DEVELOPMENT-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Villages Becoming New Tourist Attractions

By James Hall Reprint | | Print |

James Hall

MBABANE, Sep 26 2003 (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.