Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Hence it is crucial to find the appropriate investors with the required experience
in that field. It is crucial to keep in mind that tourism operators are not rural
development people, they might have noble ideas and good intentions but there
are actually only a few that work well and that are able to create something
sustainable. Institutional building and business building are crucial aspects to
ensure the success of CBNRM projects. Even in the best cases of collaboration
that we have experience of, we have seen problems arising.
Policy level
National policy on rural tourism and tourism operators has had very little impact.
After the passing of the responsible tourism guidelines, DEAT seems to have
withdrawn attention from the issue. Some operators are involved but merely from
a personal choice. Policies like affirmative procurement are set up and have good
intentions but conservation agencies do not have the capacity to monitor and
enforce them.
In terms of responsible tourism, it has been Fair Trade in Tourism
(www.fairtourismsa.org.za) which has set the agenda and continues to use volun-
tary certification as a method to improve relations between communities and
tourism operators.
At TRANSFORM, the method of working on pilots to inform policy from
bottom up experiences, turned out to be less effective the longer we worked. A
degree of cynicism, jealousy or just indifference by certain government officials
meant that lessons that were learnt did not become part of the way government
works. The impression is that the first round of public servants seemed more
willing to learn than the current ones who feel that they know all the answers. It
was strange to find TRANSFORM differing from DEAT, the joint venture
partner, during the parliamentary portfolio hearing on the Protected Areas Act,
where TRANSFORM became the 'voice of the community' and argued for a
more progressive approach.
Government capacity and lack of real will
Even though the Makuleke might have achieved a lot without the assistance of
external funds and the facilitators TRANSFORM paid for, it is likely that without
external help they would not have gone as far and the project might have died due
to infighting caused by lack of progress. The problem is that TRANSFORM has
partially failed to develop the interest and capacity of government officials who
need to be facilitating development. Without a national partner prepared to drive
pro-poverty tourism in reality as well as policy, TRANSFORM has felt its limita-
tions as outsiders. As an example of TRANSFORM as a managing and
implementing agency needing to push the South African partner, this has been
felt most clearly during the People and Parks programme where suddenly, when it
suits government, they are happy to show the world the progress being made. The
default position of key officials, however, is a conservative conservationist
approach to rights and equity.
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