas.
“As a tourism sector, we do business among ourselves. The most important question we have to ask ourself is, what is a South African destination? The South African destination is the sun, sea, safari — and all speak to conservation.
“Such discussions are important to educate the industry about the amount of work that goes into conservation and what role the industry can play in educating tourists and communities,” added Sello.
National department of tourism director-general Victor Tharage said communities are the backbone of any park and should be included.
“This is where we source labour, products that need to be used, experience that we sell to tourists, and that is why they are key. There are things that communities should know about the importance of biodiversity and conservation and that is why they should be brought closer,” he said.
Tharage said responsibility and sustainable tourism are paramount amid many challenges faced by South Africa. He said should the country fail to preserve what it has in terms of biodiversity, it will struggle to keep up with the world market.
The panel included:
- SANParks' acting managing executive: conservation services Dr Howard Hendricks;
- special scientist in large mammal ecology Dr Sam Ferreira;
- scientific services GM Dr Danny Govender; and
- Kruger National Park’s managing executive Oscar Mthimkhulu.
Some of the focus discussions were on underlying principles in South Africa’s tourism benefits from biodiversity, primary and secondary benefits from biodiversity, catering for future ecotourists, and building greater financial resilience in the sector.
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