Local Communities and Tourism Development in Protected Areas in Malawi: Investigating Community Involvement

Abstract

Wildlife in protected areas is one of the major tourist attractions in most Southern Africa countries. With the increased tourist interest in experiencing natural environments, tourism has also become a major function of protected areas. As government funding for conservation across the world continues to decline and pressure to identify explicit economic rationales for protected areas increases, various forms of tourism have been developed in protected areas to generate revenue for conservation and to provide an economic justification for the continued existence of protected areas. Tourism in protected areas has therefore attracted attention from governments of many developing countries looking at maximising economic benefits from tourism development.

The prevailing socio-political and economic conditions in different countries have influenced the management of protected areas leading to the emergence of several governance models for them. The most recent paradigm of protected area management recognises the link between protected areas and local development and acknowledges the role of local communities in protected areas. As a result, most tourism development initiatives in developing countries now claim to adopt a participatory approach even though the concept has been developed in the context which suits the prevailing conditions in the developed world. From the literature review, this study has drawn out best practice lessons in community participation and developed a community participation framework for tourism planning associated with protected areas in developing countries. Therefore, drawing from the proposed framework, this thesis sought to investigate the extent and scope of local community involvement in tourism planning and management associated with protected areas in Malawi. The study used semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions as its primary data collection methods. The study demonstrates that at Majete Wildlife Reserve, a protected area managed by African Parks, a not for profit organisation, functional community participation in tourism planning has been achieved while Liwonde National Park, managed by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), a government department could only attain participation by consultation. The study argues that with regards to protected area based tourism, the levels of community participation attained in tourism planning are affected by the management or governance model for a particular protected area. The study reveals that there are significant factors that limit local communities’ participation in tourism planning associated with protected areas in developing countries. The major limiting factors include: inadequate financial resources; inadequate information; lack of trained human resources; unfair distribution of benefits; human-wildlife conflicts; low education levels; poverty and apathy; centralised public administration; and lack of coordination. Most studies on community participation only suggest the importance of the public participation concept without articulating the required actions to promote community participation. This thesis identifies the possible strategies to enhance community participation in tourism planning associated with protected areas in developing countries. Six strategies emerged as major prerequisites to achieve full and active community participation and these are: public awareness and education; capacity building; creation of linkages; use of appropriate participation methods; use of appropriate local community organisations; decentralisation of public administration; and coordination of local organisations. The proposed strategies were identified on the assumption that the planning authorities and other stakeholders would put in place effective mechanisms to mobilise sufficient resources for the tourism planning process.